Replacing seals in my M20

[6670charger]

Have an oil leak, so planning on tearing apart my M20 next week so I can replace the front crankcase seal, the oil pan and valve cover gaskets and the head gasket.

 

I've done the timing belt once, so I know how to do that much. Anything in particular I need for tools or good heads up with regard to the head and crankcase seal?

 

Thanks.

[straight6pwr]

the front crank bolt can be pretty stuck. you need a stout impact or a looong breaker bars. some people leave the car in 5th, ebrake on and rear wheels on the ground, and some people use the crank pulley holder tool. definitely break it loose before you remove any of the timing stuff.

[andyhundley]

IDK if you know this already but it would be a good idea to get the head resurfaced and new head bolts if your doing a head gasket.

[straight6pwr]

yeah good idea. also, you'll be taking off the entire intake manifold, so you'll want all new gaskets and hoses related to that job. probably should get your intake manifold powdercoated from snapasaurus rex while you're at it.

 

oil leak turns into complete engine tear down = snow balling!

[jc43089]

Oil is cheap, be careful. My car is a pile of parts in a storage unit because "while I'm in there".

Sent from my potato phone.

[6670charger]

IDK if you know this already but it would be a good idea to get the head resurfaced and new head bolts if your doing a head gasket.

 

Already planned on that one. Thanks.

[6670charger]

yeah good idea. also, you'll be taking off the entire intake manifold, so you'll want all new gaskets and hoses related to that job. probably should get your intake manifold powdercoated from snapasaurus rex while you're at it.

 

oil leak turns into complete engine tear down = snow balling!

 

Thanks for that one. I'm planning on most of the rubber parts as nearly everything is original. I'll have to do some extra research to see what all I need there.

[YoungCR]

What headgasket do you plan on buying? The headgasket kit from Victor Rienz is only $80 but I always hear people saying not to use VR headgaskets. That may be coming from guys with more performance mods though.

[B C]

I find myself occasionally running the "if you get that brand of part youre gonna have a bad time" brands in my car and a VR head gasket was one of them. it held up completely fine to boost on my m20.

Id still probably buy a Goteze (spelling??) gasket for absolutely no justifiable reason

[6670charger]

What headgasket do you plan on buying? The headgasket kit from Victor Rienz is only $80 but I always hear people saying not to use VR headgaskets. That may be coming from guys with more performance mods though.

 

Not sure yet. I'm still researching and looking for good sources. It'll probably be a combination of Rock Auto and Ebay. The VR gasket sounds familiar from Rock Auto, though.

[YoungCR]

Not sure yet. I'm still researching and looking for good sources. It'll probably be a combination of Rock Auto and Ebay. The VR gasket sounds familiar from Rock Auto, though.

Here's the kit in reference. AutohausAZ's prices have been hard to beat lately. Kit should have every seal needed but I haven't cross referenced p#'s myself yet.

http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/11129059240

[6670charger]

Here's the kit in reference. AutohausAZ's prices have been hard to beat lately. Kit should have every seal needed but I haven't cross referenced p#'s myself yet.

http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/11129059240

 

Nice find! I see what appears to be the same kit on ebay for nearly $30 more.

[Earl]

I know on m5x/s5x and m42's that the Victor Reinz headgaskets are garbage. If Snap ran his on boost though, I would say you'll be fine.

[6670charger]

Well, I ordered a Victor Reinz gasket and a bunch of other parts yesterday. I'm not running boost on my car; it's just a stock engine and daily driver. Hopefully it will work well and I won't have to do this again any time soon. Changing all water hoses, timing belt/water pump, V-belts, thermostat, crankshaft pos sensor, head bolts, front crankshaft seal, and will do valve adjustment when assembly complete. Will also get the head surfaced. I can see oil dripping from the head on the passenger side when the car runs, so I think that's where the primary leak is. May also replace the hood release cable and lube the latch while I'm under there and things are apart.

