Flash-Gordon
Honorary ///Member
:biglol::roflol:
:bravo:
:bravo:
-
Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Chef's E39 530d
- Thread starter ChefDJ
- Start date
RAArmstrong
///Member
I wouldn't mind both actually!! :inlove::rollsmile:
cOlDFuSiOn
New member
Awesome! :thumbs: I want a 7 too!!
P
petrivanzyl
Guest
Whose 7 is that?:fencelook:
raise: 
RAArmstrong
///Member
Chef's E39 is HOT :inlove:
I think I may have mentioned something along these lines before :rollsmile:
I think I may have mentioned something along these lines before :rollsmile:
ChefDJ
///Member
Okay...
So the adjusters have arrived :joy:
They look a lot bigger and stronger than what I thought, seeing as they break so easily :fencelook:
But they are here, and it's time to prepare roast headlamp a la Chef :rollsmile:
Thinking of doing it this Saturday. Will attempt it myself, but I want to know if anybody is willing to be around for....... Motivational support and possible help? :rollsmile:
:fencelook::fencelook::fencelook:
So the adjusters have arrived :joy:
They look a lot bigger and stronger than what I thought, seeing as they break so easily :fencelook:
But they are here, and it's time to prepare roast headlamp a la Chef :rollsmile:
Thinking of doing it this Saturday. Will attempt it myself, but I want to know if anybody is willing to be around for....... Motivational support and possible help? :rollsmile:
:fencelook::fencelook::fencelook:
D
Dippies
Guest
:fencelook: ill support you from here
RAArmstrong
///Member
If I was in your area I'd be up for some roast headlights :rollsmile:
ChefDJ
///Member
Before I get started, I'd like to give a major thanks to the following Fanatics:
@ Colin (herr bmw) for the hands-on help with the entire project, offering and providing us with your garage and your tools for the project, for the good laughs and jokes... And for having a wife and son readily available to provide the amateur mechanics with coffee and lunch! And to run out for some special spares (thanks Anette!).
@ Gordon (Flash-Gordon) also for hands-on help throughout the project, for all the trouble you went through to get to us, and for bringing everything needed for the project... Especially the 100 meter roll of bubblewrap which we didn't even get to use!
@ Peter (a1exander) for all the technical assistance and virtual help you provided over the phone to all of us. You gave a lot of insight and understanding to us when we needed it most and you were very accommodating by letting us get hold of you whenever we needed to. Also, for really taking an interest in what we were doing (even though you weren't there), for phoning back to make sure everything was okay and I can go on and on.......
The three of you are really and truly Fanatics at heart :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:
And so thank you again to you all :ty:
_________________________________________________
On to it then.
I'm guessing most of you know why one would choose to have the dreaded swirl flaps removed from your beloved diesel engine. If you don't, in a nutshell: the swirl flaps are there to control the air-fuel mix to aid in fuel economy and probable lower-RPM torque for more power. The swirl flaps are closed at idle speed (but still allow air to pass through) and increase slowly until about 2000 RPM where they will be fully open. These swirl flaps get pretty dirty and can either eventually get stuck in a closed position, throwing up an error, or even more seriously and infamously braking away from their mountings and entering the engine, thus causing major engine damage.
The removal of the swirl flap is merely to avoid damage in my case :thumbs:
I bought my swirl flap blanks from eBay for around a total cost of R430.00 including shipping.
I got a bit bored one evening
:rollsmile:
There are many DIY's on the internet which you can use, with detailed instructions on how to go about doing the whole procedure. However, not one of them was 100%. There were a few steps missing and so I'm posting this to inform, rather than a full DIY.
The patient in the operating theater
Removing the manifold required removing the EGR, as you wouldn't be able to get the manifold back into place if the EGR was still connected to it. The EGR has 4 bolts holding it in place, one of which seemed to be a bastard to get on and off, as Colin will surely agree to, after loosing it to the depths of the hungry engine bay...
Also, in no DIY did it mention all the extra plugs and parts that need removing at the back end (closest end to the windscreen) in order for the manifold to be removed completely. The fuel pressure sensor is one, held in place with a bolt. Another is a part for which I have no name, which controls the actual rod that opens and closes the swirl flaps.
To get to this area of the engine it is highly recommended to remove the two cabin filter houses, and the plastic cover between these two filters, held into place with 4 plastic bolts that require a quarter turn to remove/replace. There is also a clip behind this cover that holds a pipe into place, so be careful not to just rip the thing off, as some frustrated people might tend to do...
