Hit 2nd instead of 4th plez HELP!!!

[Ironwolf365]

hello i am new to this site, and have a few problems with my 1992 325is. About a week ago i opened her up on the freeway at about 1:30 am. i ran 3rd to about 6900 then accidently hit 2nd instead of 4th. no warning lights just a moderately loud ticking noise comming from the engine. i believe its comming from the valve train, and know ill probably have to be pulling the cover to fix it, just wondering what i should be looking for when i do.

I also bought the car with the srs light on was wonderin if anyone knows how to reset it without taking it to the stealership.

Thanks alot, T.J.

[Lower_Level]

moderately loud ticking from the valvetrain? Sounds like you'll be doing a valve job cause you've most likely got a bent valve in there somewhere

[darkhorse737]

Originally Posted by Ironwolf365

hello i am new to this site, and have a few problems with my 1992 325is. About a week ago i opened her up on the freeway at about 1:30 am. i ran 3rd to about 6900 then accidently hit 2nd instead of 4th. no warning lights just a moderately loud ticking noise comming from the engine. i believe its comming from the valve train, and know ill probably have to be pulling the cover to fix it, just wondering what i should be looking for when i do.

I also bought the car with the srs light on was wonderin if anyone knows how to reset it without taking it to the stealership.

Thanks alot, T.J.

any change in the quality of idle from before it started ticking?

ticking noise, does it increase with RPM? or is it a constant ticking irregardless of RPM?

high-pitched tick or low-pitched ticking? ...coming from the upper-end or lower end?

by comparison, would you say the ticking sounds like a diesel engine... or is the ticking just running in the background against the hum of the engine?

if u'll answer the above, i can diagnose your problem better

[Ironwolf365]

come to think of it i did notice a slight shudder in the idle every once and a while at a red light.

the noise does increase in correspondence to the rpm

it sounds medium pitched and is definately comming from the upper end

the ticking does not sound like a diesel, more of an addition to the regular running engine

thank you soo much for your help im more of a body work guy and dont know much about engine internals

[SHAHAB323IS]

Originally Posted by Lower_Level

moderately loud ticking from the valvetrain? Sounds like you'll be doing a valve job cause you've most likely got a bent valve in there somewhere

+1 this is almost a guarantee, i'd invest some money into some stiffer tranny mounts and start back handing 4th no matter what

[Teh Prof]

Originally Posted by SHAHAB323IS

+1 this is almost a guarantee, i'd invest some money into some stiffer tranny mounts and start back handing 4th no matter what

Forgive my ignorance Shahab but exactly what do you mean by backhanding?

[witeshark]

Originally Posted by Teh Prof

Forgive my ignorance Shahab but exactly what do you mean by backhanding?

Manual transmissions default to spring loading toward the 3 - 4 (and 1 - 2) upshift. If you palm (back hand) on the front of the shifter, it will naturally click to 4th.

[Teh Prof]

Originally Posted by witeshark

Manual transmissions default to spring loading toward the 3 - 4 (and 1 - 2) upshift. If you palm (back hand) on the front of the shifter, it will naturally click to 4th.

Aha.

This is what I always do. yay.

[darkhorse737]

the noise does increase in correspondence to the rpm

it sounds medium pitched and is definately comming from the upper end

the ticking does not sound like a diesel, more of an addition to the regular running engine

<<< i am still not convinced it is a valve prob. even if you shift to 2nd gear at 6900rpm... the most that will happen will be to tax the wheels and diff. you can look at it this way- 6900rpm is 6900rpm whether u are in 2ndgear or 4th gear.

you can try this(just to convince you & me that the prob is indeed an internal engine prob). take out the belts and start the engine... let's see if u hear the same sounds you complain of.

then maybe... push in the clutch. hear any difference??

[Teh Prof]

Originally Posted by darkhorse737

i am still not convinced it is a valve prob. even if you shift to 2nd gear at 6900rpm... the most that will happen will be to tax the wheels and diff. you can look at it this way- 6900rpm is 6900rpm whether u are in 2ndgear or 4th gear.

But when you go from 6900 in 3rd to 2nd gear, the engine will over-rev to 10,350. And THAT is plenty high enough to bend a valve.

[Lower_Level]

^^^ +1

Once you're off the clutch, the engine rpm's will try & match where the drivetrain is spinning at; and then you are way higher than 6,900 rpm's.

[nukeduster]

yup. bent valves. pretty common situation in e36's and manual rwd older cars with worn out tranny/engine mounts.

[witeshark]

Originally Posted by nukeduster

yup. bent valves. pretty common situation in e36's and manual rwd older cars with worn out tranny/engine mounts.

Ah, you're saying he missed the shift due to play in the mounts. Interesting.

[darkhorse737]

your insights are well taken, but for the guy's sake i hope not

if you observe the way a car reacts to drastic downshifts, the generated torque is usually 'wasted" in a spinoff in the tires causing them to chirp. While i do not entirely discount the possibilty of bent valves from overrev; i would be more inclined to believe that the torque/energy generated from the sudden downshift will release in the wheels instead of back up on the engine...

but then again... if nukeduster's experience with E36 valves is accurate, then *goodness...

[Teh Prof]

I do recognize that my mathematics assumes no energy lost due to that required to make the engine spin up, but even if the revs only go 1/3 the way between 6900 and 10300, that's enough to bend a valve.