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When it rains it pours.. (wall of text inside!)


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So my 1600 is languishing in the garage with a slew of problems that all hit at once! 

 

First off, it my exhaust. My IE one fell apart (the welds snapped on both mounting brackets), and the clamps on it just would not hold the sections together. The car was up on the lift weekly, I was having to re-adjust to remedy the pipes banging away on the rear sub frame. So i had a custom system made up. That didn't turn out so well. The guy simply cut up the IE exhaust, and welded in a magnaflow muffler, and did his own mounting system. I've been back there 3 times to have him fix it (more banging on the subframe. Plus, it mounted too rigidly. I am not going back for a 4th time. I want to go with a factory turbo system, but I have an early 1600 with a long neck dif. Is the mounting/routing the same as it would be for short neck dif. cars? the space the pipe has to run through between the sub frame and the neck of the dif, looks tight!

 

The too rigidly mounted exhaust I believe lead to my next problem....My freshly ceramic coated Stahl header is literally coming apart at the seams. EVERY weld where the runners meet the mounting flange has a crack....from minor to major. The collector has black soot spots in 3 different locations, indicating at least 3 different leaks. So a new header is in order. Whats my best option (durability wise, and performance) for a street car? I was just going to pull the trigger on a IE stage 2 unit, but I thought I'd ask and see what other options might be.

 

Next up...it gets worse. I was backing out of the driveway last week, and the brake pedal went almost to the floor. So, back up the driveway and into the garage I went!  Pull the hood, and low and behold I see my brake fluid reservoir is half empty. I pull up the floor mat and carpet on the drivers side to reveal the pedal box....and yep, a nice big puddle of brake fluid in the pedal box. Great. So now I'm confounded with directions to go here, as the car still has all of the old single circuit hardware in it. Do i swap out the MC for a 320i one, and be done with it? How can I get the car to a two circuit system with single line calipers? Much research to be done here!

 

AND THEN next, it gets worse. at the same time as I was backing out of the driveway, and the brake pedal almost goes to the floor...the car is also suddenly running like crap. I've checked timing, valve clearances, plug wires, coil connections, physical condition of the valve train, ...nothing. Everything looks ok. Compression is even across all cylinders as well.  The engine oil looks ok too; no brown foam. Check the coolant; nice and green. I pull off the header (which has to come off anyway) and I see that the entries for runners 1, 2, & 4 have that normal black, dry sooty coating....but runner #3 is black and oily! I check the exhaust ports on the head....same story. Oil inside the port, and all around the gasket sealing area.  

 

temporary_zpszc2ak7xs.jpg

 

A 1 piece gasket/heat shield was used, and the ports for this don't match up exactly with a 118 cylinder head exhaust port, as you can see from the pic above. This didn't seem to be an issue however....for a long time, it ran just fine. Did I blow the head gasket? break a ring? I guess the only way to find out is to pull the head, and see where this rabbit hole takes me....

 

 

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Is the mounting/routing the same as it would be for short neck dif. cars?

 

> Can't imagine they are different. The pipe runs besides driveshaft and diff and not overneath.

 

Do i swap out the MC for a 320i one, and be done with it? How can I get the car to a two circuit system with single line calipers?

 

> Not at all. If you have single line calipers, you can divide the system into rear and front  circuit, but this isn't really an upgrade.

 

I guess the only way to find out is to pull the head, and see where this rabbit hole takes me....

 

> Yep. But to make sure you don't need to buy a head set, check the compression before. But it's not unlikely that the head gasket is torn between two cylinders- no unusual event.

 

Good luck and success!

 

Henning

Edited by Henning
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Regarding header/manifold.  I would go with a tii cast iron manifold.  It will last and last and last (and last).  I recall reading sometime ago that Jerry Stahl (Stahl Headers) had admitted that there was no improvement on exhaust flow for the headers he was selling with primary pipes 1-1/2" and less.  So essentially, with his headers you would have to be running something like 1-5/8" - 1-3/4" primaries to get any sort of improvement....and of course there are downsides to using large diameter headers on street cars.  I always thought it was interesting that he had admitted that (lack of improvement for an item costing 500+ dollars).  I have seen that same tii manifold port matched to the head (ports were opened up slightly and then the manifold matched exactly to the port).  Alpina ran a number of their street engines 125-160 hp on standard manifolds.  IMO it is a great option for a street driven car (porting or not).  Good luck with your car.

