<![CDATA[Replacing seals in my M20]]>Have an oil leak, so planning on tearing apart my M20 next week so I can replace the front crankcase seal, the oil pan and valve cover gaskets and the head gasket.

I've done the timing belt once, so I know how to do that much. Anything in particular I need for tools or good heads up with regard to the head and crankcase seal?

Thanks.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/topic/3898/replacing-seals-in-my-m20RSS for NodeWed, 16 Sep 2026 06:38:05 GMTTue, 04 Aug 2015 22:34:09 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sat, 16 Apr 2016 22:17:30 GMT]]>You're probably right. Was doing some reading on E30tech and hearing about all of the bad luck everybody has had with VR gaskets. Sounds like the goetze and FelPro might be worth a risk, but it also sounded like the BMW gasket, although more expensive, was far better quality.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/68025https://wibimmers.com/post/68025Sat, 16 Apr 2016 22:17:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sat, 16 Apr 2016 11:33:47 GMT]]>Why not just get an OEM headgasket? I don't doubt a felpro would work but if you already had bad luck with the Victor Reinz I wouldn't chance it again

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/68021https://wibimmers.com/post/68021Sat, 16 Apr 2016 11:33:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sat, 16 Apr 2016 04:37:54 GMT]]>Well, it's official. Either blown head gasket or cracked head. Won't know which until I get the damned car apart....again. Leaning against the cracked head as there really isn't any reason it should have cracked in the past week under normal driving. Hopefully my work schedule will allow me to get the thing torn apart within the next week so i can get on this and get it done. Think I'm going with FelPro gasket and bolts this time, though.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/68018https://wibimmers.com/post/68018Sat, 16 Apr 2016 04:37:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Thu, 14 Apr 2016 01:38:05 GMT]]>You'd also think that it would have leaked coolant all over the place too. This is why I'm thinking that cracked block or head, or even a loose coolant bleed bolt on the block are probably out of the question - no external leakage. I'm just surprised that the car is still running so well. It's like there's nothing wrong except that the coolant warning light keeps coming on, and I have to keep adding coolant.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/67959https://wibimmers.com/post/67959Thu, 14 Apr 2016 01:38:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:31:43 GMT]]>You could very well have a cracked head too but you would think in any case other than a bad head gasket, the car would have had to overheat.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/67947https://wibimmers.com/post/67947Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:31:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:10:34 GMT]]>

Snap said:

I ran a Victor Reinz gasket on boost. It survived, the piston rings didnt.

That sucks. I doubt mine is the piston rings though. The only things I can think of that would cause internal coolant loss like this is either blown head gasket or cracked block. The former I can deal with, albeit reluctantly as it's only a couple hundred bucks and a few days worth of work. The latter will be the death of the car. Although an M50 swap could be cool, I don't have the money for an engine swap. This is my DD, so any new engine would require a complete rebuild in order to ensure reliability, and I don't have the money for that, even if I were to try it myself which don't have the time for or knowledge to attempt.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/67944https://wibimmers.com/post/67944Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:10:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Tue, 12 Apr 2016 20:34:43 GMT]]>I ran a Victor Reinz gasket on boost. It survived, the piston rings didnt.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/67926https://wibimmers.com/post/67926Tue, 12 Apr 2016 20:34:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:32:02 GMT]]>I had to replace a victor reinz head gasket that someone had done recently on one of my cars. Sorry to hear this.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/67923https://wibimmers.com/post/67923Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:32:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:30:49 GMT]]>Well, it's been about 8 months since I did the head gasket change, and now I'm loosing coolant big time.....and it isn't leaking onto the ground. Have a feeling that my Reinz head gasket blew and I'm going to have to do this again. Dropping the car off at the shop to have them do a good diagnosis on it just to make sure, but I have a really bad feeling.

Oddly enough (or not), the engine seems to run fine. Just did a valve adjustment on it a week ago and it's a lot quieter now than it was too.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/67909https://wibimmers.com/post/67909Tue, 12 Apr 2016 13:30:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 18:28:00 GMT]]>Good to hear! I know how you feel man, something new breaking every week. If I had to daily drive my car I would lose my sanity.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62054https://wibimmers.com/post/62054Tue, 22 Sep 2015 18:28:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Tue, 22 Sep 2015 16:41:27 GMT]]>OK. I have to apologize for my rant above. Most of the problem was that my other car broke a driveshaft U joint the previous day while on my way to work requiring that it be towed, and then the E30 broke down on me the next day on my way to work requiring that IT be towed to0. I was just really frustrated with my cars in general and about ready to take a BFH to both of them.

Turned out that neither of them required a huge amount of work, and about half the invoice expense for both combined was the towing which I can get back on my insurance.

