[CarsOrBikes]

eeuughh!

Nuff said!

 

[CarsOrBikes]

seen many worse

 

[knt]

Yucky mucky,

Rebuild or just a good old clean?

 

[R56JCWtoy]

Is the coolant end cap still secure in the head? Located just beneath the vanos/timing chain gear end? Never seen one this bad without that cap coming loose!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CarsOrBikes]

yes, appears to be, will look closer when cleaned a bit more, although those will put coolant in the oil and not oil in the coolant

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Yucky mucky,

Rebuild or just a good old clean?

clean+ ;O)

 

[CarsOrBikes]

this has had a chain etc.....

how do I know?

 

[CarsOrBikes]

 

[Deavilly76]

Noted only Inlet Vanos and no eccentric shaft assy??? Presume BMW/PSA decided to bin all that crap for the turbo engines? But then took cost cutting further and, as someone has already mentioned, made the pistons and con rods from cheese! 🤣

 

[CarsOrBikes]

this cheeky little fella poking out isn't right....

and it has quite a few friends

if we were to take a guess that the chain system might have displayed issues around 50-60k as is typical perhaps, if not before, and whoever renewed it ignored the potential for debris to exist in the sump, consequently this group of chums might have been partying in the pickup for around 20k+!

never assume your garage or workshop is going to go looking, clearly.

this makes me glad I took the decision to look at it in more detail, if I tune this or sell it on to someone who will, it might not have done so well further down the line eh.

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Noted only Inlet Vanos and no eccentric shaft assy??? Presume BMW/PSA decided to bin all that crap for the turbo engines? But then took cost cutting further and, as someone has already mentioned, made the pistons and con rods from cheese! 🤣

indeed for the N14, but it has double vanos plus valvetronic on the later S N18 engine,

I dare say I'll look into the 18 for performance cams and other stuff when I get one at some point, there aren't any in the mainstream due to these systems as I understand it.

as for rods and pistons, these issues might be just linked to high pressures caused by certain mapping I think and knock issues, if not engine state and other tuning choices perhaps, some damage is already attributed to oil consumption via the breather system on these engines which no doubt there are multiple views on, this apparently lowers octane values and causes or exacerbates knock, potentially turning pistons into a consumable. I'm not so sure then about the piston being a weakness when causal or contributory issues aren't addressed in some way. I will be looking at the breathers, but can't say my changes will be approved of or how beneficial, my current view is that I will just cap the inlet manifold stopping vapour ingress from the rocker cover rear breather, as for catch can/cans I'm undecided.

 

[oldbrokenwind]

--- as for rods and pistons, these issues might be just linked to high pressures caused by certain mapping I think ---

Always a possibility, but let me go on the defensive for Manic. I've had manic's stage 4 during all my engine failures, but always found a legitimate failure cause not related to mapping. Currently running the same map with awesome results. Stages 1 & 2 are usually "generic" or canned tunes, and that, combined with poor maintenance and / or lack of performance driving skills, is a more likely cause of engine failure. Manic's stage 3 was usually customized --- dyno and data logs. If stage 4 wasn't customized, the installer doesn't belong in the tuning business.

As for OCC's, I highly recommend them. Capping the inlet manifold will lead to positive crankcase pressure and probable excessive oil consumption. If building for boost exceeding 22PSI, consider a check valve between the OCC and manifold --- saves blowing out the PCV diaphragm. Mine's been working great for the past several years.

 

[CarsOrBikes]

I've left this for a while,

I'm not bothered about Manic. The level of map people subject these cars to for the amount of foundation work done might be a disaster waiting to happen, just as a tune which is probably generic on most could also be junk. The truth might be hard to come by for actual causal issues on some.

Anyway....

The engine has been in bits for some time, a couple of things to take off perhaps, pistons still to come off rods, been doing other things and also avoiding decisions on what to alter if anything on this haha.

Rear main bone dry....

These little caps conceal the last two main bearing bolts, interference fit and sealed, there's probably a better way to have done this but it is what it is....

This is interesting as along with the bearing ladder design it fits to it makes a kind of windage tray, hardly a terrible design, little clearance around the ladder really....

 

[Chrispy]

Jolly good read - keep up the good work!
It’s actually nice to see the step by step strip down of bits you never normally see

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Engine corner haha

Some pitting on the exhaust seats, same usually found on 53's,

This was never at full power like this I'm sure....

I think I'd rather be cleaning these by hand anyway....

