Boultman

Success. Got everything back together, and have taken numerous 30+ minute drives. Still tweaking carbs, but got everything else right where it needs to be. I had a small exhaust manifold leak at first. i could hear a very slight, putt putt putt. It was causing the engine to run slightly rough, and spit-out some decent back-fires during harder deceleration. I reused my heat-shield gasket that was on the car. the new gasket kit came with the individual ones, but i wanted the shield and didn't order a new one. It looks perfect. However, i reused the bronze nuts, and i think those can get a little weak and the threads get loose because of how soft it is. It is nice and sealed and running great now, but ultimately i should get a new shield gasket and all new bronze flange nuts. The exhaust manifold is probably the most difficult part of the whole thing, so i'm not super motivated to re-do it all if it works as-is. I only had to add coolant once, after i fired it up. which doesn't seem like much, but maybe the cooling system on this particular car isn't prone to large air bubbles. It's finally getting down to the 60's here, so time to drive! As always, the wealth of knowledge and information on this forum has proven invaluable. Thanks. cheers.

I didn't touch the block. Had the head decked with the upper timing cover. Good call on the 180 degree issue witht he distributor. I have no idea how, because I marked everything. But after a helping hand turning the ignition while I spun the dizzy, it fired right up. Timing mostly dialed and the carb tweaked slightly. Purrs like a kitten. Drove around the block and came back and retorqued the head the final 25 degrees. Need to top off the coolant and tighten down the exhaust manifold a little (hear slight leak) but I think I'm good. I also need to bust out the timing light and Will be tweaking carb (38/38) over the next few days. Cant wait to feel confident enough to really open it up!

quick update. I finally got around to putting the head and everything back in the car. fluids back in this morning. It turns over nice and smooth with no funny noises, which is a relief. Now it's a matter of getting the fuel backed primed, the timing where it needs to be and the carb adjusted (i rebuilt and re-jetted when it was out). It back-fired a few times when i turned it over, so that's a decent sign. FYI, i did the newer torque directions using a Torque wrench to 60 n-m, then 33 degrees on angle gauge. Once i get it running and warmed a couple of times i'll go back in for the final 25 degrees. Seems like a lot!

Fuel was Fresh. I drive the car regularly.

Update. I was able to find a used (virgin) head from a local source, and sent it to my machinist. It is all done and complete and in my garage. It needed to be decked, so i bought a 0.3mm over-sized head gasket. It is time start getting everything together. I don't think timing/clocking will be an issue, as i kept everything in place while the head was out. i just need to clock the cam back to where mine was when i took it out. I'm concerned about Getting all the coolant back into the system and purging all of the air out. I read where i need to "burp" the block, but i'm not really sure what that entails. also. do i use any sort of RTV on the seams where the timing covers mate up at the three-way seam? or anywhere else? it was obviously decked at the same time as the head.... Also, do i need to lubricate anything by hand before i button it all back up? or just put in fresh oil? I plan to change it again after a couple of hundred miles, and check head bolt torques at the same time. fingers crossed...

These links helped. i am going to call them this morning and try to figure out my best route. It seems a turn-key head is the way to go. I do not have a photo of the crack in the head, as it was under the valve seat area, and wasn't discovered until the local machinist (across town) pulled the loose seat. He also mentioned the rocker shaft(s) being warped some.

So, my greatest fear has come true. The head has a small crack in it, under the Exhaust valve seat that came loose. Thus, allowing it to come out slightly, and stick the valve. So... i need a new head. This one isn't worth trying to weld, grind, machine. Are there companies out there that people recommend that sell complete, turn-key 2002 heads with the valvetrain already installed? I think BMW sells the bare heads for about $900. Surely there is a company that sells rebuild heads with all new valves, rockers, etc installed....

i'm not fixing anything on the head, I just wanted to clean up the holes/threads to make sure the studs have enough room to tighten all the way down. We do this at my shop for industrial repairs all the time. we like the run taps during refurbishments to just clean things up.

Looks like seat just came loose and stuck. Anyone know the thread size of the head studs? I want to get a bottom-tap to run down the block after I flush them out.

i'll take a look at the valve stem areas tomorrow. Productivity has ceased for the day, and the intake of pints has begun. the goo you are seeing is almost definitely carbon build-up from running rich. There was a decent amount of time when the car ran really rich (playing with carb) and timing was a little off. The car also had the wrong coil in it (took me a while to diagnose that issue..). So combustion wasn't great either. I'm guessing all of these things lead to most of the build-up. like i said, the car does not burn or leak oil. If it does, it's not enough to add any between 2,500 mile changes. I use Kendall 20w-50. The cylinder walls of 2&3 are perfectly smooth and feel great. I poked on the slider of the chain tensioner quite a bit, and all seems ok. Any recommendations on where i should send the head? are there 2-3 places that most people send their heads? thanks,