 

http://www.alpinabmw2002.com

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Are you running a flex pipe behind the header?  My exhaust has a flex pipe so it can be a tad more fluid.  Something like this just after the header.  From what I understand the Turbo exhaust does not just bolt in and it uses different mounting locations.  Good exhaust system though but its not a simple plug and play.  You might wanna ask locally who has experience with 02 exhaust systems…mine came from Le Tran. Everything from the header back to the tail pipe.  2 Magnaflow mufflers.  it was used, its been on my car 5 years without a hiccup.  Whoever made it for him did it right.  Time to swap out the mufflers as they have lost their packing and are basically straight pipes now.  Just depends on what you are looking for.  Spend $500 on a system that will need another $200 in installation and if that guy does it wrong its still not right, or spend $350 on a knowledgeable guy to build you a system that works and lasts.

1976 BMW 2002 Fjord Blue Ireland Stage II • Bilstein Sports • Ireland Headers • Weber 38 • 292 Cam • 9.5:1 Pistons • 123Tune Bluetooth 15" BBS

2016 BMW 535i M Sport

1964 Volvo Amazon Wagon
http://www.project2002.com

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The too rigidly mounted exhaust I believe lead to my next problem....My freshly ceramic coated Stahl header is literally coming apart at the seams.

 

 

Years ago my Stahl header kept cracking, I was missing the Transmission brace and the motor moved too much. Eventually the muffler shop said it was just too old and had oxidized inside causing constant cracks.

 

Now - I recently had to replace a bad urethane Motor mount but wanted less vibration so I went back to stock. My motor is not all that smooth so at idle there is a fair amount of movement, when the throttle is opened the motor moves a good 3/4" (19mm). I added a Top Performance strut brace with the additional head brace so now there is very little movement or vibration. After this was done I also added a Head to Tail Pipe Ireland Exhaust System. I had a muffler shop install and adjust as needed ($125.00). So far it's worked well. Without the additional bracing the movement may have caused issues.

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Edited by chargin

I don't take myself or opinions Seriously

My 4th 2002 and the first set of Square Tail-Lights

See the 4 versions of my 2002 project here: SoCal S2002 | Facebook

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Flex couplers are the only way to go I lost 2 systems by the trans mount , dragging the system on the freeway , since my local muffler guy put in the 6" long flex pipe 3 years hard driving & track time , no more problems. My coated IE stepped long header is still like new.

1970 4 speed 2002 (Daily driver/track car ) 
1974  Hybrid powered twin cam engine, Pig Cheeks , ( now a round tail.) Getting ready to Sell 
 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Postmortem on my cylinder head pull:

 

I pulled the head today, and found the combustion chambers of #2 & #3 cylinder WET with oil.  See below

 

temporary_zps7uyribub.jpg

temporary_zpsueu5zzwp.jpg

 

First glance screams valve stem oil seam at me....the head gasket between #2 & #3 looks like this:

 

temporary_zpskjd0aciy.jpg

 

There was no oil like this between other cylinders....but this just maybe oil that seeped in after I loosed the head bolts, as I would image if the gasket was blown here I would see some burn marks? I'm pretty new at the M10 engine scene, so if some trained eyes could tell me what they think, I'd appreciate it.

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Burnt gasket would defenately look much worse. Your seems to be ok. There is no evidende on the head surfaces either. I bet there nothing wrong with blocks deck surface? When block deck is cleaned check if there is any crakcs from head bolt holes adjacent those wet cylinders (not related to your problem imo but now is good time to look em).

 

hth

2002 -73 M2, 2002 -71 forced induction. bnr32 -91

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