E30 Zone

taking a nice little drive last nite and something snapped, i belive it may have been the timing belt/chain.

Which is my e30 fitted with, a belt or a chain??

According to the haynes manual, its a belt but someone told me that it was a chain!!

Definitely a chain m8 on ur 318IS. It is a double chain..and I have heard a few cases (very very*100 rare) on this Forum & outside...."that the chain has "snapped".
Goodluck anyway

chain on an i would never really break but they have been known to skep a few teeth!

take the front timing case out and check it out

its a belt on a 325 isnt, "cambelt"
right?

Hyperion wrote:its a belt on a 325 isnt, "cambelt"
right?

yes

we need more info.

A

Ok willits hard to give info as the car is straned about 50 miles away from me and i have no way of gettin her to me, its defo timing of some sort as there is no compression, she turns over dead fast on the starter, i was drivin in a straight line at around 40mph when there was a clattering noise and obviously no power, i stupidly kept her in gear for a few hundred metres and then there was a puff of smoke out the arse of her!!

What was the colour of the smoke?

Well, belt or chain, that sounds totally knackered. Maybe I should change my chain...

Blackish brown smoke!!

ok have found out its defo a chain, how hard is it to replace guys??

well, replacing the chain isn't such a hard job....However, if it snapped whilst you were driving you now have some bent valves, most probably.

These need sorted first...with luck your pistons are OK and no valves will be broken so there won't be any nasty metal bits embedded in your head or bores!

well im hopin that it is just the valves, tho i have just found out that there are 16 of the little buggers on these engines!!!

Also, how do i set up the timing again?? I know how to set the crank end but the cam shaft ends??? will i be lucky enuff to find timing marks there too??

Is the m42 engine from the e36 the same??

Sorry to hear that ,really bad luck
I think the inlet manifolds are differant on an E36 but you will probably find it a lot cheaper to change the engine.When Russ had the timing chain on his iS jump a few teeth and bend the valves it cost Ԛ£1700 to mend

Ok well i have found that the chain is intact, tho she still aint starting!! Is it likely for her to skip the chain that easy?? There still seems to be a brave bit of tension in the chain. If so how wud u check this??

Anyone??

Pull the cover off and check the timing marks all line up.

When it happened you said you were doing 40mph, but in what gear ?

Is there timing marks on the camshaft sprockets then??

I was in 3rd when it happened mate

I've never worked on an iS so i can't help with the timing marks. The M42 engine is only covered in the haynes book for the E36 model but i think the camshafts have to be locked down as there are no marks on the sprockets and the crank then set at top dead centre by lining up the indent on the sprocket with a mark on the engine block. (don't quote me on that though) Demlotcrew is the one to ask.

How long has it been since the timing chain was last replaced ?
If the cars still on it's second one then replace it anyway along with new sprockets.(thats if you haven't bent all the valves)

This is what your up against
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=11&fg=25

I dont know when it was last replaced mate, have only had the car just over a week!! Tho i was told that the tensioner was changed a couple of months ago!!

I fink u cud be rite about the haymes manual thing tho as the m42 engine is defo not covered in the e30 haynes manual!! Tho i have read about having those cams locked, so i wud guess then theat if when the crank is at no1 piston tdc, the two cams shud have equal square sides on them?? have priced valvles already at roughly Ԛ£5 per inlet and Ԛ£8 per exhaust, Ԛ£55 head gasket set, just need to price head bolts!!!

Check the timing first and if it's jumped a tooth reset it then do a compression test and that should tell you if the vavles are damaged.

to check the timing you can lock the crank at TDC by removing a small plastic plug which is located above the starter motor at the rear LH side of the block.If you push an 8mm drill bit into the hole and get someone to rotate the crank using a 22mm socket ,when TDC is reached the drill bit will locate in a hole in the flywheel. Then take off the cam cover and upper timing cover (and thermostat housing). The cam sprockets have an arrow on them . You should be able to put a straight edge across both of the squares on the back end of the cams if the timing is correct. Also there should be 15 rivets of the chain between the arrows .

For more details and lots of information about 318iS stuff go here

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/home.html

Going on holiday now so sorry can't be of any more help

Damn it!! Hav the drill bit in the hole, and the two arrows line up on the cam's, there is 15 rivets between them!! so im guessin that means it aint the chain being slipped!! FUK!!

Ok i have just spoke to a guy in belfast who works on BM's, and informs me that the 318iS has a common fault, the heads seem to crack on them. The last two he has been asked to replace the head gasket on have both had cracked heads!! Which apparently are as rare as rocking horse sh1t to find!!!

Could it get any fuking worse??

Any of you guys know any BMW breakers?

where u from?

I've had the head gasket pop on my iS but fortunately the head wasn't cracked. A new gasket and a skim saw everything sorted. I was pressing on a B road when just lost all power. Didn't get the chuff of smoke out the back tho.

Have you checked the spark plugs? When the gasket went on mine it was between 1 & 2 and the plugs were covered in oil. Ultimately depends where the gasket has failed (if that is the cause).

Hope you get it sorted m8.

Im from N.Ireland, Antrim town to be precise keggy.

I dont care about shipping costs if i can save money on the parts!!

Bob, did u loose all power?? did she fire up again?? Did she turn over like she had lost compression??? I havent taken the plugs out yet, am scared too!! LOL!!

Ok, i have pulled the plugs out, and have found that the number two cylinder has been filled with water!! the other three cylinders seem fine, so what are ur verdicts?? do you think head or head gasket??

Blackie - when the gasket popped i couldn't restart the engine because the gasket had gone between cylinders 1 & 2 - hence loss of compresison.

By the sound of it you really need to get a pro to have a look and do a compression test. If you have water in any cylinder then to my uneducated mind that would sound more like a crack in the head between the water galleries and the cylinders than the gasket.

Have you looked at the water in the header tank or the oil filler cap? Any signs of mayo.

Thats wat i was thinking myself!! There is no mayo in the oil/oil cap, but there was a sign of it in the expansion bottle on the radiator.

Is this a common fault in these heads??

Other ppl on here with iS' have had cracked heads. Believe that was what pushed Jimbob to do the 2.7 conversion.

Think it has been rumoured that revving over 3000rpm before the engine is up to full operating temp can have an adverse effect but generally that should just be good practice.

Other thing is that if the head were cracked i would have expected that the car would overheat/loose coolant/steam out the exhaust rather than not start.

Bear in mind this is all suggestions and comments i've heard in the past. No substitute for getting someone with a bit of knowledge to have a look first hand. Do you know of any good specialists over your way that could have a gander?

CaesarBob wrote: Other thing is that if the head were cracked i would have expected that the car would overheat/loose coolant/steam out the exhaust rather than not start.

Thats what i would have thought both for the head being cracked and for the head gasket!!