E30 Zone

Hello guys,

I would very much appreciate your valuable input to a few issues i have with my very recent engine build....

I have an 885 head with a late ETA bottom end, hartge H26 exhaust manifold and Speedhunter 2.7 C2 chip.

The head was bought from a well known BMW "expert" in the wellington area of somerset, the name of said "expert" rhymes with Blitz tits... after my 325i head cracked.

It was sold to me as having a 272 degree piper cam installed but i am not so sure given it has BMW stamped on it unless it is a regrind.. And, as the above named company are not communicating i can not confirm this at present. Also when i recieved the head which i was told was "all good" it had 2 broken exhaust manifold studs which needed welding and heli-coiling.

Anyway new engine was assembled, head was pressure tested and skimmed etc. Initially she woudlnt start and we double checked the timing which was aligned perfectly, we had spark and fuel. My friend wondered if we might be 180 degrees out on the cam despite the marks all lining up and double/triple checking and no sign of any valve intereference on turing over by hand several cylces.

We swapped the HT leads 180 degrees and she fired and runs al be it a bit lumpy.

My first question is, can we really be 180 degrees out? ive been reading around this but i find it so confusing as i cant see how this can happen if we did everything to the letter. Also could it just be that previously it was 180 degrees out and not the HT leads are in the correct position? It revs up well, bit lumpy but chip hasnt had time to get used to settings yet. A quick drive around the block was pretty normal. If we are 180 degrees out is this an acceptable thing to do leave the HT leads where they are or will fueling be off?

The next issue is there is a tapping from the top end. It seems to be coming from towards the back, it is pretty consistent and doesnt quieten with warming up. I am suspicious this may be an injector after having them out to spray the manifold up. I havent had chance to listen properly with a stethoscope. I have double checked the valve clearances hot and cold and they are fine.

Also given that i am not sure whether the cam is a standard or in fact a piper as sold to me, could the c2 chip be too advanced if it is only a standard cam?

Any help with these issues and any experience you guys have with the afore named company would be very much appreciated.

Regards,

Ben

Hi Ben,

Don't forget, the engine may run a bit lumpy at first (not unusual with any freshly-built engine until everything beds in) - did you allow the engine to idle for at least 10 minutes to enable base idle settings to be learnt, then switch off, prior to going for the drive?

This procedure should be followed to enable full data transfer from the EPROM to the ECU processor.

The chip should be fine with a standard cam.

Thanks for the reply speedtouch.

We have let it idle for approx 10 mins but havent had chance to take it properly for a run of any real length, the guide mentions needing a while of running for it to leanr settings so this may be the case. That is reassuring that it will work with a standard cam as that appears to be what i have paid for

Indeed, it certainly won't be a Piper cam if it has BMW stamped on it!

Yeah thats what i thought when i saw the stamp! It will be interesting if they claim it is a regrind ha ha! Anyway it is just more for me to complain to them about....

Thanks for your input Maurice

Fritzels kidz !

ha ha yeah, interesting customer relations policy

What are peoples thoughts on the whole timing/ 180 degrees out situation?

To new i cant really see how i can be 180 degrees out but everywhere i read says i can. And it did work with HT leads moved to opposites/180 degrees.

If this is indeed possible would this effect fueling/injector firing sequence of does the pulse sensor thingy adjust this? Way over my head to be honest.

Please can anyone shed any light on the timing situation and in particular if effectively running the dizzy 180 degrees round to compensate for cam being out will mean fueling is not right?

Thanks in advance

I don't think the injection would be sequential on a car of this age so I can't see it being the problem.

What age is this engine, where's the distributor and what management (ECU number)?

His is a later low compression eta block, 885 head, running Motronic 1.3 management.

Then it does run semi sequential injection under part load, but this is controlled by the sensor on #6 lead, so will still be correct.
Should be impossible to get the ignition timing 180 degrees out on this engine. Cam pulley is keyed onto the cam, and rotor arm only bolts one way onto the pulley.
Either the plug leads are wrong into the distributor cap, or there's something very peculiar about that cam.

Thanks for your help guys. Thats what we thought - not possible to get the cam wrong if you time it up properly which we are sure we have done.

It may be that the previous bodge owners were out before and now the leads are correct? who know

does anyone have a diagram of the correct order the leads should come off the dizzy so i can compare with how they are on mine?

The cap should have numbers on it.

Ben

ah ok ha ha might have to look a bit closer then, cheers guys

#6 (with cylinder ID sensor) should be second from the top as viewed with the cap in place.