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Thread: V8 Guys- Are you pulling your oil pain to check for chain guide rails?

  1. #1
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    V8 Guys- Are you pulling your oil pain to check for chain guide rails?

    I getting ready to move, so I don't have time to work on my car. I am taking the car to a friend for him to do some work on it. I was going to have him pull the lower oil pan and look for plastic from the timing chain guides.

    Have any of you guys been doing that? It seems like this might be something good to do.

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    why?
    Garrett

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    b/c of threads like this
    http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...ghlight=clouds

    and people on the forums saying that there engine died b/c of timing chain failure.

    look at the e38 sections, they are starting to talk about this a little

    35 views and no comments? nobody is worried about this besides me??
    Last edited by jerkstore; 04-20-2009 at 10:18 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

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    I will be replacing the chains and tensioners and guides soon as I figure what tools are required to do the job. My car is a 99 and has some sort of knock from the front of the engine as well.

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    It looks to be a pretty expensive job, even for the DIY. To replace all the guides, tenioners, and chains, I think I got a parts total of like $650. Thats not counting any gaskets or special tools.

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    BMW chains usually last the life of the car
    Garrett

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    Wouldn't you only need to replace the rails guides, since it is the plastic guides that deteriorate?

    Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …

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    Can we organize some sort of kit to be able to purchase as a whole that includes the needed gaskets and rails?

    Or can someone just post up links to each item, I would do it but I just got in the e39 world and I don't know the websites very well yet.

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    The chains are cheap. The tensioners and guides total $500.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mad Dog 20/20 View Post
    BMW chains usually last the life of the car
    Yes, but the life of the car can be defined by how long the tensioners last.

    I had the job done in December 07. We replaced everything that we could find in there to replace, because we didn't want to go in there again. Big job -- I was charged 10 hours of labour, IIRC. Valve covers, oil pan, timing covers all have to come off. My chain jumped a tooth as well. We were lucky that it didn't jump more.
    Last edited by Philboski; 04-21-2009 at 10:27 AM.
    "All my life, I have searched for a car that feels a certain way....Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball. Now, at last, I have found it." -- Homer Simpson

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    Wowzerz.

    Just looked at that thread. Pretty crazy, but both motors look like they had a strict dino poop diet - one fed good fresh dino poop and the other looks like it never saw an oil change.

    EXTREME neglect:
    Last edited by Mad Dog 20/20; 04-21-2009 at 09:14 PM.
    Garrett

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    Last edited by jerkstore; 04-21-2009 at 05:35 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

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    Quote Originally Posted by npvr6 View Post
    Can we organize some sort of kit to be able to purchase as a whole that includes the needed gaskets and rails?

    Or can someone just post up links to each item, I would do it but I just got in the e39 world and I don't know the websites very well yet.
    +1 on someone putting a kit together!!! I just went on EAC site but it is not easy trying to figure out which parts and how many. I want to do this asap but I also need to look into it more to see how many special tools are needed to do the job.

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    This IS scarey stuff. Thanks for brining it up, again, OP.

    I think fresh synthetic and a new tensioner (#19 in the diagram and easily swapped-out) should go a long way towards adding some longevity.

    Garrett

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    that's probably only if you don't hear anything already?

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    Quote Originally Posted by chucksrt View Post
    that's probably only if you don't hear anything already?
    Even if you hear some chain slap, the sooner you rectify it the better. The nature of plastics is that they progressivley weaken with repeated impacts. So the sooner you can stop the chain from slapping and whipping those plastic guides, the better.
    Garrett

  17. #17
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    if removing the tensioner, do you have any chance of giving the chain too much slack and jumping a tooth?

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    $650 for the chain parts? Wow, that's cheap (google M88 timing chain parts)!

    Timing components will last a very long time as long as everything is well maintained. The M88 problem is that the tensioner gets sloppy, causing rattle and slap, and the guides will disintegrate (especially if they're 25 years old). I'm not surprised the M62 has a similar problem.
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    I can count the number of M62s that I've done that job on with both my hands.

    Scary stuff. A few looked neglectied. The rest...just milage(over150K)
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    According to a indy around here, my startup knock/rattle/whatever is coming form worn guides or something along those lines. It was relayed to me by nc540 and did not seem to be an expensive or overly difficult job to take on. I'll get more information soon because I need to do something. Embarassing startups will only be that way for so long if my chain decides to shit the bed. Then I'll have to drop an LS1 in there.
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    I asked my indy about this a couple of weeks ago after hearing another member's car cranked up after sitting in my garage for a couple of days. It made quite a racket... My indy said he's replaced lots of chain tensioners on cars 99 and newer, and seen failures on those cars that weren't serviced, but said mine (and older) aren't really candidates for failure. I hope he's right.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by JackEatsEmoKids View Post
    I can count the number of M62s that I've done that job on with both my hands.

    Scary stuff. A few looked neglectied. The rest...just milage(over150K)
    M62s or M62TUs? Every failure mentioned so far has been an M62TU (thankfully).

    Quote Originally Posted by nc540 View Post
    I asked my indy about this a couple of weeks ago after hearing another member's car cranked up after sitting in my garage for a couple of days. It made quite a racket... My indy said he's replaced lots of chain tensioners on cars 99 and newer, and seen failures on those cars that weren't serviced, but said mine (and older) aren't really candidates for failure. I hope he's right.
    Ah ha! M62s look like they use a metal timing chain guide

    Part # 11311741777

    Look here on pelican parts. http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...1-1-741-777-M9

    Metal (M62, pre-9/98)
    Chain Guide Rail, for Lower Timing Chain (Left Side), E39 540i (through 8/98)

    And Plastic (M62TU, from 9/98) Chain Guide Rail for Lower Timing Chain (Left Side), E39 540i/540i Wagon (from 9/98)
    Last edited by Cyrix2k; 04-21-2009 at 11:32 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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    I'm getting scared.
    Is there any way to properly check for tensioners and guides wear and chain play before something really awful happens apart from removing the front of the engine? "Listen if it rattles" doesn't seem too accurate..

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyrix2k View Post
    M62s or M62TUs? Every failure mentioned so far has been an M62TU (thankfully).


    Ah ha! M62s look like they use a metal timing chain guide

    Part # 11311741777

    Look here on pelican parts. http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...1-1-741-777-M9

    Metal (M62, pre-9/98)
    Chain Guide Rail, for Lower Timing Chain (Left Side), E39 540i (through 8/98)

    And Plastic (M62TU, from 9/98) Chain Guide Rail for Lower Timing Chain (Left Side), E39 540i/540i Wagon (from 9/98)
    can't find the post, but i read on roadfly the other day about a guy with a 98 740i that had guide failures. there is still nylon on yours that can fail as well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyrix2k View Post
    M62s or M62TUs? Every failure mentioned so far has been an M62TU (thankfully).


    Ah ha! M62s look like they use a metal timing chain guide

    Part # 11311741777

    Look here on pelican parts. http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...1-1-741-777-M9


    Metal (M62, pre-9/98)
    Chain Guide Rail, for Lower Timing Chain (Left Side), E39 540i (through 8/98)



    And Plastic (M62TU, from 9/98) Chain Guide Rail for Lower Timing Chain (Left Side), E39 540i/540i Wagon (from 9/98)

    Bad news -- the tensioner changed on my 97 was plastic, and was disintegrated. Luckily, I parked it before things got any worse.
    "All my life, I have searched for a car that feels a certain way....Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball. Now, at last, I have found it." -- Homer Simpson

    "Gulp! How much is this monstrosity? Eighty thousand dollars?!? I'm ruined!" -- Herb Powell, former President and CEO, Powell Motors Corp.

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