Manifold removed, rubber gaskets removed, and swirl flaps already out
This next pic shows where the manifold sits. The six rectangular holes are the ports that the swirl flaps control. These ports lead directly into the engine. If you drop something in these ports, you need to strip the engine before you can start it again. These open ports caused many new grey hairs on my head, as one of the rubber gaskets/o-rings that connect to the bolts that hold the manifold in place, actually fell in there. LUCKILY the ports lead into a bend, and this little item stopped at the bend and was visible. If Gordon hadn't spotted it by chance, I would have been sitting with a damaged engine... I used a magnet to remove the piece from the port, as it had a metal washer attached to it.
I suggest closing these ports with a rag the very second the manifold lifts off the bolts that hold it in place, as we struggled with this problem over and over...
The swirl flaps, a little dirty but still in good condition luckily
Colin used some petrol to clean the EGR
Colin was playing with my nutsack
In the process of removing the swirl flaps and replacing with the blanks
The newly fitted blanks
This is the rod that controlled the swirl flaps, and the part which cannot be named
Reassembling what needed to be reassembled
We were advised to tighten the bolts holding the manifold in place to 22Nm of torque, and this happened
After this happened, we were correctly advised by Peter that these bolts may only be tightened to a maximum of 10Nm....
So we tightened them by hand...
Once the job was done, Colin decided that the engine needed cleaning
So the job was done and I headed home.
Unfortunately.... Murphy is a bastard. For if it can go wrong, it will go wrong.
On my way home, I noticed a terrible lag in power. The car wouldn't rev above 2000 RPM, and I could barely make it up a hill. The hill was long, so I was stressing... I contacted Colin and Flash to let them know, and immediately got in touch with Peter once more. I described the symptoms and Peter advised that it must be a vacuum leak.
The vacuum pipe that controlled the swirl flap rod (and the part which cannot be named) was very brittle. One touch and it would break. This pipe we blocked off as it couldn't connect back to the unnamed part, as it had broken off. But the block didn't work because the pipe was broken further down the line as well.
Peter advised we need to get a pipe block off, but it was Saturday night at around 19h00. We found a Midas in Pretoria which was open until 21h00, and so we got some extra pipes. They had no block offs. We returned home, loosened the extra tight bolts on the manifold (as advised by Peter) and left it at that for the night.
Sunday morning, Colin came through and we started work on the car. He managed to get the broken ends of the bolts out, as they broke outside of the bolt inlet.
We eventually got to the broken pipe, cut it short and filled the hole with some glue from a glue gun, inserted a nail to act as a cap for the pipe, and then covered the end of the pipe with more glue. It worked! No more vacuum leak.
If I have forgotten any important steps here, please feel free to add :thumbs:
Again, a major major thanks to Colin, Gordon and Peter. You guys really helped me through what was a pretty tough and stressful situation, even though the other DIY's made it look so easy.
Big ups to you three :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:
@ Colin (herr bmw) for the hands-on help with the entire project, offering and providing us with your garage and your tools for the project, for the good laughs and jokes... And for having a wife and son readily available to provide the amateur mechanics with coffee and lunch! And to run out for some special spares (thanks Anette!).
@ Gordon (Flash-Gordon) also for hands-on help throughout the project, for all the trouble you went through to get to us, and for bringing everything needed for the project... Especially the 100 meter roll of bubblewrap which we didn't even get to use!
@ Peter (a1exander) for all the technical assistance and virtual help you provided over the phone to all of us. You gave a lot of insight and understanding to us when we needed it most and you were very accommodating by letting us get hold of you whenever we needed to. Also, for really taking an interest in what we were doing (even though you weren't there), for phoning back to make sure everything was okay and I can go on and on.......
The three of you are really and truly Fanatics at heart :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:
And so thank you again to you all :ty:
_________________________________________________
On to it then.
I'm guessing most of you know why one would choose to have the dreaded swirl flaps removed from your beloved diesel engine. If you don't, in a nutshell: the swirl flaps are there to control the air-fuel mix to aid in fuel economy and probable lower-RPM torque for more power. The swirl flaps are closed at idle speed (but still allow air to pass through) and increase slowly until about 2000 RPM where they will be fully open. These swirl flaps get pretty dirty and can either eventually get stuck in a closed position, throwing up an error, or even more seriously and infamously braking away from their mountings and entering the engine, thus causing major engine damage.
