Hey zoners,
Wisdom needed here please as I think I may have toasted my engine last night.
Recently upgraded the M10 carved engine with a weber carb after the pieburg junk was giving me hassle and up until last night the car was driving lovely.
It all started with a horrible sound coming from the engine bay, sounded like a whisk on a metal bowl, happening in 1st and 2nd gear but generally not in the other gears and not when travelling at a pace above say 20mph. Anyway I thought it didn't sound very good plus the temp gauge was now way above normal so I just wanted to get it home. Around the corner from my house and the battery light comes on, steam/smoke coming from the engine bay and the poor thing was in bad trouble.
Managed to drive it home, driving a couple of miles and parked it up, the steam/smoke still coming out of it.
I basically just left it to cool down, clearly having overheated and had my dinner fearing the worst - a toasted engine.
So here's my question - is it dead? What was that noise a symptom of?
I fear at the very least this is going to be a head gasket replacement plus a fix for whatever that noise was.
Alternatively I'm considering dropping a new lump in there. So, say I wanted to land a 320/325 in it. Considering it was a carby, how easy is this job? Will I need new tranny, fuel pump etc.
What should I do guys? Your collective wisdom is most appreciated!
86 316 fried engine? Smoke/Steam/overheating.
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zortonesta
- E30 Zone Newbie
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- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:00 pm
I guess that would make sense, as I failed to mention above that I had sat in traffic while before the doom set in. Total newbie question - how do I check the pulley you speak of?
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49359
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Does indeed sound like it could be the water pump. It will be obvious if you move the fan blades over and back. If the pulley wobbles around, the pump is shot.
M10 engine is fairly tough, so you may have 'got away with it', but for the future, red warning lights and gauges in red sectors mean "stop now!". Taxi fares are cheap in comparison to a damaged engine.
M10 engine is fairly tough, so you may have 'got away with it', but for the future, red warning lights and gauges in red sectors mean "stop now!". Taxi fares are cheap in comparison to a damaged engine.
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zortonesta
- E30 Zone Newbie
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:00 pm
Thanks for the replies guys, I'll check this tonight. Really hope I can salvage this, pretty gutted if it's gotta be a new engine :/
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zortonesta
- E30 Zone Newbie
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- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:00 pm
Well, just took a look at the old girl and it appears that it all stemmed from a broken fan belt.
Took the oil cap off and no sign of any white residue, oil level is good too. So with much nervousness I put the key in the ignition, engaged the choke and turned the key. Bingo! Like a kitten.
It needs a top up of coolant and a new belt so maybe, and hopefully, I won't be needing *expensive* repairs or an engine switch.... just yet.
I should still get the water pump checked out though right? is there any way I can check this myself?
Took the oil cap off and no sign of any white residue, oil level is good too. So with much nervousness I put the key in the ignition, engaged the choke and turned the key. Bingo! Like a kitten.
It needs a top up of coolant and a new belt so maybe, and hopefully, I won't be needing *expensive* repairs or an engine switch.... just yet.
I should still get the water pump checked out though right? is there any way I can check this myself?
The belt would have snapped when the alternator light came on. I'd check the pump and alternator.
It might be as simple as the alternator adjuster slipped and the belt went slack and started to slip. If changing the pump I'd fit a new thermostat.
It might be as simple as the alternator adjuster slipped and the belt went slack and started to slip. If changing the pump I'd fit a new thermostat.
Belt might have snapped because the pump has seized, worth seeing if it is before you invest and refit the belt.
There is somene selling an M10 on the FB page if needed.
There is somene selling an M10 on the FB page if needed.
1982 E21 316 Baltic Blau
1989 318i 2 Door Sterling Silber
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1989 318i 2 Door Sterling Silber
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zortonesta
- E30 Zone Newbie
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- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:00 pm
just wanted to give an update here in case anyone else with the same engine is having similar problems.
After all the above went down I changed the belt, replaced the alt. bushes and topped up the coolant (it didnt take much to top up which seemed weird to me at the time) mostly all was great - apart from the temp gauge which would creep over the middle zone after 10/15 minutes or so of driving... but not while idling. Plus the blower in the car took ages to heat up.