[6670charger]

Well, got started today on the head gasket. Got as far as getting the timing belt removed, valve cover off, and the throttle cables and throttle body removed from the intake. Tomorrow comes removal of the exhaust manifolds and then the head, then removal of the intake and other items from the head so it can go in for surfacing. The only pesty thing so far is trying to remove the hex bolt that attaches the Crankshaft position sensor. Hoping that removing the head will create more clearance for a vise grips to work. The hex part has stripped.

 

Tomorrow will also begin the cleaning process for the block and engine bay. Want this puppy clean when I put it together.

[B C]

Bring me all the crabs.

Did you make sure to forget to align the cam sprocket and crank at TDC like some of us do?

[6670charger]

Bring me all the crabs. Did you make sure to forget to align the cam sprocket and crank at TDC like some of us do?

 

Actually I didn't. I have a pretty good DYI from Bimmerforums. The car won't move so the bottom end will stay put. The only thing I'll have to do is make sure I have the top end set right before I put the head back on, and then verify again. My main concern is making sure I get all the various hoses reconnected to the right things. I managed to get most of them marked with tape. Have one or two not.

[6670charger]

Got the head loose yesterday. Don't have it out of the car yet as I ran out of time before we had to take our son for high school registration and then get dinner. Today will pull it out of the car and disassemble the intake from it. The exhaust mani nuts came off really easy which was the part I was dreading most. Then the huge cleaning job as there is oil and grease all over everywhere. Somewhere in there is also the front crankshaft seal. Gonna leave the rear one for the shop if it needs to be done, as I'm not going to deal with trying to pull the trans in the driveway. Wouldn't mind it on a rack, but not going to deal with wrestling a transmission under a car with only three feet of wiggle room.

 

So far everything has come apart really well. Hopefully reassembly goes as well. I'll post a few more pics later today after I get the head out of the car.

[jc43089]

Good work!

Sent from my potato phone.

[6670charger]

Got the head out yesterday and off to the shop for surfacing. Now comes the cleaning and painting. Won't get to the reassembly until next week as several parts aren't scheduled to arrive until MON/TUE. Have plenty of cleaning to keep me busy though.

 

Everything came apart astoundingly easily, even the exhaust mani nuts. Did have cause for a near heart attack yesterday though. I was having a problem getting the torx screw that holds the crank position sensor out of the holder and so decided to tap it with a hammer. Two taps and the whole thing broke off! For about five seconds I had thought that the head was shot, thinking that the mount was cast into the head, until I realized that the holder was bolted on. Called BMW and they actually had one they could get for about $7.

[GunMetalGrey]

Where did you take the head to be machined? 
If it is Automotive Supply I would call them up and tell them not to touch it. 
They have done nothing but ruin parts that I or others have brought there. 

[6670charger]

Where did you take the head to be machined? 

If it is Automotive Supply I would call them up and tell them not to touch it. 

They have done nothing but ruin parts that I or others have brought there. 

 

Dropped it off with my Indy down the street. They sent it out to a shop they trust. Don't know the name. I'm sure it wasn't Automotive Supply, though.

[B C]

If it WAS Automotive Supply then you would know instantly from the head being machined down 2000 thousandths of an inch in which your valve heads would be machined right off.

[6670charger]

Found out the shop is Kramer & Ridge. They have found that the head is damaged to the point that it would probably have to be machined quite a bit. They are suggesting replacing it. Anyone have a decent 325 head that would work well on an "I" engine, or recommendations on which one to look for?

[6670charger]

Well, at sort of a stand-still for now on the project. Need to find a new head optimally as I don't have faith that the current one can be repaired and surfaced well enough to make it work. That said, there don't seem to be many heads out there for much under $450. Gonna have to wait a few weeks until my wife gets home from her trip to Switzerland that she and her family have been planning for months, and maybe then I can get Humpty Dumpty back together again.

 

My fallback options are to either sell the car as-is and hope to get something decent for it considering its overall condition, or else part it out.

 

Eric

[Earl]

Definitely not grounds to part out the car lol.