M54 engine replacement - final stages, hopefully! .

[Swampy1982]

Investigate buying a hoist, they aren't mega money and you could sell it after. I suspect the difference would be similar to hiring one, but without the pressure and rush.

Have you got any spare tyres to lay the old block down on? Or where do you plan on putting it whilst you swap the bits over? Stuff like this is good to almost "story board" step by step, similar to check twice cut once mentality.

 

[Jamie25]

Both good points Swampy but I think I'll hire the hoist, save selling a heavy /bulky item afterwards. A weeks hire cost £60.

I was planning on just using various wooden blocks to prop up the engine. The old tyre is a good idea though. Its likely I might have to swap the sumps over as the engine I ordered today is from an e46 so might well be different. I'll have to see how it arrives on the pallet but if I strip mine off my engine and the oil pick up I might then be able to stand it up on the bottom of the block. Then lift the new engine on the hoist to work on.

I'm also not sure if I need to remove the intake manifold in order to access the rear lifting point. I'm sure all will become clear. I'm enjoying the project so far. Hopefully not famous last words!

 

[Swampy1982]

Love gearing that you are enjoying it, at least some goods come out of a challenging situation

 

[Jamie25]

Managed to squeeze in another 90 minutes on the car today. Took off the aluminium under tray, took out the gearbox /engine bolts and the starter bolts, disconnected the electrical connectors to the sump and last two O2 sensors and undid the two engine mount nuts. I'm glad to say the four exhaust bolts came out okay as well.

I'm fairly certain the only thing holding the engine in now is gravity.

 

[abar121]

Good work! Thats pretty dedicated given the temps today.

 

[Jamie25]

Good work! Thats pretty dedicated given the temps today.

Gotta get in there when I can! At least nothing was wet as any water that was around was frozen. :roll:

 

[Thrustyjust]

There is clip on youtube about some guys swopping an engine in a Z4 ( they fitted a diesel in) , in which they took the front end off, including crash bar and pulled it out the front and seemed a reasonable way to do it .

 

[Jamie25]

There is clip on youtube about some guys swopping an engine in a Z4 ( they fitted a diesel in) , in which they took the front end off, including crash bar and pulled it out the front and seemed a reasonable way to do it .

Could be famous last words but I'm fairly confident it should come out without needing to take all the front end off. Good to know there's that option if I'm struggling. I'm sure I've read a couple of times that people have taken the front end off then realised there's likely no point. Hopefully I'll find out soon enough. :wink:

 

[Jamie25]

There is clip on youtube about some guys swopping an engine in a Z4 ( they fitted a diesel in) , in which they took the front end off, including crash bar and pulled it out the front and seemed a reasonable way to do it .

Could be famous last words but I'm fairly confident it should come out without needing to take all the front end off. Good to know there's that option if I'm struggling. I'm sure I've read a couple of times that people have taken the front end off then realised there's likely no point. Hopefully I'll find out soon enough. :wink:

Well it turns out it's not possible to take the engine out without removing the front end. The engine hoist I rented was nowhere near to reaching far enough into the engine bay. I'm also fairly certain there wouldn't have been enough room to move the engine far enough forward to disengage front gearbox had the front sections been in place.



Replacement engine should've been here a few days ago but now should be arriving by Tuesday.

 

[maxman]

Whilst you have easy access,it might be worth looking at the steering Uj.Good work doing it outside this time of the year.Oh to be young

 

[Jamie25]

Whilst you have easy access,it might be worth looking at the steering Uj.Good work doing it outside this time of the year.Oh to be young

Not so much young as wrapped up warm! I disconnected the uv joint at it's lowest junction to afford the exhaust manifold more room. Which part of the uv joint tends to give trouble?

 

[maxman]

The joint nearest the exhaust can dry out making it feel notchy.I have just looked at the new price on reolem and they are not cheap.Just move the joints to feel for any roughness ,taking care not to turn the column.Try working some oil like3 in 1 in.

 

[Swampy1982]

Fair play, she's out!

Has the new block got everything it needs or do you need to swap over a bunch if auxiliaries?

Keep us updated, also, how many swear words did you learn in the process of removing the block?

 

[Jamie25]

Thanks Maxman, I'll check it out.

And I'd usually invent a few new swear words doing something like this but I have to say it all went okay. That said I've done it over a few sessions and taken my time. Probably about six hours in so far. Plus my seven year old lad was "in charge" of the engine hoist so swearing was kept to a minium.

The replacement engine will need most ancillaries moving across. As I'm in no major rush I'll do as much swapping across as I can with my lad as it'll be a nice easy intro to him doing something "proper". If his interest remains I think all of the ancillaries on the front of the engine are simple bolt on/off items so he should be chuffed if he does those with nothing more than guidance. I'm thinking drive belt off to drive belt on. Of course I might have undone some bolts before he has a go!

 

[Jamie25]

The new engine arrived today whilst I was out at work. I thought I was going to have my work cut out lifting it onto the garage slab and onto the garage.....



Managed that with a little help from Archimedies and his friends. Turns out the engine has a fair few items still attached but on a quick inspection the sump and clutch assembly look to be different. I'll have a proper look tomorrow. I'll test the compression as well.

 

[Jamie25]

After far too many hours I got the engine running today, sort of. Its fired up and sounds okay except that it's hunting and won't hold idle, it stalls if I don't rev it. I think it's likely an air leak. Possibly. Or vanos issue. I'll get a code reader on it. But first....

One connection I'm unsure of, the power lead to the alternator. There are two terminals on the alternator and I'm not sure which is the one to connect to. The other seems redundant.

 

[Jakg]

After far too many hours I got the engine running today, sort of. Its fired up and sounds okay except that it's hunting and won't hold idle, it stalls if I don't rev it. I think it's likely an air leak. Possibly. Or vanos issue. I'll get a code reader on it. But first....

One connection I'm unsure of, the power lead to the alternator. There are two terminals on the alternator and I'm not sure which is the one to connect to. The other seems redundant.

Does this help? It's the big one, the smaller one just gets blanked off with a cap.

 

[Jamie25]

Does this help? It's the big one, the smaller one just gets blanked off with a cap.

It certainly does help, thanks very much! I also checked the connection to the ICV and I hadn't pushed it on properly. The car now idles but its hunting a lot.

I shall check the the disa and inlet pipework tomorrow.

 

[mr.tourette]

Admire your dedication here, great work

 

[ph001]

It might take a while for the ECU to re-learn all the parameters through various revs / throttle positions whilst driving so don't go around hunting for a fault just yet.