Re: bmw-digest V9 #986

["John Y. Hung" <jhung@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Joe,

Saw your post in response to Gregg.

Am I correct to conclude that a loping, periodic idle might be caused by
poor valve adjustment?

Thanks.

John Hung
Auburn, AL
'86 325e

>Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 13:20:52 -0500 (EST)
>From: XXX <JMK8014@domain.elided>
>Subject: re: E30 Rough idle (long)
>
>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

------------------------------