Sumptings cracked :( Quick steel tips anyone?

[eltelturbo]

A couple weeks ago I boughts some lovely 16" Borbet A's for my 325i Touring. This is my first proper car and I've had is for just over a month now. The car is lowered by 30mm (aparently) and these borbets brought it even lower to the ground. The tyres were also quite low on air because the guy who sold me the wheels diddn't have the extenders for the flush-fit valves at the time. Anyway, me being the plonka that I am - drive over one of those square speed bumps and run a ground on it. so today I went to the mechanic to see about getting my tracking done because the car pulls very slightly to the left...He drove the car around the block because he was sure tracking isn't my problem. (he said that track-rods are usually siezed on these cars and to adjust means heating the siezed area therefor causing the car to fail its next mot) so whilst driving the car he noticed the knock coming from the front wheel linkage/assembly. I knew about this but i've not properly thought about getting it sorted yet. I ask him to give me a quote for the knoking noise (the knock seems to occur whilst turning...well its hard to explain but he put it on the ramp gave everything a tug and couldn't diagnose the problem straight away. This is when we noticed the crack. There is a very very slight weep of oil coming out of a really small crack at the front o/s of the sump. we started talking about supm replacement and hundreds of pounds worth of labour and if I wanted to sell him the car for a thousand pounds after getting home I realised that if he bought the car off me for 1000, he would obviously just patch the hole up....which is what im gonna do so im going to dump the oil, clean the sump best i can, roughen the surface to get a nice bond over the area. Im thinking fo drilling a 1mm hole at the ends of the crack so if I hit the sump again, the crack wont propagate further. Obviously i'll fill the holes up but what I would like to know is, is quick steel the best product, is it suitable for aluminium? Should I cover the whole sump with the stuff be good to hear from someone whos used the stuff or had similar problems. Also what could the knock be if the problem isn't obvious at first glance?

I may as well ask if anyone knows about my tracking problem while i'm here but i think however its solved it must be tracking because it definatly pulls to the left regardless of road surface.

any tips are much appreciated as always

[TheHeap]

don't let him anywhere near your car his trying to mug you off.

buy a secondhand sump from a fella off here, maybe 'bigbulverian' (i think thats his name)
if not him someone else will have one.

your pulling might just be your flat tyres.

good luck.

[asmith88]

bigbavarian is who you are looking

[eltelturbo]

yeah sounds about right. Ive been led to believe that changing a sump is a BIG job so I have to try and patch it up first.

I pumped my tyres up nice and even yesterday so unfortunatley it cant be that.

[eko]

Sump swap on a 2.5 is a couple of hours work DIY.
Track rod ends can and often do sieze on E30`s so its easier to just buy new replacement rack eands from GSF/ECP/dealers then get it tracked up.
Tell the so called mechanic to fook off

[eko]

Number 4

[bodger]

the knocking could be a balljoint. why the fook would the car fail the next mot for having the track rod heated up name and shame the garage i say

[eltelturbo]

Sump swap on a 2.5 is a couple of hours work DIY.
Track rod ends can and often do sieze on E30`s so its easier to just buy new replacement rack eands from GSF/ECP/dealers then get it tracked up.
Tell the so called mechanic to fook off

hahaha wil do garages everywhere at the moment are emmmpty! the only thing this guys been fixing is ways to get as much money off people as possible.
cheers guys

[eko]

A Bodger said,knocking could well be one of the ball joints.

[Bob_S]

your mechanic is a bullshitter..

replace the sump check your pressures and then see if it pulls e30's are quite sensitive anyway

[eltelturbo]

if nut and bolt or whatever has completly seized up usually the last resort is to heat the join until the metal expands and un-sticks. this works a treat for most things but heating a metal in this way changes its properties so the trackrod might not withstand the forces its designed for.

[eltelturbo]

your mechanic is a bullshitter..

replace the sump check your pressures and then see if it pulls e30's are quite sensitive anyway

he aint my mechanic, first time I've been to him. my uncle uses them to do his mots from his garage so my dad told me to go there because they would of done the tracking for £25.
I recon if business wasn't so bleak at the moment he wouldn't of tryed to bump me so hard.

[asmith88]

25s an average price for tracking really

[eltelturbo]

25s an average price for tracking really

imgoing to the wrong places then. Another place i went to today in perivale wanted 40! Im goin to find out the toe in/out spec and do it myself me thinks

[Bob_S]

i pay 23 on a lazer alignment place

[bodger]

if nut and bolt or whatever has completly seized up usually the last resort is to heat the join until the metal expands and un-sticks. this works a treat for most things but heating a metal in this way changes its properties so the trackrod might not withstand the forces its designed for.

but the track rod doesn't need to be heated up, the locking nut is briefly heated with oxyacetylene to expand it so it will move, Ive seen many cars done this way and they dont get new track rods afterwards

[stonesie]

Lazer tracking where i go is £15 if they adjust it, if all is well and they don't adjust anything its a free check


That guy you took it too was talking bollocks, even though the sump swap is not a nice job, It is not "hundreds of pounds worth of labour" I managed the sump gasket on my 320 in a few hours on my back on the drive

[Speedtouch]

I bought a lowered Merc 190E that had a crack in its alloy sump. I tried using Chemical Metal and JB Weld on it, but it would start seeping after a week or two; to replace the sump on one of these is an engine out or at least a partial removal/lift operation so I sold it on after a couple of years of regular repairs to the sump, also trying various combinations of repair gloop used in conjunction with aluminium foil, offcuts of metal, etc.

It may be possible to aluminium weld it in situ, but be aware that welding heat may cause explosion/fire even if the sump is drained, so replacement is the best option.

[blingsta]

i was also gonna suggest chemical metal !

[eltelturbo]

if nut and bolt or whatever has completly seized up usually the last resort is to heat the join until the metal expands and un-sticks. this works a treat for most things but heating a metal in this way changes its properties so the trackrod might not withstand the forces its designed for.

but the track rod doesn't need to be heated up, the locking nut is briefly heated with oxyacetylene to expand it so it will move, Ive seen many cars done this way and they dont get new track rods afterwards

yea ur absolutly right. nothing that mechanic said can be justified

[Bewdley320T]

if nut and bolt or whatever has completly seized up usually the last resort is to heat the join until the metal expands and un-sticks. this works a treat for most things but heating a metal in this way changes its properties so the trackrod might not withstand the forces its designed for.

but the track rod doesn't need to be heated up, the locking nut is briefly heated with oxyacetylene to expand it so it will move, Ive seen many cars done this way and they dont get new track rods afterwards

yea ur absolutly right. nothing that mechanic said can be justified

+1 - I've heated up that many I'd definitely be dead now if that were true!
Don't mess around with chemical metal, its not worth the risk either have it welded or put a new sump on.

[sweep]

I run my own garage and have had to warm up plenty of e30/e36 track rod ends for the tracking and it doesnt damage anything.

[asmith88]

think this guy is away with the faries

[mhuk]

luck escape you had mate.

[Bob_S]

I chemical metalled a sump... doesnt work that well to be honest. I have had it ally welded now - happy days