*Urgent Request for HELP*

Hi There everyone,

I'm hoping you might be able to help a none mechanical person figure out what to do with my 1996 318is which broke down last night. I was doing 60mph on the way home when I heard a 'tick tick tick' noise coming from the engine. I pressed the accelerator but the car did not accelerate I changed down a gear and the engine stalled. After coasting to a stop in a handy lay-by I lifted the bonnets and there was a lot of steam/smoke? coming from down the left hand side of the engine? I don't have much practical knowledge of cars but I think the Timing belt/chain may have snapped. The car has done 222000 miles and so I know it is not worth very much. What I'd like to know is wether the timing chain going means the valves are smashed to bits or wheter on this king of engine I may have got away with it and if I have is replacing the timing chain/belt something I could do or will I have to pay a whole load of cash to get it fixed.

I need the car for work tomorrow so do think I could fix it tonight

Lad this is the thing happened my car, and the timing chain had either come lose or completely snapped, but the engine was wrecked. got a different 18000tds engine with 50000 less miles on it and the cars as good as new now, starting perfectly.but hopefully in your case you might be lucky enough, but the symptoms you describe happened me and seems to be the timing chain.

I8MyCar

222k is a lot for this engine. It certainly sounds like it is terminal and it's unlikely a repair would be economical. A second hand engine is likely to be the most cost effective fix.

IMHO a s/h engine is a pig-in-a-poke....

Even if you know what mileage it has done, reliably, and you hear it running, there is no way of knowing of any impending problems...

Unless it is (nearly) free, I would say it is worth rebuilding the one you have (or a suitable alternative)...
IME, the cost isn't that much more if you do it yourself and you have the knowledge that it isn't about to fail 'cos of worn out parts or poor maintainece...

Of course, you need to decide if the car is worth spending any money on at all.
But I would have thought an E36 318is would be worth £1500-2000 minimum in working order against a likely rebuild cost of ~£500 and the value of the car without the motor...probably more than £0, though....

If it were me, I'd be taking the head off about now to assertain the amount of damage...You might have got away with a few valves and no head/piston damage....In which case the rebuild is certainly worth it...If, on the other hand, you have a smashed piston, 16 bent valves and a scrap block, you will want a new block at the very least!

@Neileg:

Kinda exactly what I was saying....A s/h motor (even with a 12week warranty) is an unknown quantity...If I were going to spend a weekend swapping motors and forking out £500+ notes I think I would be inclined to go down the rebuild route...

I8Mycar. Your car has done 222000miles so everything is going to be well worn. Ok so only the engine is broken at the moment but how long before the gearbox starts to give trouble or the diff etc etc. At those kind of miles I would seriously think about scrapping the car. Even with a rebuilt engine it is going to be worth very little unless you have a book full of BMW stamps and a stack of reciepts. Your best bet is to cut your losses and buy a new car.

Thanks again guys,

     It's great reading all your thoughts on the matter. My plan so far is this. Buy any old £400 scrapper with 12 Month ticket and tax to get me to work and back. Advertise the car as a none runner, in the off chance someone is interested and in the meantime I'll try and asscertain the level of damage by pulling the engine apart. You'll probably be seeing a whole load more posts from me over the coming weeks with questtions like "Where is the engine located", " What's a cylinder head", "Should these valves all have ninety degree bends in them" and "Why, now I've put it all back together, do I have a handfull of bits left over?".

I hope you will all be on hand to point me in the right direction as I venture into the unknown.

 

My first question then is this. Is the Haynes manual the best set of instructions for remving the cylider head? or is there somewhere on the internet that has a few more pictures. I don't know about you but the pictures in the Haynes manual are so close up it is sometimes difficult to see where in the engine compartment they are looking.

Cheers

Hi Again Everyone,

     Okay having been told I'm being made redundant I decided to have a long weekend and check out the cylider head. Using the Haynes manual and squinting at the little pictures I've managed to achieve the following. a)removed the bonnet b)removed the upper and lower inlet manifolds, in the process I've had to unwire the alternator and the starter motor because the wiring loom runs right through the middle of the manifold (not mentioned in the haynes manual) c) removed the exhaust manifold (all bar one of the nuts were rusted solid and the studs came out with the nut any ideas how to get the nuts off?) The manifold doesn't move out of the way properly because of the steering mechanism but I'm hoping this won't cause too much of a problem cause I don't want to remove the manifold from the front of the exhaust because it's really rusty. d) removed the collant hoses and thermostat e) got the cam cover off and after purchasing the correct star socket for the head bolts I've loosened the head.

I'm now in a position to remove the timing chain but I don't have a locking template for the cams and I don't have the locking tool for the flywheel? I figured I could just stick a screwdriver in the flywheel locking hole to find TDC but I can't find the blanking plug on the flywheel housing any ideas?

I'm also starting to think that it is not the timing chain which had gone as it looks fine from what I can see. I actually think it might be the cylinder head gasket which has failed becuse the engine was running hot a week before because the coolant was low?

Any thoughts on the sorting out the cam positions and TDC without the BMW tools?