The removal of the swirl flap is merely to avoid damage in my case :thumbs:
I bought my swirl flap blanks from eBay for around a total cost of R430.00 including shipping.
I got a bit bored one evening
:rollsmile:
There are many DIY's on the internet which you can use, with detailed instructions on how to go about doing the whole procedure. However, not one of them was 100%. There were a few steps missing and so I'm posting this to inform, rather than a full DIY.
The patient in the operating theater
Removing the manifold required removing the EGR, as you wouldn't be able to get the manifold back into place if the EGR was still connected to it. The EGR has 4 bolts holding it in place, one of which seemed to be a bastard to get on and off, as Colin will surely agree to, after loosing it to the depths of the hungry engine bay...
Also, in no DIY did it mention all the extra plugs and parts that need removing at the back end (closest end to the windscreen) in order for the manifold to be removed completely. The fuel pressure sensor is one, held in place with a bolt. Another is a part for which I have no name, which controls the actual rod that opens and closes the swirl flaps.
To get to this area of the engine it is highly recommended to remove the two cabin filter houses, and the plastic cover between these two filters, held into place with 4 plastic bolts that require a quarter turn to remove/replace. There is also a clip behind this cover that holds a pipe into place, so be careful not to just rip the thing off, as some frustrated people might tend to do...
Manifold removed, rubber gaskets removed, and swirl flaps already out
This next pic shows where the manifold sits. The six rectangular holes are the ports that the swirl flaps control. These ports lead directly into the engine. If you drop something in these ports, you need to strip the engine before you can start it again. These open ports caused many new grey hairs on my head, as one of the rubber gaskets/o-rings that connect to the bolts that hold the manifold in place, actually fell in there. LUCKILY the ports lead into a bend, and this little item stopped at the bend and was visible. If Gordon hadn't spotted it by chance, I would have been sitting with a damaged engine... I used a magnet to remove the piece from the port, as it had a metal washer attached to it.
I suggest closing these ports with a rag the very second the manifold lifts off the bolts that hold it in place, as we struggled with this problem over and over...
The swirl flaps, a little dirty but still in good condition luckily
Colin used some petrol to clean the EGR
Colin was playing with my nutsack
In the process of removing the swirl flaps and replacing with the blanks
The newly fitted blanks
This is the rod that controlled the swirl flaps, and the part which cannot be named
Reassembling what needed to be reassembled
We were advised to tighten the bolts holding the manifold in place to 22Nm of torque, and this happened
After this happened, we were correctly advised by Peter that these bolts may only be tightened to a maximum of 10Nm....
So we tightened them by hand...
Once the job was done, Colin decided that the engine needed cleaning
So the job was done and I headed home.
Unfortunately.... Murphy is a bastard. For if it can go wrong, it will go wrong.
On my way home, I noticed a terrible lag in power. The car wouldn't rev above 2000 RPM, and I could barely make it up a hill. The hill was long, so I was stressing... I contacted Colin and Flash to let them know, and immediately got in touch with Peter once more. I described the symptoms and Peter advised that it must be a vacuum leak.
The vacuum pipe that controlled the swirl flap rod (and the part which cannot be named) was very brittle. One touch and it would break. This pipe we blocked off as it couldn't connect back to the unnamed part, as it had broken off. But the block didn't work because the pipe was broken further down the line as well.
Peter advised we need to get a pipe block off, but it was Saturday night at around 19h00. We found a Midas in Pretoria which was open until 21h00, and so we got some extra pipes. They had no block offs. We returned home, loosened the extra tight bolts on the manifold (as advised by Peter) and left it at that for the night.
Sunday morning, Colin came through and we started work on the car. He managed to get the broken ends of the bolts out, as they broke outside of the bolt inlet.
We eventually got to the broken pipe, cut it short and filled the hole with some glue from a glue gun, inserted a nail to act as a cap for the pipe, and then covered the end of the pipe with more glue. It worked! No more vacuum leak.
If I have forgotten any important steps here, please feel free to add :thumbs:
Again, a major major thanks to Colin, Gordon and Peter. You guys really helped me through what was a pretty tough and stressful situation, even though the other DIY's made it look so easy.
Big ups to you three :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:
