All in - pulling the 4.6 engine and trans to fix oil leaks once and for all

[SlickGT1]

Got damn Stunt I am so jealous of your playground, it isn't even funny. Even though I have an N62, it is threads like this that seem to distract me.

Keep at it, you are doing a good job.

Are you replacing the guides? I would, you went this far, it would be a sin not to do them.

[stunt]

A few tools/parts showed up today. Amazingly, the stuff I ordered online Saturday night from Beisan Systems was delivered by the mailman along with my ODBC cable and software from Romania. I'll probably need a helping hand when the times come to use it.



Speaking of tools, I decided to pick up a 1/4" drive torque wrench since my current ones (3/8" and 1/2" drive) don't go down to the values needed for putting a lot of the covers back on the 4.6.

I like Snap On and have been using these for the last 10 years.



The 3/8" has a usable range of 20 to 100 lb/ft and the 1/2" from 100 to 250 lb/ft. Neither has ever been calibrated, but then I have never dropped them or abused them, so I suspect they are still pretty close.



Looking at Snap On's current offerings in 1/4", they have a 10 to 50 in/lb and a 40 to 200 in/lb in the click type, and a 24 to 240 in/lb in their TECHWRENCH digital series. I found a brand new one of those on eBay for almost half price, so I went with that.



I worked a little on the gasket surfaces this afternoon. Man those old upper timing cover gaskets are so hard and brittle that they break off in chunks. I'll do a similar test on the timing chain guides, but I agree with the consensus here that I should just go ahead and replace them all.



I try to keep all the pieces neatly organized for re-assembly. Whenever possible, I put the fasteners back where they were prior to removing something, and in cases where that is not possible, I arrange them so that I can easily tell where they go.



Finally, we had quite a but of snow last night, so here's an external shot of the shop since you guys have only seen the inside up until now. Oh, and that's the old cracked radiator you see leaning against the wall next to the rear door.

[admranger]

Stunt -- glad to hear you are replacing the guides. I mean, you are essentially going to have a new engine (minus some cylinder wear and wear on the bearings...) and I'm just gun-shy with aging plastics on engines.

But then again, I excel at spending other people's money.

Probably should put in a custom audio system while you're in there... :-)

[stunt]

Originally Posted by admranger

Probably should put in a custom audio system while you're in there... :-)

Lol, already did that.

Zapco DC-501 and DC-656 amps:



Installed:



Tuning:



Running wires



AppRadio 3

[admranger]

Originally Posted by stunt

Lol, already did that.

Zapco DC-501 and DC-656 amps:

Harder and harder not to be jelly... Speakers? (better be a good front sound stage with some nice Hybrid Audio Technology Legatia's -- or Morels in there or you're doing it wrong ). Very clean install. How short is your ground wire run from the amps to the chassis? Might shorten that up to help with ground loop issues. I'd run the power cable from the amps to the right instead of the left like you have it. Avoid power and speaker cables being near each other if at all possible. Ground could go to the lug on the left of the spare tire well with an M10? (whatever a 13mm hex head bolt translates to). BTDT.

Re: your parts list. Replace any rubber fuel lines that run to the engine compartment (are there any? ). Having just replaced the engine mounts on my wife's E46M3, I wouldn't want to do that again anytime soon so I'd replace yours while you are in there if I were you.

[stunt]

So here's my experience replacing my original (I think) water pump 50 miles before I put the truck on the lift to drop the engine.

Here's the OEM on the left and the "OEM Quality" one on the right. Notice the 2 red lines and how they don't line up between the OEM and the non OEM one?



Here's the distance from the flange to the start of the groove:



Same distance transferred to the non OEM pump



Of course I did not discover this until after the pump had been fully installed, so I had to modify my brand new upper radiator hose like this to make it lock in place



It held up fine for the 50 miles I drove it with no leaks, but I knew I had to do something about it.

So watch out for this brand of "OEM quality" pump.



But wait, there's more. Here's the "OEM quality" thermostat that I got (on right)



Well, it allowed coolant to pass through it at all times, so the engine never got to operating temp. Here's the vendor of this one.



Between that and the continuously worsening oil leaks, that is what finally broke the camel's back to so speak and I made the decision to take everything apart.

So based on those experiences, I'm paying the few extra bucks (or a lot in the case of the water pump) to get the real deal.

So my timing kit tool set showed up today:



Got the tensioner in place:



I inserted the flywheel locating pin and chained to the lift to keep the engine from falling off the table



But alas, on the first whack with the small 3 lbs hammer, the locating pin snapped. I know you guys warned me about this...



So I ordered this tool from Pelican along with the CV boot kits and the front drive shaft flex disc (which they had for $76.25 vs. the $116.60 from getbmwparts).



So back to waiting on tools again. I suppose I'll also order another locating pin, but that little guy is pricey by itself at over $30.

So one step forward and two steps backwards.

[stunt]

Originally Posted by admranger

Speakers? (better be a good front sound stage with some nice Hybrid Audio Technology Legatia's -- or Morels in there or you're doing it wrong ).

I haven't decided on speakers yet, but yes, it will be a 3-way active front sound stage. Nothing will be going to the rear door speakers. Also haven't made up my mind on what sub/enclosure to go with yet. That all took a back seat, so to speak, to the engine/transmission issues. I probably should have concentrated on those first.

How short is your ground wire run from the amps to the chassis? Might shorten that up to help with ground loop issues. I'd run the power cable from the amps to the right instead of the left like you have it. Avoid power and speaker cables being near each other if at all possible. Ground could go to the lug on the left of the spare tire well with an M10?

As for power and ground, here's the 4GA sections:



And the 00 sections:





I did this to have enough slack to be able to pull the "amp sandwich" and rest it on the tailgate when I needed to disconnect the battery.

Re: your parts list. Replace any rubber fuel lines that run to the engine compartment (are there any? ). Having just replaced the engine mounts on my wife's E46M3, I wouldn't want to do that again anytime soon so I'd replace yours while you are in there if I were you.

I'll be sure to look them over once I get them cleaned up. But yeah, now would definitely be the time to do them.

[kesslerbmw]

What a beautiful piece of property! Color me jealous...

[four.8is]

Originally Posted by kesslerbmw

What a beautiful piece of property! Color me jealous...

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house"

[kesslerbmw]

Originally Posted by four.8is

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house"

Luckily I'm not his neighbor, and I'm just jealous of the prpoerty!



Stunt, want to get rid of your old radio? The X5 I picked up has some aftermarket TV thing in there that doesn't work well.