re: E30 Rough idle (long)

[XXX <JMK8014@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Gregg,
	The long post of yours about having rough idle symptoms hafter replacing the head gasket sounds awfully familiar with the
problems I had on my '85 528e.  Last spring my head gasket blew, and the shop that replaced the head gasket (Kurt's in Rochester,
DON'T go there!) didn't bother to check how well the M20 ran afterwards.  The timing belt was replaced as well at my request, so
that wasn't a problem, but I had the same rough idle Gregg experienced and kept hearing an annoying rumpety-tappity sound even
though power output was the same as before.
	It wasn't until a few months and 10,000 miles later, that I was able to ask a friend of mine to perform a valve adjustment
when we noticed one of the rockers wouldn't quite fully adjust like I wanted it to.  We traced the problem to two worn cam lobes,
and a couple of bad rocker arms.  I'm 95% willing to bet the idle problem and cam lobe wear came from the oil loss suffered when
the head gasket blew, and became exacerbated when the shop didn't check the cam/valve/rocker clearances closely enough at the time
of gasket replacement.  Sorry Gregg, but if a valve adjustment doesn't do the trick, you may need a new cam or head on that M20.
	Joe Kramlinger
	Rochester, NY
	'85 528e

PS  Kurt's shop is way overpriced, and the owner is an -sshole to anyone who's under 25

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