Funny what you do when you're half asleep. That's the same tool I got from Old525i. Good idea. Almost the same contraption I got from Amazon, except that one has openings on both sides.
Didn't get far on the M50. Wife's Burb needed new idler and pitman arm and got new tires for it. There goes $600 taken away from the Bimmers.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
Ok, after looking in Harbor Freight, Sears, Autozone, Napa and some place locally called Toms I could not find a valve stem seal removal tool. There is a whole set, pliers and install hammers, on Amazon for $25 so I guess I'll do that.
Meanwhile as I wait I set up the engine block for removal of the oil pan and rear seals. The plan is to drop the cross member (everything is out except for the long bolt holding the steering gear, need more liquid wrench and leverage), remove the oil pan, disconnect block from trans, move engine forward on the wood blocks about 8 inches, remove and replace the rear engine seal and forward trans seal. Put humpty dumpty back together again. The rope is 5/8 nylon and has pulled a friends car before. The front end weight of the engine is currently on the rope. Almost no stretch. I are an en-gii-neer and figure this will work for the minimal amount of time I need the engine block free. Hopefully I got the center of gravity close. The photo is hiding the rope connected to the rear of the block at the lift hole.
Last edited by kouks; 05-27-2015 at 07:34 PM.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
I'd be more worried about damaging the guards from the cross pole rather than the rope snapping, all the weight concentrated on one section
I crushed my left thumb a couple years ago when working on a Honda Accord. I installed a new tranny, and was putting the front section of the subframe in, from below, when the engine brace slipped. By some miracle, the tranny mount I was holding caught between the tranny and subframe, so while I had bone crushage, I didn't have an amputation. That was with a legit engine brace, properly installed. No idea why it slipped, but it did.
That rope on that pole just screams "it's a matter of if, not when" to me. At the very least, you should screw some blocks to the wood you have the pole on, to keep it from sliding forward, but even then, I wouldn't do it. That's terrifying to me.
Go ahead and bite. Plenty for everyone.
Oh yes, I don't consider this a fail safe system. There are grooves in the wood to keep it from sliding forward but yes, I will be adding a screw forward of the front groove just in case. Also I will not be under the car when the block is loose from the trans. The oil pan will be removed/installed only with the block mated to the trans. Only the rear engine seal and front trans seal require the block loose. Those are both accessible from the top. The trans is a screw in seal, no need to pound it in.
Although this is riskier than a production brace I am taking extra precautions to manage the risk.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
Well the front of the block is off, the cross member is off, removed all the bolts from the oil pan and it won't budge. Counted all the bolts to make sure I got all of them and I did. And yes I removed the trans cooling lines. It bends a bit as I pull it down in front but it's like it's corroded on. Any ideas? I know the aft is caked with coolant salts.
Bentley manual warns not to pry it off, since it will damage the mating surface.
Last edited by kouks; 06-02-2015 at 11:47 PM.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
You got the bellhousing bolts out?
Go ahead and bite. Plenty for everyone.
Last edited by S61Dan; 06-04-2015 at 09:43 AM.
I counted all the holes in the new gasket and matched all the bolts to it, including the long ones in the back, so I think I got all of them out. I'm not home now, but are there any attaching it to the bell housing directly, as Ben says? Don't remember seeing any.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
IIRC there are 4, but there should be at least 3.
Go ahead and bite. Plenty for everyone.
For the record, there are three bolts holding it to the trans, and they are on the bellhousing side and are female torx bolts. They are not detailed in the Bentley manual. Bentley also says to remove the pan from the rear once the pan is free, which is impossible. I'm used to working with the BMW TIS on my e38, but since the e34 does not have a TIS I am going very slow with alot of trial and error on doing things.
Par for the course, now that the pan is free I can't get it out. I raise the engine by about an inch and that did not help. It seems the trans mounts seem to be in the way. To remove the trans mount, there are four allen wrench bolts on a horse shoe support. I can remove two of them easy, the other two are hidden by the sway bar so I cannot get the allen piece in there straight, thus introducing the possibility of stripping those two. That tells me this is not the way BMW wants you to go. I tried removing the trans supports from the sway bar cross member, but the top portion of the supports are whats interfering, and that did nothing.
So now what?
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
While the pan is hanging you should be able to reach in and unbolt the oil pump chain sprocket and remove it from the pump, and the pump from the block. Drop the pump into the pan and take the two out together from the front.
Go ahead and bite. Plenty for everyone.
Have you reached valve #24?
Well, after the kids got out of school and several other car and home projects I got back to it.
Oil pan removed and cleaned
Oil pump removed, inspected and reinstalled, new gasket on pickup
Obviously new pan gasket
New chain guides
New front engine seal
Cleaned front cover and new gaskets.
Next step is to clean the driver side of engine bay and reinstall the crossmember to get the engine and trans back on their mounts. Both sets of mounts look good so I may not replace but still thinking about it.
Head is almost ready.
I did not replace the rear engine seal or the front trans seal. There was no evidence of any leaks from that area. The trans is not long for this earth anyway, it has 236,000 miles on it, so when that goes those seals will be replaced anyway.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
I'm sure something will. I'm checking all the metal carefully and getting expert opinions from the machine shop nearby. Again, if I can get 60,000 more miles or 5 years it will be worth it. Most of the mileage on it is highway driving so the rotating parts all still look good. I did not rebuild the bottom end so that's the big question mark. Car did not burn much oil when it ran so I'm still confident in it.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
All valves lapped and cleaned and new valve seals installed. Currently cleaning each lifter using the method here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySf0r8GGMOY
Ordered Bessian VANOS kit.
Yea, its taking me a while, but life is busy with 4 rugrats
Last edited by kouks; 09-23-2015 at 05:30 PM.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
How much did the shop charge you?
All the shop did was clean and resurface the head, I removed and lapped the valves. Shop charge was $125.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
Just for FYI, all the parts inside the lifters
Before and after. Other than being clean, the piston and spring throw is larger and the spring back is better, no hesitation.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
All lifters redone and head rebuilt, timing tools installed and ready to mount on engine. Used Lucas engine assembly oil in the process.
Last edited by kouks; 10-12-2015 at 03:41 PM.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
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