bollocks ive killed it already

[nickso]

ive got a 540 manual,was driving back from dropping the g/f off just now.

was sitting at a roundabout waiting to go and it popped out of first gear. put it back in and it went no probs. next set of lights and its starting to idle funny. next set and at idle the whole car is shaking at the same speed as the idle. get it home and open up the bonnet and the engine is shaking quite badly, there is a whining noise like something is rubbing and two pools of what seems to be water are collecting underneath the car around where the sensors in the exhaust are.

my first thought was that id bust a gearbox/engine mount? but whats the whining noise at idle? the aircon was on so im guessing thats the water.

any ideas?, i dont have any place to jack it up until tomorrow maybe, more likely tuesday.

[james_obryan]

check the pulleys at the front of the car, one may need replacing.

could also be alternator interferance on your sound system?

[nickso]

never thought of that. ill have a check.

the noise is definately mechanical. its like metals rubbing togetther i think.

[tezk]

Has the car got a good service history, including regular coolant changes?

Pulled the head on mine and found the water journals in the head where within 2mm of breaking out of the block and into the cylinders on quite a few of them.

The rough idle could be down to loss of compression? Again a possibility with a cracked head or head gasket problems.

Here's hoping its something simple!

[nickso]

Has the car got a good service history, including regular coolant changes?

Pulled the head on mine and found the water journals in the head where within 2mm of breaking out of the block and into the cylinders on quite a few of them.

The rough idle could be down to loss of compression? Again a possibility with a cracked head or head gasket problems.

Here's hoping its something simple!

its got a reasonable history. a lot of bmw too.

its not a rough idle. the rev counter is rock solid at 650. the entire engine is rocking back and forth and in turn rocking the car.

hope its something simple too lol

[Greeny]

Sounds like it could be a broken engine mounting bracket or something like that or possibly a gearbox problem. If the engine was still running ok then I doubt it would be head gasket are cracked head/block.

[tezk]

If she's still idling right and just shaking then I'd agree with the engine mount diagnosis..

Maybe tore a hose when it broke free, accounting for the water?

[nickso]

If she's still idling right and just shaking then I'd agree with the engine mount diagnosis..

Maybe tore a hose when it broke free, accounting for the water?

yeh im hoping my gearbox mount is gone or something like that.

the check control should have told me if it was losing water.

doesnt the aircon have a drain for condensate when its running on ice cold?....which it was.

[zimm_zimmer]

sounds like engine mounts my mates car did a simalar thing, yes the air conditioning does make a puddle when running on ice cold if you have it idling then it will.

[sam325is]

I would say gearbox mount. the judder from it popping out of gear might have damaged the mount causing the box to be loose in which case the gear box could be rubbing on anything resulting in a grinding noise and casuing the engine to be like a bull in the engine bay

[nickso]

nearside engine mount has collapsed in on itself.

looks a bastard to get out too

[Toby_Unna]

i'd say that's a pretty good result

[320Touring]

i'd say that's a pretty good result

ditto!

bit of spanner munkying and a touch of jacking and voila

[nickso]

well to be fair it was what i was hoping for after all the other disasters i considered, but looking at it its not going to be easy. i cant see how im going to get the nut off the top of the mount as its not visible from above and its very restricted from below.
it seems i may have to remove the entire mount from the engine which means quite a few other complications as i have aircon which is all bolted to it. might as well do the other side at the same time and it also looks troublesome. im off for mess around at it now.

[josh-hocking]

thats quite lucky it could have been a lot worse!! ask munky to lend you a hand he will fix it (with cable ties) lol

[maxfield]

thats quite lucky it could have been a lot worse!! ask munky to lend you a hand he will fix it (with cable ties) lol

540's are awesome cars! Don't let it put you off.

[nickso]

mini update then.

it wasnt the engine mounts....or at least that didnt solve the problem. they were utterly buggered though.

its a bizzarre fault and its looking beyond my scope to fix it. the whining seems to be from the pulleys at the front of the engine...possibly the steering pump. the fact it has traction control and possibly self levelling complicates matters a lot in my view. the plumbing for it looks a nightmare and there is a mahoosive resevoir for the fluid ....im betting the fluid aint cheap either lol

why all of this also means i have nasty clunking noises when i steer and the engine still shakes around like a washing machine on spin cycle is beyond me. seems to be better when its cold too

[beardymat]

do these have those dual mass flywheels? if so it could have split causing the vibration and possibly the reason the box jumped out of gear.

[Simon13]

why would it split though? loose bolts from a bad clutch job?!

Vibration could be a major air leak on the inlet side of things, just a guess. Or there is a gasket (rocker i'd guess) which can leak oil out the back of the heads which can cause rough running like when you run a car with no oil cap the pressure drops

[nickso]

nice ideas lads but wouldnt both of those mean it would run like a dog under power? if i put the foot down it drives like nothing is wrong....other than the whining/squealing.

i just remembered that the fluid resevoir seems to be overfull. the manual says to fill it to just above the strainer but its filled up to the brim and some spilled out when i opened it. i cant even see the strainer. the fluid doesnt look like normal stuff either...but then the manual does say its special oil....looks more like brake fluid.

think i might have to siphon some of the fluid out to investigate the high level.

the gearbox i think is just having a hard time in general. sandy was honest and did say it had jumped out on him and i think it needs a recon to be honest. its quite crunchy into second as well.

[beardymat]

why would it split though? loose bolts from a bad clutch job?!

Vibration could be a major air leak on the inlet side of things, just a guess. Or there is a gasket (rocker i'd guess) which can leak oil out the back of the heads which can cause rough running like when you run a car with no oil cap the pressure drops

they are two parts which are bonded together acting like a damper to help with noise. they can come loose which is a common fault on some cars.

[Simon13]

an engine with an air leak or iffy oil pressure will rev fine under load

those 6 speed boxes are impossible to rebuild as you can't get the parts spare, second hand ones are about £1000

[nickso]

why would it split though? loose bolts from a bad clutch job?!

Vibration could be a major air leak on the inlet side of things, just a guess. Or there is a gasket (rocker i'd guess) which can leak oil out the back of the heads which can cause rough running like when you run a car with no oil cap the pressure drops

they are two parts which are bonded together acting like a damper to help with noise. they can come loose which is a common fault on some cars.

that could certainly explain the engine rocking

[nickso]

an engine with an air leak or iffy oil pressure will rev fine under load

those 6 speed boxes are impossible to rebuild as you can't get the parts spare, second hand ones are about £1000

ok so i need to check for an air leak on the inlet then? it doesnt really idle rough though....just the engine moves

bugger...i wish i knew that before i bought it lol...i knew they were about a grand but i didnt know i couldnt repair the one i have