The E30 ended up being the bolt that runs through the cam sprocket into the head. It apparently wasn't torqued quite right and loosened up shortly after I got on the road causing the distributor rotor to stop spinning and leaving me with no spark. The oil I found under the car was just a continued leakage from my pan gasket which I need to work on next. Nothing regarding the engine. Just got the car back from the shop today, and it runs great so far. Coolant level is still spot on after some city driving and the car runs and idles better now than it has in nearly 18 months.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62050https://wibimmers.com/post/62050Tue, 22 Sep 2015 16:41:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 20 Sep 2015 17:20:14 GMT]]>Well, my victory was short lived. Got the car started and the coolant level up to where it seemed it should be. The heater was working. Coolant level seemed to be ok for an initial drive so I took it out for a short drive to let the coolant circulate with intent of checking it again when I stopped. Made it about two miles from the house when the engine lost power and shut down. Smelled like something had burnt. Had smoke coming out of the side of the car and a puddle of oil forming under the engine. The temp gauge never showed that the engine was hot, so not sure what happened, but suspect that the head gasket blew again. I'm not sure why as I had done everything the book and DIY's said to do. I know I got everything together right and timing was set properly. Had it towed to the shop this time as I have no clue where to begin looking at this point. I'm so pissed right now that I'm about ready to throw in the towel on this thing.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62030https://wibimmers.com/post/62030Sun, 20 Sep 2015 17:20:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:04:13 GMT]]>Thanks!! Never thought of that. The thoughts of starting the engine on basically no coolant and running it that way for several minutes while it slowly sucked antifreeze through a straw really had me worried it wouldn't fill fast enough.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62026https://wibimmers.com/post/62026Sun, 20 Sep 2015 12:04:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 20 Sep 2015 07:13:50 GMT]]>Nice work!

I have always had great results filling the engine with coolant through the top radiator hose, first into the block, then into the radiator, then fill the reservoir. You are correct that the heater blend valve should be set to full hol

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62024https://wibimmers.com/post/62024Sun, 20 Sep 2015 07:13:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 20 Sep 2015 01:58:49 GMT]]>Made really good progress on Friday. Got the timing belt on and nearly complete. Only thing left is to put the fan on and put the coolant in, then hope that it starts and runs right.

I assume that putting the antifreeze in goes like usual; pour in through overflow tank with engine running, heater defroster on and bleed screw cracked? Haven't refilled a coolant-less engine in quite a while.

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]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62018https://wibimmers.com/post/62018Sun, 20 Sep 2015 01:58:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 20 Sep 2015 01:54:57 GMT]]>Made really good progress on Friday. Got the timing belt on and nearly complete. Only thing left is to put the fan on and put the coolant in, then hope that it starts and runs right.

I assume that putting the antifreeze in goes like usual; pour in through overflow tank with engine running, heater defroster on and bleed screw cracked? Haven't refilled a coolant-less engine in quite a while.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/62017https://wibimmers.com/post/62017Sun, 20 Sep 2015 01:54:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Thu, 17 Sep 2015 21:34:06 GMT]]>A few more pics from yesterday. Got the intake and valve body on, as well as the exhaust manifolds connected. Today, got the valve body torqued in, the throttle cables attached, the thermostat housing attached, and the hoses for it that were in the car re-attached to it. Plugged in the fuel injectors, fuel lines and thermostat cables, and pretty much got the left side of the engine done save for the bellows, MAF and air box. Also got the new water pump and gasket attached finger tight. Hope to torque the water pump bolts and get most if not all of the timing belt in tomorrow. Might even get him on the road!!

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]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61974https://wibimmers.com/post/61974Thu, 17 Sep 2015 21:34:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Thu, 17 Sep 2015 01:55:26 GMT]]>It is quite a workout installing a head. Looking good!

Sent from my 831C using Tapatalk

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61943https://wibimmers.com/post/61943Thu, 17 Sep 2015 01:55:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Wed, 16 Sep 2015 18:58:15 GMT]]>OK. Have the head bolts torqued to 22 ft-lb, and then torqued 90 degrees twice. I just got my days muscle resistance and cardio workout in (at least resistance exercise for my right arm anyway). Remaining goals for today are exhaust manifold re-attach, thermostat housing re-attach and hoses.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61926https://wibimmers.com/post/61926Wed, 16 Sep 2015 18:58:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Wed, 16 Sep 2015 15:48:24 GMT]]>Weekend wasn't engine re-assembly friendly. I did, however, manage to get the head situated on the block last night with bypass hose reconnected and head bolts turned in just enough to have the caps flush with the metal. Today comes head bolt torqueing, valve adjustment, exhaust manifold attachment and hopefully thermostat housing and hose attachment.

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]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61915https://wibimmers.com/post/61915Wed, 16 Sep 2015 15:48:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Fri, 11 Sep 2015 18:08:39 GMT]]>Well, hope to get started on re-assembly this weekend and maybe on the road by Monday. Any suggestions for a newbie to head gasket replacement regarding setting the gasket and timing?

Got new head bolts, took a tap to each of the bolt holes to clean them up. All holes are dry and I took my parts retriever magnet to each of the holes to fish out any metal shavings from the tap. Took a razor blade to the top of the block and cleaned all the remnants of the old gasket, and cleaned the front of the block to set myself up for success on the water pump.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61773https://wibimmers.com/post/61773Fri, 11 Sep 2015 18:08:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 06 Sep 2015 17:44:36 GMT]]>My Ebay head arrived on Friday. Off to the machine shop on Tuesday and hopefully begin the process of re-assembly later this week!

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61655https://wibimmers.com/post/61655Sun, 06 Sep 2015 17:44:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Sun, 30 Aug 2015 16:35:37 GMT]]>Should have the new head sometime this week. May have to wait another week to get it surfaced as it will have to be disassembled in order to do so. Not sure if I have the tools or knowledge to take out and re-install valves myself.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/61490https://wibimmers.com/post/61490Sun, 30 Aug 2015 16:35:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Replacing seals in my M20 on Fri, 28 Aug 2015 20:54:47 GMT]]>Car-part.com would have all those listings.

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