M60 Head Gaskets R&R - Parts List?

[Evan]

I've been having trouble lately and the reason turns out to be exhaust gases leaking into the cooling system... so it's time to do the head gaskets and a valve job.

Aside from the head bolts and head gaskets, what parts do I need to tackle this job?

[Antrieb]

You need a camshaft alignment tool. A guy on ebay sells them and and thats where I bought mine.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-M60-M62-Camshaft-Alignment-Engine-Cam-Timing-Tools_W0QQitemZ120134986452QQihZ002QQcategoryZ3562 5QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

He is the only person I could find to sell them. Kind of expensive, but trust me you will need them.


I bought my gaskets and head bolts from www.autohausaz.com

I would recommend you should replace all your intake gaskets while your at it if you haven't done so already.

You should also drop your oil pan to check to see if there are any oil pump bolts that have backed out.

I made a thread on bf.c and there is lots of info in there.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=608580

Shoot me a PM if you have any questions about the process.

[632 Regal]

antifreeze and oil

[Evan]

Thanks! I read your posts and checked out your pics and was impressed with the work you did.

I'm smelling gasoline in my expansion tank so I may have a cracked head. I'll be sending them to a machine shop soon to find out what I'm working with.

I located a camshaft alignment tool locally and lined up a torch to use on the header nuts. I also have a compressor so it should only take me a few hours to get both heads off.

I'll keep you all posted and post some pics.

[Evan]

I have two gallons of BMW coolant and a gallon of oil handy. Thanks for the advice.

[Atl530i]

What Antreib said.

[632 Regal]

you need 2 gallons of oil.
I have two gallons of BMW coolant and a gallon of oil handy. Thanks for the advice.

[Evan]

i'll be sure to get another gallon

[zhandax]

If you are getting that deep into the engine, go ahead and replace the valley pan while you are in there. I would say valley pan gasket, but that is no longer an option.

[Evan]

the valley pan is under the intake manifold?

what do you mean replacing gasket no longer option?

[zhandax]

That is where it is, in between the heads. You can no longer buy just the gasket. It is now molded into the valley pan. buybimmmerparts has them for ~$75 and over $75 gets free shipping. He will also extend the free shipping to antifreeze, which not everyone will do.

[Evan]

Update: I've disassembled the top of the motor.. including intake manifold and fuel rail, cam covers, upper timing chain covers, radiator, water pump, etc etc.

Next I have to remove the coolant accumulator (in back of the motor) then the timing chain sprockets and exhaust headers... at that point, the heads should be ready for removal and a trip to the machine shop for a thorough inspection

I'm wondering if moisture will have any effect on the exposed cam and chains. I've been spraying them with WD40 after each wrench session.

Also, ANY good ideas or suggestions are welcome.. including a recommendation for a good machine shop in the Baltimore Metro area.

Cheers,
Evan

[632 Regal]

dont use WD40 use engine oil...and the thikest **** you can find, maybe even gear oil which will stick for an amount of time. none of it will be disaterus to the engine.

[Evan]

Update 2: I removed the cooling system accumulator, washer fluid reservoir (for access), and passenger side exhaust manifold nuts. The exhaust manifold is secured with 12mm brass nuts which are a breeze to remove, if a little difficult to reach in certain spots.

Next was the timing chain sprocket. I removed six torx bolts using a 10mm socket and secured the sprocket to the chain using a piece of wire hanger. The timing chain tensioner has one 10mm bolt holding it to the head and I removed that also. At this point, it was time to remove the head bolts and I did so using an 8-point 10mm socket. I detorqued them starting with the outside bolts and going in, as instructed by the Bentley manual. After doing so, I carefully removed the bolts and washers and could feel the head was loose.

Then.. it was quitting time. It's an adventure doing a head gasket job in your driveway but I'm enjoying it. Tomorrow I'll finish removing both heads and checking them out before sending them to the machine shop.

As always, tips and constructive comments are welcome.

Until Domani,
Evan

[Jehu]

I have a leaky lower timing chain cover gasket on the driver's side. If you're that close I myself wouldn't hesitate replacing those gaskets too..

