3-Series (E36)Chat relating to the BMW 3-Series from 1992-1999. Autodoodad
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Hey guys, I recently got an E36 that ran just fine. I did a tune up (New plugs, air filter, oil filter, stuff like that). The spark plug tunnels were filled to the top with oil because the gaskets were old, so I replaced the valve cover gaskets and cleaned it all up.
So i went ahead and turned it on and it ran great for about 20 minutes and then the idle got very lumpy, almost as if it has a misfire. When its in gear (automatic) it only idles at about 500 now. And the exaust sounds more like a Hog than a BMW also. Its not consistant either, it will idle ok for a second, then crappy.
BTW its a 93 325i
__________________ 86 Alpine White 335is M30 Swap <br>My Car Domain ASE L1 Smog Certified
Might sound stupid, but i did an oil change once, and cleaned the oil cap so well it didn't completely seal around the valve cover. This caused a brutally rough idle that took me a good week to figure out.
Try taking the cap off and making a tight seal with ur hand over the hole, it immediatly changed the idle.
Joe... does sound like you have a crankcase leak. The aftermarket valve cover seals often cause this problem. The crankcase is supposed to be sealed to a point and is essentially a measured vaccume leak through the crankcase ventilation system. If it is allowed to bring in more air than expected from the crankcase it's just like having a full blown vaccume leak. Did you follow the proper torque specs for the gasket and did you go from the middle out while torqing? Very important! Good luck and if it won't quit, buy BMW gasket.
I couldnt find the torque settings on the manual so I tourqued them based on my expert opinion. Yes I did start from the center and go out. I lined both sides of the gaskets with a fair amount of high temp RTV.
__________________ 86 Alpine White 335is M30 Swap <br>My Car Domain ASE L1 Smog Certified
Ooooh RTV bad. You should only use RTV if directed by the gasket manufacturer or if you have a multipiece gasket like the old VW 1.8L's did, where you have silicone and paper gaskets coming together at the camshaft hump. Then you need a dab where they meet but other than that you really shouldn't need to use it and in fact it will probably prevent sealing rather than aid it! It usually just keeps the gasket from mating to both surfaces properly. The M50 gasket is a rubberized paper covered metal crush type, if I'm not mistaken, and requires NO RTV! I would bet that the RTV is your culprit and you should get another gasket and try again sans the goop!
Oh... and only use a small 1/4" drive ratchet to tighten the nuts and a good rule of thumb is to run them down untill they start to "pull" the cover down and then go a 1/4 turn past that and always start in center and stagger out one side to the other, top to bottom.
That's cuz it's not the oil cap it's the gasket. Oil cap trick only works if the oil cap is the leak culprit and the rest of the engine is sealed tight. Sorry to be the bearer of bad new JoeM. Good luck with it! Is the car yours or what's the deal? You joinin the E36 crowd now? Trader! LOL!:lol:
You should definitly go ahead and clean the ivc, but the reason I suspect the gasket is because it is the one thing that has changed since it idled normally before! The ivc hasn't been touched so why would it all of the sudden cause a problem? Not that it couldn't, just that good diagnostic reasoning would point to the variable in the equasion, which is your gasket problem.
im not goint to lie... ive been working and doing simple stuff like this on cars before and accidently knocked some stuff around and must of knocked like a ball of carbon buildup into the icv and made it go hairwire... just cleaned it out and it was fine... i think i did it again recently but its getting better so idont think ima approce it...
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RTV bad. You should only use RTV if directed by the gasket manufacturer or if you have a multipiece gasket like the old VW 1.8L's did, where you have silicone and paper gaskets coming together at the camshaft hump. Then you need a dab where they meet but other than that you really shouldn't need to use it and in fact it will probably prevent sealing rather than aid it! It usually just keeps the gasket from mating to both surfaces properly. The M50 gasket is a rubberized paper covered metal crush type, if I'm not mistaken, and requires NO RTV! I would bet that the RTV is your culprit and you should get another gasket and try again sans the goop!
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