- 02/02/2017
- 1 Min Read
- By: Michael Hurczyn
Who Makes the Best 5 Cylinder Engines? Audi, Volvo, or the FCP Euro Race Team?
While leading our class at Watkins Glen during the second 9-hour race with American Endurance Racing on April 24, our BMW E30's engine stopped working. It was pulling hard in 4th gear going up the esses and then, BANG! After getting towed back to the pits and pulling the valve cover, we diagnosed a dropped valve.
In order to have a definitive diagnosis, the head needs to come off, so after a week of catching up on sleep, I invited a few friends to a head pulling party last night.
Collectively, we've done it at least a dozen times and any of us could tackle this job alone, but it's so much more fun to do it with friends, pizza, and beer!
Once the head was off, things didn't look that bad. The exhaust valve on the 4th cylinder was indeed bent and there were some slight gouges in the top of the piston, but certainly salvageable. Like an idiot, I said out loud, "Geez, I was hoping it was going to be more catastrophic."
Next, we decided to turn the engine over to move that piston down and check the cylinder walls. Here's what that looked like:
Well, that sucks. I guess I got what I wished for. At this point, we know it's rod failure, but we won't know if the block or crank is any good until we take the pan off.
"Or we can just pressurize the bottom end and pop the piston out!"
Well, that told the full story. Spun a rod bearing, causing the rod to twist and break, causing the piston to come up and kiss the valves. Sadly, this engine may not be salvageable. But that's racing! We'll have to see how everything looks with the oil pan off. For now, anybody have a good lead on a strong M20 for a BMW 325i in the Northeast?