[Evan]

Update 3:

I lifted the passenger side head off today and took a closer look at the components.

The gasket itself was slightly worn in several places. You could see through the gasket in several placesI'll do my best to post photos.

The pistons had minimal carbon build-up. The rings had very little play but the valves had a little play which indicate worn valve guides. All in all it looked pretty good.

I'm taking a break and then I'll go remove the driver's side head and have a peek in there... update tonight!

Cheers,
Evan

[Evan]

thanks I'll look into that too!

[Evan]

Update 4:

I got under the car yesterday and disconnected the exhaust at the point the two pipes merge into one pipe. Getting at the exhaust manifold nuts seems impossible. I then removed the head bolts and timing chain sprocket bolts and secured the chain to the sprocket. Then I removed the timing chain guide rail mounting bolts including the tiny hex head stud.

At this point I thought removing the head would be easy :)

I was wrong, of course.

I can't lift the head off because the fitting for the plastic oil separator meets the timing chain guide rail. I'm looking into how to get around this and I'll post again to let you know the solution.

If anyone has any input, share it with us!

Cheers,
Evan

[Jon K]

Evan if the piston tops don't look too dark, you probably steam cleaned them with a leaking HG.

[Evan]

the piston tops have carbon on them.. they don't look extra dirty but they don't look clean either...

i'm going to disconnect the exhaust manifold from the head today and see if i can work it off somehow... though i don't think it will clear that oil separator fitting

Bentley does not indicate that the lower timing chain cover needs to be removed...

[Jehu]

I didn't mean to imply you'd need to remove the Timing Chain cover to do this job just that it was related to me removing the lower cover is the labor equivalent of doing the head gaskets and there's no doubt mine has a leak which i'm living with .I just figured since you asked that if what you've already removed allows for relatively little furthur work to get at it I myself if in your position and didn't already have a leak would go ahead and replace them there since i understood they can fail and are a seriously time consuming job to get at which i would hate to have to do in the future were i planning on keeping the car indefinitely when I've already got so much stuff off the front end of the engine anyway.

[Evan]

Update 5:

Finally... after disconnecting the exhaust header flanges (and cutting one of the pipes (between header and cat) I was able to lift the head enough to get at half the exhaust manifold nuts. After removing the nuts I was able to lift the head out with the other header attached.

It looks like whoever did the exhaust didn't do such a great job on the flanges and one of them fused into the pipe... in any case.

The heads were both placed on a bench and the cam sprockets were removed with the chains in place. The chain tensioners were removed and set aside. Then the cam bearings came off and finally the cams lifted and placed on the bench. The lifters were removed and stored in oil.

The heads are going to the machine shop tomorrow morning for testing/cleaning/machining. If it turns out I have a cracked head, the job is over and I'll be looking for a motor.

[winfred]

lets hope your isn't as bad as the 95 840 i am working on, the block is warped 4 thou on one bank and 5 on the other to go with the warped heads, the guy just bought it and got ****ed but he scored with the extended warranty as they are going to cover the $4500 bill for me to completely strip the short block down bare and have it decked plus have the heads skimmed

[Evan]

Update 6:

The heads came back after testing and milling. The machinist said he took .006 of an inch off and they are in excellent shape.

I didn't bother with a valve job since the bottom of the engine is original. What would it be like to have heads with 0 miles and a crank, rods, rings, pistons, and associated bearings with 200K miles?

Now I have to clean the engine bay and prepare for reassembly. I'm going to carefully remove any leftover crud from the block so the head gasket will mate evenly. Any suggestions?

Once the heads are in place I have to reinsert the lifters and cams. Since I made the mistake of removing the timing chain sprocket from the cam without marking them, I'm currently searching for a diagram of how the cams should look at TDC. Any ideas are welcome.

This has been quite a job so far...

Cheers,
Evan

[Jehu]

I have an inordinate attachment to my car. I can't bring myself to be without it for a day. I'd be a basket case if i had to do without it this long.. what are you driving instead now?

[Jehu]

I have an inordinate attachment to my car. I can't bring myself to be without it for a day. I'd be a basket case if i had to do without it this long.. what are you driving instead now?