No flywheel lock pin hole, intake camshaft won't align, not sure what to do D:

[Carpy2]

So about 7 or 8 years after first saying to the forums I was going to do my head gasket, here I am doing it!!

Turned the crank until I saw the marking line up for TDC. I tried inserting the flywheel locking pin while moving slowly through the TDC mark and felt nothing. Tried with a super long and skinny punch and felt zero changes to the surface while moving the crank back and forth. I replaced the clutch about 7 years ago and cannot remember what flywheel I got specifically, but I know it was a non-fancy more or less OE dual mass flywheel, nothing special. So not having a hole seems odd to me.

I decided to proceed being happy with my TDC alignment markings and try to put the camshaft alignment tool on. Fits perfect on the exhaust side, barely had to move the cam. But on the intake side I cannot rotate the cam counter-clockwise enough to get the alignment tool to sit flush. It's not very close at all. Is it possible the previous owner/last time it had its head gasket done they incorrectly timed the cams? I've noticed zero issues driving it...

Am I messing something up? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills... Recommendations on how to proceed?

Thanks for the help,
Michael

IMG_0548.jpgIMG_0549.jpgIMG_0550.jpg

[Braymond141]

Take the middle valve cover cap nut stud out!

Loosen the exhaust side cam bolts (4), try again. You are pulling the head. TDC really does not matter all that much.

[ScotcH]

What he said ... but if that's not the issue, yes, the intake is advanced ... either vanos was installed incorrectly, or the slots in the gears are off.

In any case, since you're at disassembly stage, don't worry about it and just proceed. Worry about it during re-assembly.

[Carpy2]

Ok cool thanks for the reassurance. I am refreshing the VANOS while I'm in there so I'll just make sure to time it correctly when I put it back in.

And good catch on the middle valve cover stud :3

[tjm3]

No flywheel TDC pin hole. Need one of these in the old style, unused CKS mounting hole to lock TDC using the old reluctor ring:

Front-TDC-lock-cs.jpgout_page1.jpg

[Hova]

I have been working on these cars for over a decade, and have no idea what you're talking about.

Can you please explain?

[MarketMaster]

I have been working on these cars for over a decade, and have no idea what you're talking about.

Can you please explain?

I had the same issue with my coupe. the flywheel did not have a lock when doing the head gasket.

[Beej]

You won’t need a flywheel pin hole, I don’t have one either, because my motor is mated to a G260 in an E30. I am in the process of finishing up my head gasket now. Your timing is off right now, so I wouldn’t bother marking anything. The Pelican Parts article is an excellent guide for most of the process.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tec...aft-Timing.htm


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[bmw328m52]

Some aftermarket flywheels don't have a lock hole, but not a big deal. Drop all the pistons, install camshafts with head, set timing using camshaft blocks(front camshaft lobes should be facing eachother at roughly 45 degree angle), line up tdc marks on crank, install chains, and vanos.

The biggest thing is just rotating the motor several times after you've set timing to make sure there is no valve/piston contact. These are interference motors so you have to be careful. But there are plenty of youtube videos for this. Look up the user "mybimmerspace" on youtube. I have been using his guide for years to set timing on these motors. Good luck!

[ArcticM]

You do know there’s 2 of those marks on the front of the engine you may need to rotate 180 degrees try again.

[ScotcH]

You do know there’s 2 of those marks on the front of the engine you may need to rotate 180 degrees try again.

Ummm, no there is only 1 TDC mark. The cycle may be out 180º (exhaust stroke instead of compression) but the flywheel (and hence the mark) is always in the same spot.

[ArcticM]

Mine has 2 of those marks and I’m 100% sure because I thought this same thing and was baffled why I couldn’t get the pin in then noticed there was another on the opposite side. Rotated the engine to it and the pin went right in no problem.

[Carpy2]

Sorry for the late reply everyone.

As an update I just used the flywheel TDC mark without the pin and continued to take everything off with no further issue. Used the Beisan VANOS seals and anti-rattle kit, and got my head fully inspected and decked ~0.002-0.003".

I was using the soft vise grip jaws you can get from Beisan to grip your VANOS cylinder, and I had to use a breaker bar on my vise to tighten it enough so that it wouldn't spin, basically grinding against itself at that amount of force. That was the scariest moment, loosening that cap/bolt. But in their procedure they claim you cannot damage your cylinder with these soft vise jaws, I tested their claim, and it appears they are right :P

Cleaned the block up, got confused and asked this question: bf.c link, and then proceeded to put everything back together. Do not, and I repeat, do not try and put the cylinder head back on while headers are attached by yourself. I knew I shouldn't but it was sitting there waiting to go on... teasing me... I had to try. My back/arms paid for that one over the next week of course. I was intimidated by retiming the VANOS as I've read multiple places that it can be finicky and require multiple tries. Mine seemed to go on perfectly with 0 fight. So little fight that I took it off and put it back on 2 or 3 times anyways just to make sure I wasn't missing something hehe (or does that mean I'm missing something...).

Put everything else together, got the valve cover on, and on the last nut I sheared the top half of the valve cover stud bolt thing that screws into the cylinder head. It was the far back corner one under the electrical harness and I just put too much horizontal force trying to jam my wrench back there. Was able to get the piece out of the nut with no problem, replaced it, and then put everything back together. Did fluid flushes and then started the car. I then proceeded to freak out for a minute as you can't tell if your engine is blowing up or if it's just the coolant burning off the headers There was a single very loud ticking noise so I googled that and decided it was most similar to lifter tick and read that BMW recommends (or at least bmw forum people say BMW recommends it lol) running at about 3k RPM for a few minutes to resaturate everything with oil properly. So I just went for a normal short drive and when I came back everything was perfectly fine. Super happy with how quiet my VANOS (and engine bay in general) is now. No more marbles for me!

Anyways everything seems to be in working order. I feel like I have more torque but then again I haven't driven the car in a while, so whatever lol. I have 1 unused bolt after all of this (it holds the O2 sensor wire brackets on the back of the cylinder head on), but for some reason I don't have that side of the bracket so we're good. Scared me for a second though because I didn't really remember removing that bolt, nor did I remember there being anything there to remove (which there wasn't, but should have been). So not bad. But yeah that's it.

Got it done with almost 0 issues because of all the resources here and on the internet. Can't thank you all enough! Currently at 192k and can't wait for 200k and beyonddddd

[NeilM]

Do not, and I repeat, do not try and put the cylinder head back on while headers are attached by yourself. I knew I shouldn't but it was sitting there waiting to go on... teasing me... I had to try. My back/arms paid for that one over the next week of course.

I'm sure there's some gym rat who'll say it's no problem, but I definitely agree with you. The head itself is big and awkward, plus the headers unbalance it. Two man job!

I also put a couple of rolled up towels across the block (with new HG in place) before lowering the head. This allows positioning the head approximately without having to worry about exact alignment. Then you can nudge it into the right position, lift each end separately and gently pull out the towels.

Neil