M60 oil pump bolts (pics)

[gboezio]

I took my car for a spin yesterday night, was riding smooth until I snapped and gave the poor thing a ride for the hell of it. Came to a red light and after holding the brakes for quite a while, since I was going WOT downhill I saw the oil pressure light blink a few times. It blinked every time the engine was idling and under decelaration so I kept the revs up and drove home. Of course I read about this all around the forum that BMW guys did not think it was a good idea to secure the bolts with loctite and deny that there is a problem in there, but it seems that every M60 that drops it's oil pan have a freaking pile of bolts hanging on the bottom of it. No less than 8 pump core bolts in the bottom, 2 totally loose but stuck there because of the block and one of the three that holds the bump to the block. This leaves one bolt (the long one) holding the two halves together. Luckily the pump is still good and all the bolts are reusable.
I'll let the pictures speak for me

[gboezio]

more

[gboezio]

want more get this !

[tfritz]

I hate working in the snow but it seems as though everytime it snows I have to do something to my car, go figure...

at least it kept your beer cold!!!


sorry I don't know anything about your m60, as im stuck with a m50 ftl

[anusitcher]

Is loctite recommended after replacement?

[Antrieb]

Wow thtas a lot of bolts!

I only had 2

[gboezio]

I hate working in the snow but it seems as though everytime it snows I have to do something to my car, go figure...
at least it kept your beer cold!!!

Yeah, it could have happened this summer when temp reach over 80
As for the beer I had to drink it fast so it will not freeze, 10 deg F today

Is loctite recommended after replacement?

There will be a bunch in every threads, that's why I cleaned the pump in the first place so it sticks proprely.

Wow thtas a lot of bolts!

I only had 2

I did not check it, I guess it was on my "to do" list for the last 5 years, so I waited to loose my oil pressure.

I suppose that the wide temp changes (-10 to 180) of the engine, heavy vibrations of me driving the poor underpowered car to the redline every insanity crisis (witch is almost every time my girlfreind is not in the car), helped to drive them loose.

[gboezio]

I guess it may be caused by improper torque value, since the longer bolt had enough stretch to stay tight.

[TC535i]

Shit, I should probably look into this...

[94is]

Shit, I should probably look into this...

No more ragging on my S50 and its common oil pump nut failure anymore.

That is absolutely ridiculous tho.

[TC535i]

No more ragging on my S50 and its common oil pump nut failure anymore.

That is absolutely ridiculous tho.

Yeah, but you see how mine comes off without interfering with the subframe?

[94is]

Yeah, but you see how mine comes off without interfering with the subframe?

Speaking of subframes, when are you going to fix yours?

[TC535i]

Speaking of subframes, when are you going to fix yours?

E36? Meh... when I get around to it.

[shelbyz4u2nv]

all i can say is wow...i guess this is deff something i should look into...anyone know the CORRECT torque spec for the pump bolts and pan? i think im going to do this next week before it might be too late..lol

[gboezio]

Oil pan gasket was hard and stuck so little help from hell here and it came off easily. I checked oil pressure relief valve for proper operation.
Time for a beer

[gboezio]

So I used some loctite to secure the bolts, I have a torque wrench but I did not use it, I torqued the bolts in 2 steps using my "feel" and knowing that the thread locking compound will hold the bolts in place. I left it dry for 2 hours over a heater and mounted it back still cleaning threads and using plenty of loctite. Now waiting for the gasket that should come later this week. For those who are not familiar with bolt grade, size, threads material, Better use a torque wrench not to rip the threads and achieve enough bolt stretch.
The oil inlet pipe is of a good design since the pump can't go any deeper, if the holding bolts come loose, the tube and O-ring still seal the pressurized oil.

[Grim Reaper]

Seeing this just reaffirms my suspicions for years that Nikasil might not have been the major reason some M60s failed early on in their lives. Too many of these situations have been seen to disregard oil starvation/low oil pressure as a precursor to heavy wear at low miles in an M60.

We checked our 95 540/6 at 50k found one backed out but not in pan. Checked again at 100k and again two needed a half turn to get properly torqued. This item should be added to the 60k service interval if you own a M60.

Did the beer go down like it does on a cold Football Saturday?

Props for the good work and pics.

G

[gboezio]

all i can say is wow...i guess this is deff something i should look into...anyone know the CORRECT torque spec for the pump bolts and pan? i think im going to do this next week before it might be too late..lol

I dug this out for you
For the M6 of the oil pump halves, as a guideline about as much you can give holding the wrench in the center (see pic)

Did the beer go down like it does on a cold Football Saturday?

Thanks, yeah while in the winter break from work, these brown bottles go down easily

[atl530i]

I give you major props for working in the snow and cold. I've worked in the cold but not in the snow.

Nice job BTW

[dclan]

wow, really gives me something to consider as my 540i is coming due for it's next oil change- great pics by the way- I've not owned mine long enough to have had the pan down, yet.

[Goat128]

Seeing this just reaffirms my suspicions for years that Nikasil might not have been the major reason some M60s failed early on in their lives. Too many of these situations have been seen to disregard oil starvation/low oil pressure as a precursor to heavy wear at low miles in an M60.

Dam that would suck. But you would see an oil pressure light come on so at least you would know what happened.

[gboezio]

Well there was only one on eleven bolts left before the oil pressure light barely blinked at me under 1000 RPM under braking. The case could have split open before someone unlucky have actually seen the light. I was driving at night so red light blinking for half a sec is more obvious than during city day driving, there is so much idiots to avoid that it's hard to keep a steady eye on the gauge cluster.

[msknet1]

I took my car for a spin yesterday night, was riding smooth until I snapped and gave the poor thing a ride for the hell of it. Came to a red light and after holding the brakes for quite a while, since I was going WOT downhill I saw the oil pressure light blink a few times. It blinked every time the engine was idling and under decelaration so I kept the revs up and drove home. Of course I read about this all around the forum that BMW guys did not think it was a good idea to secure the bolts with loctite and deny that there is a problem in there, but it seems that every M60 that drops it's oil pan have a freaking pile of bolts hanging on the bottom of it. No less than 8 pump core bolts in the bottom, 2 totally loose but stuck there because of the block and one of the three that holds the bump to the block. This leaves one bolt (the long one) holding the two halves together. Luckily the pump is still good and all the bolts are reusable.
I'll let the pictures speak for me

So, you don't have the luxury of a garage either. I feel a little better now that someone besides myself has to fight the elements. In your case, you couldn't wait for a warmer day due to the urgency of the situation. Nice work.

[gboezio]

So, you don't have the luxury of a garage either. I feel a little better now that someone besides myself has to fight the elements. In your case, you couldn't wait for a warmer day due to the urgency of the situation. Nice work.

The key here is to dress acordingly, long sleeve underwear, synthetic clothing and a real thick work suit. I had to get rid of a few layers since I was getting hot working in there, the thicker are the clothes the harder it is to move and the more heat is generated.
It seem bad but it's not half as bad as other jobs I had before.
Maybe in the spring I'll start building one because I was planning on buying some milling machines and start fabricating industrial parts. Otherwise I always did my car maintenance outside, it's actually funnier outside on sunny summer days so I can work on my suntan while overhauling brakes.
Oh and having a beer of course

[shelbyz4u2nv]

gboezio, thanx for the specs