After a few journeys and some research here it sounded like an air lock in the rad/system so this morning I got around the bleeding the system.
- Got engine up to temp.
- Jacked the front so it was higher than the rear.
- Ignnition on but engine off.
- Fan on hot and full blast.
- Filled up with approx 2L of coolant (obviously previously running with a deficit of coolant which would explain the temp gauge fluctuation)
- There doesn't seem to be a bleed screw for this engine/cooling system so I had to massage the top and bottom hose which casued lots of bubbles to pop out the top of the radiator.
- Kept the engine going for approx 10 minutes while massaging the hoses and getting all the air out.
- replaced rad cap
It now drives perfectly, temp stays just below middle, even with spirited driving, well as spirited as can be on a 316 carby!
There isn't much info around on the 316 so it's mostly all trial and error and retrofitting the info written for injection engines but thanks all for your replies!
After all the above went down I changed the belt, replaced the alt. bushes and topped up the coolant (it didnt take much to top up which seemed weird to me at the time) mostly all was great - apart from the temp gauge which would creep over the middle zone after 10/15 minutes or so of driving... but not while idling. Plus the blower in the car took ages to heat up.
After a few journeys and some research here it sounded like an air lock in the rad/system so this morning I got around the bleeding the system.
- Got engine up to temp.
- Jacked the front so it was higher than the rear.
- Ignnition on but engine off.
- Fan on hot and full blast.
- Filled up with approx 2L of coolant (obviously previously running with a deficit of coolant which would explain the temp gauge fluctuation)
- There doesn't seem to be a bleed screw for this engine/cooling system so I had to massage the top and bottom hose which casued lots of bubbles to pop out the top of the radiator.
- Kept the engine going for approx 10 minutes while massaging the hoses and getting all the air out.
- replaced rad cap
It now drives perfectly, temp stays just below middle, even with spirited driving, well as spirited as can be on a 316 carby!
There isn't much info around on the 316 so it's mostly all trial and error and retrofitting the info written for injection engines but thanks all for your replies!
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49359
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
As I said in an earlier post, these are tough engines which will take considerable abuse. Just as well, if you've been driving it with an airlock! Try that with a M20B25, and you would have almost certainly cracked the head.
So what was the basic cause of all this? I'm still not clear.
Bleeding should have been done with the ignition off, BTW. Doesn't make any difference if the heater knob is away from cold, but if it had been fully anticlockwise, it wouldn't have bled properly.
So what was the basic cause of all this? I'm still not clear.
Bleeding should have been done with the ignition off, BTW. Doesn't make any difference if the heater knob is away from cold, but if it had been fully anticlockwise, it wouldn't have bled properly.
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zortonesta
- E30 Zone Newbie
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:00 pm
This is all a learning for me Brianmoooore so your insights are always welcome.
The initial problem was caused by a broken fan belt whilst driving, probably caused by a set of alt. bushes that had perished to beyond an inch of their life. This led to an engine that wasn't being cooled adequately in traffic. Once they were fixed I then had to top up the coolant lost via steam from the radiator and then the airlock.
All seems fine now, I hope, so onto other jobs... first of all is a new air filter and a replacement muffler.
I want to get all the technical stuff done before I get into the cosmetics. It's in pretty decent shape so I don't want to go over the top with it - a nice set of 15"s and an Nardi wheel is all I want to change really.
The initial problem was caused by a broken fan belt whilst driving, probably caused by a set of alt. bushes that had perished to beyond an inch of their life. This led to an engine that wasn't being cooled adequately in traffic. Once they were fixed I then had to top up the coolant lost via steam from the radiator and then the airlock.
All seems fine now, I hope, so onto other jobs... first of all is a new air filter and a replacement muffler.
I want to get all the technical stuff done before I get into the cosmetics. It's in pretty decent shape so I don't want to go over the top with it - a nice set of 15"s and an Nardi wheel is all I want to change really.