 

[oldbrokenwind]

If building for 300+HP, I hope you at least consider a CSS, 'specially since it's already torn down far enough. Shipping across the pond might be out of the question, but maybe there's someone closer that does this --- other than Darton sleeves.

This is the concept used by CSS --- Cylinder Support System – cylindersupportsystem.com

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Exhaust valves not so great, this stuff as I say also present on R53's has potential to cost power from poor seating but worse to lead to burnt out valves....

Initial cleaning....

 

[CarsOrBikes]

A little restricted....

That's pretty much where I left it a couple of weeks ago or so 😂

I've been back and forth over whether to bother tweaking the motor or box or to just clean and reassemble this for sale, but I keep being drawn back to the original consideration of selling even if I do modify it, with the view that I'll simply strip it of anything someone doesn't want. Even if that means the engine comes out. I have even considered simply swapping the engine or box for another standard item depending on what I actually do, just in case anything isn't reversible and I don't wish to be forced to sell the car with something I'm not recovering at least a parts cost outlay on.

I'm well aware of the popular view no parts outlay is ever recovered but that's not strictly true. What normally happens is that folk modify stuff at a parts 'and' labour cost, and it is that combined figure there is zero change of recovering, and they don't retain the stock parts anyway.

Still not 100% on what I want to do, I have made some decisions............

Firstly, the car as I said from the outset is for sale. It is £5250 as a standard car with 78k and only 2 previous keepers, this includes all the work being done if sold with this engine in totally stock condition with no mods on the car at all, just in nice order all working correctly. I don't think this is an unreasonable price at all. It's looking likely this motor will be some way off stock though, as I'm getting near the point where more parts are arriving and bigger decisions have been made which are a bit of a commitment if not to this particular car, to the N14 in some way, or N18 in regard to other parts if I bail at the last minute haha.

My weird logic I think I said before, is that from here (£5250), everything gets added on, so intercooler, exhaust, cams, rods, crank, diff, gears, with the benefit that whoever knows about the car and might want it, gets to save 'all' the labour costs of doing it all, but still pays for the core vehicle plus all parts to get it where it is at the end.

Even if parts are not wanted I will sell them to other customers as I do anyway from time to time as 'fitted' items, always recovering the costs in a 'deal' done in one way or another, parts/labour overall working out for both parties well enough.

Does that sound reasonable? I think so, and I haven't been drinking

So....

£5250

Plus....??

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Jolly good read - keep up the good work!
It’s actually nice to see the step by step strip down of bits you never normally see

Thanks, actually most work I do for people involves me taking some pictures of before, during and after etc, and I will offer them some of the images for their own reference.

I always say the images are my own which I reserve the right to use for reference or whatever, I just don't discuss their vehicles as that's between us, that part is their story to tell, and everyone has been more than happy with that.

People like to talk about their cars online these days don't they, so I can help at least my own customers by assisting them in showing others things they'd otherwise have no access to.

When this car sells the new owner can have most of the pictures too, it's got to be better than just telling people what's supposed to have been done.

On this particular model it can be useful to help people see some of the comparisons to the cars most of us know better, the R53 etc, which is significantly simpler.

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Aware I have the front of the car off and the location of the intercooler I wasn't fussed about doing anything with, I shopped around the budget parts looking for a specific type and found something close to what I had in mind which was a £260 Chinese origin one as most are, black reasonably well made light part which was what I was trying to find, that looks like it has good airflow through it compared to some that look a bit chunky. I didn't want to obstruct the front of the radiator these sit in front of by so much, so what I ended up with was this, shipped from the UK.

It looks ok, cooling fins a little rough in places, some bent over upon unpackaging but I've straightened them mostly, a couple of slight warped bits probably from manhandling in production at a Chinese factory, but significantly nicer than some I've seen, so this will get fitted at some point....

We'll see what it's like eventually, it's certainly got to help, and it's a boat load less money than similar stuff sold by certain vendors, same old story for the R53 we all know except for those the cheap options aren't light, this weighs a lot less than it looks, a customer was here when looking at it the other day and he felt it was lighter than the R53 Airtec TMIC which is markedly smaller, it could well be, anyway, it's here.

Actually two are here 😂 The other will be sold.

So we're at £5250 + £260

£5510 then ;O)

Lohen charge £120 to fit one they sell for example, which is £349 or £489 for another, so saving a minimum of £120, or up to £349 against 'x' make.