E30 Zone

hello all iv not been on here for a while mainly cos i not been using the e30.
i came to her the other day to take her for a run and get on with getting her ready to go back on the road. i filled the coolent system back up, took the rocker cover off and poured oil over the valves etc then put it back on, turned the engine by hand making sure it was free. connected the battery and vrummm she started first time, but the top end is screaming so loud it hurts your ears. it only does it in idle and stops as you start to rev the car. has anyone any ideas what it could be??

thank you

what engine is it? need some more info bud.

sounds like a slipping alternator or power steering belt to me. they usually go quiet with a few revs. simple enough job to sort

its a jreg 325i i thought maybe the belt but it a completely different scream if that makes sense and its ear splitting

Could it be an air leak ie air being sucked into manifold etc, just saying this cos on one of my old minis I didnt do up a few bolts properly on the inlet manifold and she screamed then really high pitched although cant remember if it went with revs think i just cut the motor to investigate proper sharpish.
Also my 325i decided to lunch the intake manifold gasket on number six cylinder the other day just broke up had a really hissing sound on that before I replaced it.

Could be one of the belts? Maybe it isn't getting oil at idle?

i was thinking along the oil lines, its been stood for about 5 months so i thought that maybe some form of seal in the head had dried out or something.

If its screaming like that through lack of oil then its lunching itself big time, have real good look around for the source of the sound one more time

Has anyone thought maybe corrosion on the water pump bearing?
Just sprang to mind as you said you re-filled the coolant, so I assume it's been empty & possibly open to atmosphere for a good while?

First thing I'd try is remove all auxiliary belts & see if it's still there, if it's gone great, if still there stop running it & investigate under the rocker cover.

a mate said the water pump but i replaced the pump and cam belt jan last year but the car only did about 40 miles fter that, i only dropped the coolent just before the cold weather set in which around this neck off the woods was about 2 months ago. so if i take the alternator and power steering belts off will the car still run?

it'll run fine without the powersteering belt.

it'll run ok without the alternator belt, but only do it to test it out. don't leave it like that for long

True, running for too long without the alternator belt will result in a very hot car with a flat battery!

Hope the noise does do a magical disappearing act when you do this, as the other options seem a little time consuming & expensive...

i too hope its just a belt, not had time yet as i bought a snake the other day so iv been too interested in him

noney82 wrote:, i only dropped the coolent just before the cold weather set in

You did what??? and why??? Seems like a good way of corroding the cooling system.

i dropped it to flush it but then never got time to go back out and finish it

well my worst fears are about to be confirmed!! took both belts off today and you guessed it the squeal is still there i am about 95% sure its coming from under the rocker cover. i can kind of locate it with my ear if i get to close my ears bleed its that high pithed

insertnamehere wrote:Has anyone thought maybe corrosion on the water pump bearing?
Just sprang to mind as you said you re-filled the coolant, so I assume it's been empty & possibly open to atmosphere for a good while?

I was going to say could it be a bearing of some kind, but id guess the noise would get worse as the revs climb.

Is the waterpump pulley actually turning? I know it sounds daft but it wouldnt be the first time id heard of a waterpump seizing like that!

As others have said, could it be a tiny air leak thats acting like a whistle...

i'll look at the pump in the morning, iv had a quick feel around the air pipes and nothing much showing. its hard to explain the sound without hearing it lol

Calamity Jane brought the 316i touring home the other day and I could hear the poor thing screaming from two streets away,the ignition key had stuck in the 'start' position.....clue was that one of the warning lights was still showing,the test circuit for the dash lights seems to be linked to the 'start' key position...just a thought before you pull the head off.

my brother came today and he had a listen to the noise and he pointed to the area of the inlet manifold so think i'll take it off and replace the gasket. is it a big job?

not really mate its just time consuming but easy enough though.

well the inlet is sort of off just need to wiggle it out of place now, what is the pipe the comes off the bottom of the inlet and goes into the bottom part of the engine? the gaskets look abit perished so i went to my local car spares but he cant get them oh no were can i get them from? i want to replace all gaskets on the inlet including the throttle body and the one the is shaped like a triangle with the vac pipe coming off it the goes to the fuel reg( what is the triangle bit called?)

noney82 wrote:were can i get them from?

Since BMW made the car; a BMW dealer would seem a likely place!
Take the last 7 digits of the VIN with you.

whats that site were you can look up bmw parts?

Sticky, at the top of "tech help"!

thank you brian and thank all that have helped me along the way i'll keep you posted on my progress

do the part numbers on that site tie in with bmw dealers? if i see a part on there and ring bmw with that part number will they know what im talking about?

Yup.

wicked even better saves me going in saying " i need the gasket for the thingy that the wotset bolts onto lol" all they need to do now is put the prices on

As an alternative to getting the bits from your local dealer, you could go to our "genuine BMW parts" forum, and have the parts delivered to your door, at discounted prices, courtesy of our own tame BMW dealer, zimmerbimmer1.
Make sure you get new O rings for the oil return tube (under the inlet manifold), and use small cable ties, or thin string, to compress the spring while you refit the manifold.

ah now that is a good idea brian i'll look what i need and send him the numbers. what methods of payment does he take

it was the inlet gasket replaced them and built back up, sounds sweet again now. thank you all for the info and pointers