M3 E36 Evo gremlins????
M3 E36 Evo gremlins????
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Discussion

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Friday 2nd March 2012
quotequote all
Stopped at lights on the way home from work and engine started to vibrate for about 30 seconds then all back to normal. Car drove fine no loss of power etc. opened bonnet once i got home engine smelt oily but nothing !!

Any ideas?????

TheEnd

15,370 posts

214 months

Friday 2nd March 2012
quotequote all
Leaking rocker cover gasket getting oil onto the plugs, and possibly onto the exhaust manifolds if it smelt like burning oil is my guess.

_Neal_

2,922 posts

245 months

Friday 2nd March 2012
quotequote all
Sounds like a good shout - get it looked at, also check for error codes and check your VANOS bolts etc for leaks. IIRC the gasket isn't expensive to replace - worth doing even if not due, just for peace of mind.

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Thanks for that.

Vanos bolts, gasket and filter were changed about 10k ago. Car now done 95k. what sort of job is it to replace rocker gasket??

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Bit of a balleache but not horrendous. I'd replace the o rings on the vanos solenoids while youre there and the vanos filter too.

A a possible other thing, check all the breather pipes under the intake, one of them tees and then blanks off. These can perish and bugger your idle up. They rest just above the alternator. There are also a couple of wider, preshaped breather hoses (about an inch in diameter) higher up behind the throttle bodies that can perish with age as well. Have a good look round all of them, they may look fine but prodding one with your finger can reveal that theyve gone mushy and started leaking air. Again, nothing expensive but well worth investing the time checking them all over. Only needs one to be slightly leaking and the car will run like a bag of st.

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Great information. Think I will see if it happens again! spent up at the moment having just converted car from SMG to manual

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
fridgemiester said:
Great information. Think I will see if it happens again! spent up at the moment having just converted car from SMG to manual
No probs, let us know if it isnt any of those things. My instinct is saying o rings on soleniods failing or breached breather system.

What colour is it/pics?

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Estoril Blue, Black leather no pics unfortunately. Mint condition for 98 plate.Thats why i converted it when smg failed. vanos is a bit noisy but no loss of power. Anyone used MR vanos on here????

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
fridgemiester said:
Estoril Blue, Black leather no pics unfortunately. Mint condition for 98 plate.Thats why i converted it when smg failed. vanos is a bit noisy but no loss of power. Anyone used MR vanos on here????
Heard he's pretty good. Dont worry about the pics, sounds like your car is a clone of mine. What wheels does it have?

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Standard 5 spoke evo diamond cut finish. iirc

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Sunflowers on mine!

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Nice choice I had those on my first e36 m3. non evo. Till some tw%t wrote it off

TheEnd

15,370 posts

214 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Also have a look around under the manifold for a vacuum T piece, and one of the T's has a little rubber cap.
It can fall off or get brittle and crack which can give rough running.

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Thanks for that will have a look. problem only happend once though.

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
TheEnd said:
Also have a look around under the manifold for a vacuum T piece, and one of the T's has a little rubber cap.
It can fall off or get brittle and crack which can give rough running.
That's the kiddie i was talking about. I cable tied mine on to be extra sure as theyre a bit of a faff to reach.

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Saturday 3rd March 2012
quotequote all
Top info guys.

Will have a look

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Wednesday 21st March 2012
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Been working away so never had time to check anything.
Just been out in car drives perfect till up to operating temp then idles rough and you can see engine rocking. rev it, all smooth back to idle crock of 5h1t. money pretty tight follwing full SMG to manual conversion. worried it may be vanos fault. Apart from ripping the air intake system apart is there anything I should consider first?

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Wednesday 21st March 2012
quotequote all
fridgemiester said:
Been working away so never had time to check anything.
Just been out in car drives perfect till up to operating temp then idles rough and you can see engine rocking. rev it, all smooth back to idle crock of 5h1t. money pretty tight follwing full SMG to manual conversion. worried it may be vanos fault. Apart from ripping the air intake system apart is there anything I should consider first?
Did you check the breather hoses for splits yet? Still sounds like that a bit.

fridgemiester

Original Poster:

82 posts

216 months

Wednesday 21st March 2012
quotequote all
No mate, are they easy to access? just worried this will turn into a money pit! nearly ended up in divorce court over SMG CONVERSION. LOL

VinceFox

20,566 posts

198 months

Wednesday 21st March 2012
quotequote all
fridgemiester said:
No mate, are they easy to access? just worried this will turn into a money pit! nearly ended up in divorce court over SMG CONVERSION. LOL
Time consuming but not complicated. Start by removing the airbox and work back until the plenum is off, then look them over.

Cheapest thing it could be, so worth checking first!