Alrighty. Pulled the head. The exhaust valve is definitely stuck, but i have gotten into the head itself to see why. That sounds a job for the person that is going to rebuild it for me. Which leads me to question #1. Who do you guys recommend I ship the head to? Any advise on what to send, or request? Upgrades? Should i have them send all the gaskets as well, or purchase those elsewhere (cheaper)? I did not make note of the bolts that hold the upper timing chain cover on. I'm not 100% which ones were the shorter ones. i'm sure i could research and find out. The head doesn't appear to have any cracks or anything. There are 1-2 weird casting areas, but i'm sure that is normal. photo below. Also, the bolts and brackets that hold the timing sprocket on were bent into the bolts looked odd. The brackets were bent into the bolt heads, like you would a bearing lock washer. is this normal, or something the last person did and shouldn't have? Photo. The timing chain tensioner has a weird chuck out of the corner of it. It isn't anywhere near where the chain actually rides (the photo below makes it look close, but that's just because the sprocket and chain are pulled away from cam..). Issue? lastly, the valve did kiss the top of the piston. which is inevitable i guess. There is no real damage, just a little gouge, and not very deep. more like a deep marking. Photo below. Lots of cleaning to do. I'm mostly concerned about how well i marked the distributor/dizzy and if the timing is going to stay correct when I re-install. I lined the sprocket up and both of the cam lobes closest to it were facing down, with the cylinder all the way up.

it is about 100 lb of force. i was using a flat-head and prying it down... which i'm sure isn't good for the top of the stem, but we are past that... Since that cylinder looked a lot blacker/oilier with the scope, i'm thinking the valve guide was jacked up and eventually lead to the valve sticking, then bending. but the engine didn't use oil or smoke..? and damn... it ran and sounded PERFECT. then i restart the engine after running into a fish market for 10 minutes, and it immediately sounded messed-up. so odd. Record breaking heat today here.. once the heat breaks a little in a week or so, i'll start tearing down the ol'girl. I"ll take photos and try to keep this thread updated. That's the only way we all learn right? thanks again.

I can push the valve further into the head if i push on the top of the stem, but it only comes up about 1/3 the way up, unlike the others. I guess i'll just start pulling everything off. I liked the idea about pull it off with the manifolds still on. I could probably rig-up some sort of hoist. My main concern is getting the timing chain back on, and everything back on just like it should. This would be new territory for me. I have the Haynes manual, so that will help. But the photos in those things were taken with some sort of potato from the mid 80's.

I got a cheap USB borescope off Amazon to take look through the plug hole. The cheap kind works really well, but doesn't allow you to really turn the camera up back toward itself to see the valves. however, the cylinder with the stuck valve looks darker and more oily compared to the others. not sure if this was a longer term thing, or just from the two miles i drove it with the stuck valve. I don't see piston damage, but it is pretty black and coated. but i didn't see any scoring, etc. My options are to pull the head, or just trailer it to a reputable mechanic here in Houston. Does anyone know of a good shop? i'd like to give them a call and see my options before i spend precious weekend hours in my extremely hot garage. I may have asked before, but what do you guys think about purchasing rebuilt heads, and shipping this in for a core? Affect value much, as the engine would be less "original"?

The sound was definitely from the head/top. Where the rocker was tapping on the top of the valve stem that is stuck down. The oil is always spotless. When i lifted the valve cover off, everything looked excellent. Photos below. It sounds like i won't know much else without pulling the head. But these in lies my dilemma. Do i even attempt to get into this thing, or do i tow it off to a reputable indie here in Houston. This would be one of the more involved projects that i've done, but i'm confident that i could get it all done myself. (Head re-done by someone else, and any.. uhhh... bottom end machine that MAY need to be done. However, it's a time issue with me. Two small kids and a demanding and stressful business. Any clue what kind of money we are talking about to have someone else do everything? assuming it needs a top-end rebuild and not much more? What about purchasing a rebuilt head and sending mine in as a core? What kind of money there? Does this take away any value/originality on these cars? Like most things, it is a balance between time and money. I don't mind spending a little extra to have it done really well, correctly, and quickly. We are JUST getting into driving weather down here...

It seems like if i was having valve guide issues, that it would have been a little more progressive. Smoking, or using oil. This car runs like a top, zero smoke, burns zero oil, and has no oil leaks. Which makes this even more of a surprise. I've had all sorts of odd euro toys and have never had anything like this happen. I had an '87 911, and it slowly showed signs of the dreaded 3.2 carrera valve guy issues... slowly burning more and more oil, smoking a little more each start-up over the years...

I bet it's where most of your issue is coming from. It's this piece. The shifter rod jams in there and compresses that weird beige sponge. Then a little pin goes through everything. Those holes get wallowed-out and allows the rod to rotate in the coupler (joint) a few degrees. it doesn't seem like much, but that distance is multiplied quite a bit once it gets to the shift knob in your hand. $30.00 and a couple hours should do the trick. buy the pin too!