E34 M60 Gaskets and things

[zaleonardz]

So its December, I have time...

My M60 has been pissing various liquids since the day that I got it, I sorted out the major/serious ones quickly, but I now want to attend to the rest, as well as sort out vacuum leaks.

So for starters I am planning.
Clean the crap out of the motor
All intake gaskets (TB, ICV ect)
Cam cover seal
Inspection sump and main sump seal
Check and tighten oil pump.
Find that frikken Noisy pulley and fix
Replace belts
Replace PCV
Replace Theromostat
Replace water pump (maybe)
Seal up radiator
Change oil and filter
Replace valve cover gaskets
Check tensioner and maybe replace (if thats where the noise is coming
from)
Spray valve covers
Jack up the engine and adjust the steering box while I am in there...

What else should I do while I am in there.
I know there is cooling pipes that runs through the block, should I be looking at those seals as well ...?

I am also considering changing out the viscus fan for electric, although this prob wont happen.

Any advice, I am going to be stripping down most of the top and front of the motor, so I may as well get in there proper.

 

[Jandre]

Seems december is 540 month. We (Rick and me) will be taking out the starter and replace, maybe the flexplate as well. Also I have a small water leak on the neck of the expansion tank, so that's gotta go. While we're at it, she's getting a few new lifters as well.

 

[zaleonardz]

This ladies and gentleman, is beyond shocking.....

Its obviously leaking out of the cam cover, and who knows for how many years the crap has been collection.

So for sure I will have to do timing cover gaskets, fairly big job awaiting for me....

 

[Sankekur]

Ewww If you need some help give me shout, even if it is only to help you clean that engine

 

[zaleonardz]

Sankekur,

Your welcome dude, I am going to be in the garage all of tomorrow, have lots to do, which includes further stripping down the BMW... So if ur bored, come through.

I also finished assembling the bottom end of the Pontiac this evening, so tomorrow more bits will go on, going to be doing the heads, oil, and stuff....

 

[MikeR]

:thumbsup: have fun....

 

[zaleonardz]

I am not going to even post pics I am so damm ashamed.

There is a 3mm layer of dirt everywhere, its downright impossible to see where the leaks are coming from.

I kid you not, from the cam covers down to the sump, I recon this motor has never been cleaned.

So I have stripped out the waterpump, crank gears and other stuff, I have decent coverage on the front of the motor, and I am now just going to start cleaning.

How does one test a tensioner I wonder... anybody with any idea's ?

I have a grrring noise when I turn on the aircon, it still works, I removed the tensioner from the aircon belt, and it "seems" fine, so guess its bad news for me.

I am on garage duty tomorrow, who is coming to help

 

[Sankekur]

As far as I know you test a tensioner by giving it a spin, it should spin freely and easily and there should be no play along the shaft (ie no wobble), this is just the wheel bit I have no idea how to test the actual tensioning function.

I could pop over and give a hand, enjoy cleaning car stuff, kinda gives me this feeling that something that is clean has less chance of giving problems or going wrong

 

[zaleonardz]

So no camera as it kinda went on holiday with my folks.

But Sankekur and Uber came to visit me today, after visiting about 5 scrapyards just cause its fun, we started on the E34.

So, good news, the motor is not leaking nearly as badly as what I thaught, the problem is it just has not been cleaned in years, and the "crap cake" is on everywhere, so I am not going to strip it down just yet, I am just going to clean it, drive it for a couple of months, and then check the leak, apart from the main front seal, i think thats where the leak is coming from.

Waterpump is fine, and it has a composite type impeller, looks fairly new, so I am just going to put that back...

Now, strip out the sump, and you have 3 neat bolts at the bottom of the sump, you guessed it, oil pump kinda just decided it did not like them anymore.

I also found that one "repair" done at some point meant a stud for the oil pump was never inserted, therefore the oil pump was not attached properly, meaning that at any time, I could have lost my motor simply because of that... So essentially this lil DIY saved my motor.

We also "polished" the intake ports, and have started cleaning the motor, which is going to be one hell of a tough job, but all is well.

I'll post some pics at a later point, but thanks very much to Sankekur for his assistance today with the cleanup, appreciate it dude :thumbsup:

 

[Uber Soldat]

Apologies for leaving so early Mr LZ. Didn't get home in time to do what i needed to do either, so should have just stayed :banghead:

Tis a good think you decided to take off that sump. I was actually disappointed that there weren't any bolts lying in mine. :mmm:

You're more than welcome to borrow those tools i spoke about to remove the "jesus" nut.

Thanks for the scrapyard tour today. Very much appreciated... :thumbsup:

 

[zaleonardz]

pleasure Uber, Yea, i may need too..

I will start pricing gaskets in the new year, that valey pan is going to suck....

 

[Uber Soldat]

hmm...it didn't look like the valley pan was leaking at all though. I suppose if you have everything off, you might as well do it if you have the money to throw around.

Be warned though, those intake manifold gaskets are apparently quite pricey.

By the way, forgot to thank you for the lunch! How much do i owe you for that?

 

[zaleonardz]

A worn toenail, and a chia pet

It looked like they valley pan was leaking around back, besides its soooooooo mucky in there, and I really want to have it cleaned.

Maybe I should have just left it, we broke two of the nuts off, so thats going to be an issue, but what the hell.

I am more worried about that front main seal.

 

[Uber Soldat]

I'll throw in a jelly tot as well. :spit:

Regarding the nuts *insert my father*

Don't worry so much, front main seal is not a problem to replace when you have the correct tools.

 

[Sankekur]

Was a big pleasure LZ :thumbsup:

That engine is going to look good once it is properly cleaned up on the outside, almost as good as the inside is looking.

The visit to the scrap yards was pretty awesome and fruitful as I came back with this:

Yup that's right, that's a xenon headlight from a e46 ti

I am pretty chuffed with my find (Now it is onward with with my super-awesome headlight project)

 

[zaleonardz]

Looking forward to the results of this one, so keep the results coming Sankekur..

The E34 also wants dual projectors

 

[Sankekur]

We should definitely try and do something like that

 

[zaleonardz]

Been working at this a bit today and last night...

All I can say is may the motherducker that decided to be a cheap ass and seal the upper timing chain covers with silicone instead of spending money on the right gaskets swallow his own frikken hand and choke to death.

That motor is filthy filthy filthy, and I am getting grossed out the more I touch it, I am also removing way more bits then what I wanted to, if I knew it was going to be this tough, I would (and may still) just pull the damm motor and do this on a stand, this upside down scrubbing is for the birds.

I am not kidding, my wife had to scrub me in the shower with a degreasing agent, and not in a fun way, I dont think I am ever going to get my nails clean again....

The only thing that seems to be working is petrol and a paint brush, my degreasing agent runs away in panic,

Although, pulling an engine to clean it is going a bit far right ?

 

[Sankekur]

No, pulling the engine just to clean it is not going to far , Anyhow if you are going to be replacing a lot of the gaskets etc it might better and easier to just pull the engine out and get it over with. Let me know if you need a spare set of hands, for the engine to drop on to, or to get stuck between the head and the firewall

 

[zaleonardz]

Well, I was aiming for the gearbox bolts and my dad calcmed me down and pointed out that I am, half way done. And the engine stand is still busy, so I will just carry on at my current space.

Going to place a serious effort on it next weekend. Spent the day sorting out mouse chewed alarm cable... These fsckers know how to bite without hitting positive and negative