REPLACING TIMING CHAIN GUIDE RAILS

[IanP]

Have you cleaned right up inside the oil pickup?I just fitted a new one, and took the old one apart. I found that the only part of the strainer clear was the part visible in the hole.

[Sergei-e]

Yes, I have cleaned the strainer using a stiff wire and pulled a lot of plastic bits and aluminium shavings from there, then I flashed it with varsol to make sure that he pipe is clean inside. Everything seems to be pristine clean. The only my concern is with the strainer screen slightly tilted inside its housing (not flat against the bottom plate). Is the strainer screen in your new suction pipe positioned the same way or it is mine still have bits of plastic jammed at circumference not allowing the screen to seat flat?
Thank you.

[Sergei-e]

Originally Posted by m5james

Wow, there was quite a bit of stuff in there!
...

I'm not sure which bolt you're talking about possibly stripping...any chance of a picture? I work at Boeing as a mechanic on the 787 and you'd be blown away at some of the obscene angles my guys have to work in order to remove bolts, collars, etc from the airplane. If needed, maybe some retail therapy and a quick run to Harbor Freight, Sears, etc to buy some tools could save you a ton of headache.

That was a harmonic balancer bolt (aka Jesus bolt). After first unsuccessful attempt of removing it (which ended up with a snapped square on my 1/2 break bar) I have done some research on what takes to remove it:
Lower chain case cover removal and reinstallation (M62TU) - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum
...and what happens when things go wrong:
Broken Crank bolt removal - LS1TECH
Having no desire of extending this project into removing a broken bolt out of the crankshaft I took this task seriously and followed instructions given by nesikachad - if you happened to read this, thank you - your instructions worked great!
The night before the new assault on the bolt I generously sprayed High Performance Penetrant in area around the bolt trying to reach behind its flange. Next morning I wrapped a strip of wet rag around the seal at the base of the crank snout and used a heat gun to heat up the hub (with the tool locking the crank shaft installed in place). After 5 - 10 minutes traces of white smoke began to appear around the bolt head - time for the action! I grabbed a break bar (this time it was 3/4") and put my weight on it. The bolt moved at about a half of the torque that took me last time to snap the square on my 1/2" break bar. Not bad at all - great advice, nesikachad! I have removed the special tool and the hub, still being warm, slid off of the sprocket without need of a puller tool.
With this road block removed I kept planking on removing components on my way to the chain guides. It took some extra time to remove the lower chain cover - in addition to the 15 bolts shown on the diagram there are 6 more holding the cover from the bottom through the upper oil pan (they are shown on a different diagram). There is also one stud holding the power steering pump and the alternator housing together with a nut located at the back where there were absolutely now room for my hands. I had to move the cover with the pump attached to create some room and only then was able to remove that nut and free up the cover.
...Currently all the guides are off. After examination, in addition to a completely destroyed plastic of Deflection Rail (V-rail), I found plastic lining chipped away here and there on other components and planning on replacing all the plastic linings in the rails. I will install new: Deflection Rail, Chain Tensioner, and the Guide Rail, but planning on replacing only Sliding Pieces (4 of them) in the upper chain Tensioners.
...Not too much I can do now before these parts show up.

[IanP]

Originally Posted by Sergei-e

Yes, I have cleaned the strainer using a stiff wire and pulled a lot of plastic bits and aluminium shavings from there, then I flashed it with varsol to make sure that he pipe is clean inside. Everything seems to be pristine clean. The only my concern is with the strainer screen slightly tilted inside its housing (not flat against the bottom plate). Is the strainer screen in your new suction pipe positioned the same way or it is mine still have bits of plastic jammed at circumference not allowing the screen to seat flat?
Thank you.

I seem to remember that the new one was flat.........

[Sergei-e]

Here is the last update on the project as of tonight - all chains and gears and all the plastic components removed.
...Waiting for the new parts to arrive.

[steelheader]

do You both work for goodrich and boeing? I know they have plants in kitchner and everett wa ?

[J.Belknap]

Originally Posted by Sergei-e

...Waiting for the new parts to arrive.

Good stuff man, making progress.

[Sergei-e]

Originally Posted by J.Belknap

Good stuff man, making progress.

Hi J.Belknap,

While waiting for the parts I would like to clean oil lines from all the aluminium shavings that got through the strainer and possibly (I hope not) through the filter. My main concern is about the oil pump since my filter was plugged with shavings and bits of plastic (all of them went through the oil pump).
It seems to be yet another extended project to remove the oil pump. Would it possible something like flushing the system with fresh oil (or purging it with compressed air) without dismounting and disassembling the oil pump? If I disconnect the pipes at the oil filter and pump fresh oil through would it help anyhow or all this is just wasting time and I need to drop the oil pump for a proper clean up?
I very appreciate your help.

Thank you.

[IanP]

I know you are not going to like hearing this, but here goes. My engine had the same failure as yours, and as I didnt catch it in time, the tensioners were well grenaded. Ther car was taken to an Indy who replaced all the chains, tensioners, vanos units etc and told me it was good to go.
I did about 500 miles and then knocked a bottom end out.
This time I took the engine out of the car and repaired it myself.
The pump suction filter had choked, losing all oil pressure, and as BMW do not provide an oil pressure gauge you dont get an early warning.
On stripping the engine it was obvious that parts from the earlier tensioner failure had not been properly cleaned out, the oil galleries were full of shavings as with your filter, and the oil pump was dead.
To change the oil pump requires the sump pan to come off, and the front drive shafts go through this. Its not an easy job, and probably better to take the engine out if you really think it is neccesary. But even after doing this there will still be bits floating around the oil system if you dont clean the engine internally.
You might be lucky and get away without stripping the engine, but a failed bottom end is a real PITA.
Apparently BMW Germany have a couple of cranks left, I had mine metal sprayed......

[Sergei-e]

Thank you IanP for telling your story. I am really sorry to hear about your vehicle and you experience with its repair. The information, however, is very helpful for me.
Still waiting for the parts to arrive, tonight I have taken apart the oil filter part of the lubrication system - detached all the hoses and purged them with clean oil and compressed air, dismounted the filter housing and thoroughly washed it with Varsol. Overall everything was not too bad - no visible chunks of Al shavings any more, although I could see shining clouds of tiny Al particles in the varsol while cleaning.
Thank you for pointing out to the oil pump. I will take my chance of not dropping the oil pump - this will be a separate project, if I need to. Instead I will attach a tee at the pressure switch outlet of the oil filter housing and run a copper tubing to a pressure gauge (thank you for the hint) that I am going to install inside the cabin to monitor my oil pressure during this transition period (for a couple of months). I will also change the filter and drop the oil pan and clean out any residue and build-up in the pan and suction pipe again in a couple of days after firing the engine after repair. Most likely I will change the oil, too (will be pending on the condition of the filter).
BTW, what is the pressure range in the oil line for a regular operation? I will size the pressure gauge accordingly.
Thank you.