Just finished my timing belt change (woohoo!) + a few random questions

[Sagaris]

Thursday 6:00 PM, The e30 goes up on jack stands and the battery is disconnected. My first timing belt change on an e30 begins.

Friday 1:00 AM, The e30 is filled with coolant and fired up. Luckily the valves and pistons didn't intermingle and it ran on its own power.
Then I checked for leaks.

The blasted water pump gasket had failed me!!!!
I blame myself for not using RTV sealant

I went to bed pissed off and smelling like orange hand cleaner.
--
Friday 6:00 AM, ROUND 2 I strip everything back down to the water pump step in an hour ( much faster than before) and order the new water pump gasket.

The new gasket came in this morning and I threw everything together pretty quickly WITH RTV SEALANT ON THE GASKET and took my time bleeding the cooling system and driving around the neighborhood with no hood on. I got some nice stares. And I dont think it was because they like e30's. Overall it was actually a pretty easy task, there were just a lot of things to remove.

LESSON LEARNED: USE RTV SEALANT ON THE WATER PUMP GASKET!

I also found it easier to attach the cooling fan, place the fan shroud around it , THEN install the radiator. Rather than installing the radiator, fan shroud then cooling fan ( it is hard to get the threads started with that limited space).

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Question time:

1) The intermediate shaft: Does that just drive the oil pump or does it turn any balance shafts or anything?

2) What is the replacement interval on the cap and rotor? It appears that mine were original but I could be wrong, they looked BAD (185k miles). The car seems to run a tad better with the new cap and rotor.

[tjmonsen5]

Of course the car will run much better with a new cap and rotor, it is almost the life of the car. Im pretty sure the intermediate shaft only drives the oil pump, i could be wrong though.

Yes, when i did a timing belt/water pump the first time, i didnt use any sealant and it leaked really badly. You would think BMW would supply a thicker gasket (one like the thermostat housing gasket) for the water pump. I pulled it apart just like you and used RTV, and then the leak stopped. But about 2 months later, its slowly leaking again!!!

[thejlevie]

The intermediate shaft only drives the oil pump.

[therichsta]

Originally Posted by tjmonsen5

Of course the car will run much better with a new cap and rotor, it is almost the life of the car. Im pretty sure the intermediate shaft only drives the oil pump, i could be wrong though.

Yes, when i did a timing belt/water pump the first time, i didnt use any sealant and it leaked really badly. You would think BMW would supply a thicker gasket (one like the thermostat housing gasket) for the water pump. I pulled it apart just like you and used RTV, and then the leak stopped. But about 2 months later, its slowly leaking again!!!

so if i just use sealant the first time around it won't leak?

[Sagaris]

From now on I will always use it. The first time , without RTV, I cleaned the block up really well and prepped the surfaces but it still leaked. I just added that bit of info in case anyone was doubtful that I took the time to prep the surface.

[E30Nova]

I've never seen or heard of anyone installing a fan/fan shroud like that. It just makes more sense to put the fan on first and put the shroud over it, followed by the radiator. Putting the radiator in first gives like 0.5mm of room to access anything.

Matt

[genocide98]

Originally Posted by E30Nova

I've never seen or heard of anyone installing a fan/fan shroud like that. It just makes more sense to put the fan on first and put the shroud over it, followed by the radiator. Putting the radiator in first gives like 0.5mm of room to access anything.

Matt

+1 but everyone figures it out differently. props on getting off yer ass and getting the job done, op.

[djb2]

The water pump should seal without any extra gasket goop if both surfaces are clean and unscratched. If you do use something to hold the gasket in place during assembly, put it only on the water pump side.

I suggest always having a second water pump gasket on hand when replacing the pump. The gaskets packed with the pump can get mangled and creased during shipping -- they are sitting next to a heavy, awkwardly shaped casting. And while the gasket included is likely good enough, the BMW gasket is known to be good.

11-51-1-722-677 water pump gasket, $2.10/1.58

[tjmonsen5]

I have the gasket from pelican, and it is practically paper thin. Is the BMW gasket any different?

[James3828]

So just to confirm for me too; is that intermediate shaft totally independent of the rest of the timing?

As I was pulling out the old timing belt a few minutes ago, that intermediate shaft spun pretty freely. I didn't expect that, and after all the instructions to get everything lined up TDC and all, I cringed and hoped it was just the oil pump.

Alleviate my fears and please tell me it can spin freely and independent of the Cam and Crank shafts.

Also, how can i tell if a waterpump should be replaced? I have two used ones; they both feel pretty tight, just the tiniest hint of wiggle which i think is normal. thoughts?

[Ranger1]

The only thing the Intermediate Shaft turns is the oil pump. Only thing. Only.

Well, except for the aux cam chain.

Kidding.

OP. WTG man. Doing this sort of thing yourself is a real confidence builder. <salute>

[Sagaris]

Originally Posted by tjmonsen5

I have the gasket from pelican, and it is practically paper thin. Is the BMW gasket any different?

I got everything from Turner and it was also paper-thin.

Originally Posted by James3828

So just to confirm for me too; is that intermediate shaft totally independent of the rest of the timing?

As I was pulling out the old timing belt a few minutes ago, that intermediate shaft spun pretty freely. I didn't expect that, and after all the instructions to get everything lined up TDC and all, I cringed and hoped it was just the oil pump.

Alleviate my fears and please tell me it can spin freely and independent of the Cam and Crank shafts.

Also, how can i tell if a waterpump should be replaced? I have two used ones; they both feel pretty tight, just the tiniest hint of wiggle which i think is normal. thoughts?

The rule of thumb is to replace the water pump every other t-belt change but I am sure you already knew that and its hard to know when the previous owner did it. I just bought my car and want to start it off with a fresh maintenance history so I went ahead and did it. I would do it if I were you (assuming you dont know when it was last done) since the pump itself is only $40-$50. The old pump that came off had a small amount of play in the impeller shaft. I am not sure if that qualifies as anything to judge by.

As for the intermediate shaft, I moved mine a few teeth while getting the new. T-belt on. I was 99% sure it didnt drive anything but the oil pump and I was right so dont worry about that.