Another thing that kepts nagging me is that I wanted to eliminate any questions of vacuum leaks and as our resident expert notes (both jlevie and richardodn) often say (as well as others too) - vacuum leaks will cause a myriad of problems and to diagnosis possible vacuum leaks - a person should perform a smoke test first (since these are common).
Since I do not have access to a smoke machine - nor does my local shop - I know of only one in the DSM area and I am not too keen on bringing my car to them - I decided an alternative method to discovering vacuum leaks is to place a vacuum gauge onto the intake manifold. Now - this is not a substitution for a smoke test - as a smoke test will show you where your leaks are and a vaccum gauge will only show you that you have a leak. The information of having a leak is valuable enough for me to have.
So I decided to mount a vacuum gauge in the engine bay (I did not feel like routing the tubes and wires through the firewall) - For now I just need to see how it performs at idle - A vacuum gauge will tell you many more things than that - like how it acts through accelaration - under load and deacceleration etc. etc - so it is valuable to have inside the cab - however Im not that ambitious at the moment.
I just want to see how much vacuum I am pulling at idle to get an idea if I have any leaks.
I mounted a voltmeter also
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Voltmeter I ran to the coil and the vacuum gauge I ran to the intake here:
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I am running about 16 to 17 at idle - needle is steady - I posted this question on what it should be in this thead: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...um-Measurement
Good info on intake manifold vacuum here:
http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/186.cfm
For future reference, if you thread the timing belt around the cam gear first, then slide it over the tensioner, it's significantly easier to get it on.
I am doing my head gasket now, and the 6 exhaust manifold nuts the hold the lower part of the exhaust to the manifold are stuck (accessed from under the car). PB blaster for a couple of days and they won't budge. So I am thinking of getting an impact wrench to get them off. Can anyone recommend a decent one? I will use it rarely. It can be electric or air. Any basic tips on using it is appreciated. Thank you.
Same one I used..
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-p...nch-68424.html
Cheap.. and 700 ft pounds of TORQUE..
I picked up a Bostiitch impact gun for $70 off Amazon. I also got the 1/2" drive extensions and swivel/knuckle attachment. Got all 6 of the exhaust manifold to header nuts off. I found it easier to remove the heat shield over the motor mount and also to turn the wheels all the way to the right to get the best possible angle on the nuts from under the car. I now have everything off and ready to remove the head/manifolds assembly. I am thinking about using a 2x4 across the engine bay and straps down around the headers/intake to lift the head off (with a friend's help on the other end of the 2x4). Sort of like a poor man's cherry picker. What do you think?
Thank you for this.
Anyone know of a good shop in Denver to have the head milled and refurbished? A shop that really knows BMW?
BTW- Thanks to this post, the Bentley manual, and another site I was able to get this far in about 1 week. I worked on it a couple of hours each day. I've never taken a cylinder head off an engine before. A warm garage and no deadline or rush was extremely helpful. The most physically demanding parts were the exhaust nuts and getting old hoses off. My advice is to relax, take your time, get the right tools, and walk away when you feel irritated.
Got it out today with the help of one friend, very happy to get to this stage of the process. Will be sending the head out to the machine shop and in the meantime replacing all the hoses, sensors, thermostat housing, clean the injectors, etc.. Garage really smells of gas and oil now. What will take the carbon build-up off the top of the pistons?
Wow that’s an awesome detailed write up ,
thank you so much.
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