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Took off the sump and - WTF!!!
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:21 pm
by Adammcf
Took off the sump tonight to clean everything up before putting the botton end on the car. When I opened the sump I saw these two bolts in the bottom?! I cant see what they could have come off as the oil pump has all 3 bolts and all the bearings seem fine.
Any ideas?! Is there something else in there that would have bolts like this?!
Dips did you lose any bolts before I took it from you? LOL!
Couple of random pics.

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:24 pm
by Dan318-is
did you replace your oil pump?
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:26 pm
by Adammcf
Nope. Everything is nice and tight and looks fine. The bottom end has only done 67k miles as far as I know.
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:27 pm
by jonbuoy
Do the bolt's look similar to the one's bolting the pump up?
Someone may have renewed the pump, put the bolt's in the sump so they did'nt lose them and forgot they were there and put some new one's in?
Oorrrrr............some mechanic did'nt like him and wanted him back to earn some more money out of him

Might of sounded like a rattly bottom end?
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:27 pm
by Dan318-is
main end or big end shells
bearings?
con rod bolts?
i spose mine did have 130k lol
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:28 pm
by dobbie82
something like that happens with m40's....
http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... ic&t=18155
i know nothing just thought i would try help

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 8:42 pm
by jonbuoy
That thread has made me quite worried now, look's like that sump is coming off the weekend

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 9:04 pm
by ItalianM3
I know that if found on my engine (s14) they sometimes come loose from the upper oil pan. I do not know if you have the upper oil pan on your engine though.
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:52 pm
by kam-325i
Does this happen on M20's ?
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:51 pm
by Adammcf
This is an M20.
Does anyone know what they could be off? Should there be something in the bottom end which could have bolts like that apart from the 3 holding the oil pump on?!
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:01 pm
by Turbo-Brown
Other than the oil pump, I can't think of anything inside the engine that's held on with setscrews.
Only the seal housings and things like that.
Main bolts are miles long, big end bolts have the bi-hex head.
Very odd.
Perhaps someone put them there for safe keeping, or hoped they'd grow into a bolt tree

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:02 pm
by Dan318-is
Adammcf wrote:This is an M20.
Does anyone know what they could be off? Should there be something in the bottom end which could have bolts like that apart from the 3 holding the oil pump on?!
.
im rebuilding my sump end next week il have a look
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:38 pm
by Adammcf
Cheers folks. I plan to clean it all up either tonight or tomorrow night so I can swap the blocks over this weekend.
Its going to be fun lifting a block out of the engine bay by hand with no crane and then lifting in this one! lol
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:07 pm
by Turbo-Brown
Adammcf wrote:Cheers folks. I plan to clean it all up either tonight or tomorrow night so I can swap the blocks over this weekend.
Its going to be fun lifting a block out of the engine bay by hand with no crane and then lifting in this one! lol
Wouldn't wanna try that!
Gotta be safer to drop it out the bottom by removing the subframe surely!
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 5:15 pm
by jonb
they look like sump bolts. some one must of left them in there when they offered up the sump last time.
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:05 pm
by Adammcf
jonb wrote:they look like sump bolts. some one must of left them in there when they offered up the sump last time.
The picture makes them look smaller than they are. Theyre about twice the size of the normal sump bolts.
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:08 pm
by Dan318-is
Adammcf wrote:jonb wrote:they look like sump bolts. some one must of left them in there when they offered up the sump last time.
The picture makes them look smaller than they are. Theyre about twice the size of the normal sump bolts.
Are you certain they are not oil pump bolts? what about the bolts that hold in the level indicator in place and the bolts around that region?
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:16 pm
by glenn
they look to me to be put in there for safe keeping from a pevious job and then forgotten about

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:40 pm
by SwirlyE30
When i did my IS conversion, i noticed the same thing in my M40 sump, noto much help to you, but ill be interested to hear what yours are!
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:29 am
by Martinaston
They look too small to be from a main bearing and there not from the con rods.
Makes you wonder what else the previous owners forgotten about.