#ZedShed Project Sharkey...

[GazHyde]

Here at ZRoadster.org we like to try and help each other out. This time we have picked up a Topaz Blue 2000 2.2 Auto Z3 belonging to @marcusmartin. @Ben Nylk has kindly stepped in to the breach to help diagnose excessive oil consumption, and generally look over his car. The car has been off the road for a while now, and Marcus really wants to get it sorted but doesn't have the know how!

I said I would pop over and say hi, so met up with @BMBabe and @Ben Nylk and headed over to pick Marcus up and have a look. What we found was what looks to be a neglected Z3 with a lot of potential.

The issues as they stand:

• Leaking from hood, most likely a-pillar. The interior is soaked, and badly covered in mould. Thinks it's bad enough to remove the carpets to resolve the interior problems once the leaks are fixed.
• Excessive oil consumption. Blows smoke and can use a litre of oil really quickly.
• Split induction hose pipes.

With these fixed Marcus can then focus on getting the car looking right too. He has access to a friends garage, which is complete with a 2 post lift, although not needed for tonights tinkering. Ben had already sourced some parts after spending time researching the issues.

Where the car had been stored for a long period before Marcus got it, the engine bay had been a popular place for field mice. The nest had long been removed, but the remnants remained:

The mice had dined out on some of the softer rubber, and cable sheathing but obviously didn't like the taste of the cables themselves

Moving on rapidly to other things, the air intake boot like most Z3's had split badly. New ones had been ordered by Ben ready for this evening...

Fiddly work to fit these intake pipes, and probably consumed the majority of the time this evening...

Even @BMBabe did something helpful

The spanner monkeys... (Ben on the left)

Still taking ages to fit...

...and done...

More to follow:

 

[GazHyde]

Now to the issue of excessive oil consumption. Ben had researched and found a commonly documented issue with the M54 engine is the rocker cover seal, so this was next on the to do list.

I was quite excited by this, as I hadn't stripped an engine this far before. The process was actually quite simple, although laborious.

First off where the plastic panels off the top of the engine, and removal of the coil packs.

Temporary location before moving them to the bench (honest!)

The plugs were in pretty poor condition, and the threads looked to oily. The electrodes were black and perhaps an indication of something more sinister lurking beneath! Certainly not like the spark plug changes I've done recently for sure.

Marcus was tasked with the cleaning of the plugs, and they came up better. Still think they should be changed in the near future though.

Coil pack loom moved out of the way.

After much unbolting, and if I recall correctly there were 14 bolts holding the outside of the rocker cover. We then found we needed to remove another 5 from the middle where the spark plugs are located. The 2 end bolts held the earthing straps in place. Not obvious when looking, but we got there in the end!

A thing of beauty. Precision German engineering. Granted a bit grubby, but this fella has done 175k miles already!

Sadly at this point I had to make my excuses and head back home. Got reports later from Ben he had put it all back together without any hitches!

Now awaiting feedback on whether it's made any difference.

 

[t-tony]

Here at ZRoadster.org we like to try and help each other out. This time we have picked up a Topaz Blue 2000 2.2 Auto Z3 belonging to @marcusmartin. @Ben Nylk has kindly stepped in to the breach to help diagnose excessive oil consumption, and generally look over his car. The car has been off the road for a while now, and Marcus really wants to get it sorted but doesn't have the know how!

I said I would pop over and say hi, so met up with @BMBabe and @Ben Nylk and headed over to pick Marcus up and have a look. What we found was what looks to be a neglected Z3 with a lot of potential.

The issues as they stand:

• Leaking from hood, most likely a-pillar. The interior is soaked, and badly covered in mould. Thinks it's bad enough to remove the carpets to resolve the interior problems once the leaks are fixed.
• Excessive oil consumption. Blows smoke and can use a litre of oil really quickly.
• Split induction hose pipes.

With these fixed Marcus can then focus on getting the car looking right too. He has access to a friends garage, which is complete with a 2 post lift, although not needed for tonights tinkering. Ben had already sourced some parts after spending time researching the issues.

Where the car had been stored for a long period before Marcus got it, the engine bay had been a popular place for field mice. The nest had long been removed, but the remnants remained:
View attachment 11559

View attachment 11560

The mice had dined out on some of the softer rubber, and cable sheathing but obviously didn't like the taste of the cables themselves
View attachment 11561

View attachment 11562

Moving on rapidly to other things, the air intake boot like most Z3's had split badly. New ones had been ordered by Ben ready for this evening...
View attachment 11563

Fiddly work to fit these intake pipes, and probably consumed the majority of the time this evening...
View attachment 11564

Even @BMBabe did something helpful
View attachment 11565

The spanner monkeys... (Ben on the left)
View attachment 11566

Still taking ages to fit...
View attachment 11567

...and done...
View attachment 11568

More to follow:

Great going guys, it really pleases me to see members getting their hands dirty to help others. It would be a busmans holiday to me but would gladly offer help to anyone in my area - ish who would like to help themselves.

Tony.

 

[hard top]

would gladly offer help to anyone in my area - ish who would like to help themselves.

Come over here Tony and we will do a bank job.......

 

[oldcarman]

Come over here Tony and we will do a bank job.......

Can I come too?? Sounds like fun and I can use the money!! Life in a Dutch prison has got to beat winters in Canada. You in Frankie?? JIM

 

[oldcarman]

Way to go guys and gal!! Those plugs don't look promising and I think I'd expect a fair bit of smoke and maybe some chunks of crap out the tailpipe. Should definitely run better with the new pipe in place. Is there any gas showing in the oil?? JIM

 

[smartbear]

Was there oil around the cam cover that pointed to a bad leak?
With plugs that oily the oil loss is not solely down to leakage, that engine is burning it-I would look to replacing the ccv & associated pipe work, removing the dipstick tube to check the ccv return path to the sump is clear also.
Regards

 

[Lee]

Cracking job guys, based on the photos you have posted those plugs are well past there sell by date! You can see this by how big the clearance is between the electrode the contacts it should be no more than 0.8mm.

Its also hard to tell in that picture weather there is oil ingress into the cylinder or just burning very rich from the split cv boot, if the end of those plugs were wet then oil is getting into the cylinder if its very black and sootiy more likely burning very rich.

Lee

 

[BMBabe]

Cracking job guys, based on the photos you have posted those plugs are well past there sell by date! You can see this by how big the clearance is between the electrode the contacts it should be no more than 0.8mm.

Its also hard to tell in that picture weather there is oil ingress into the cylinder or just burning very rich from the split cv boot, if the end of those plugs were wet then oil is getting into the cylinder if its very black and sootiy more likely burning very rich.

Lee

Hi ya @Lee the guys did a great job shame you couldnt make it for a proper good look over the car @marcusmartin next plan is to stop the leaks and get the car dry

 

[TaffZee]

Ooor looking at that and the amount of carbon it looks like the valve seals need attention, would have a tenner on it that this is why its burning oil.

 

[Lee]

And with 175,000 miles on the clock this is very likely.

 

[smartbear]

Cracking job guys, based on the photos you have posted those plugs are well past there sell by date! You can see this by how big the clearance is between the electrode the contacts it should be no more than 0.8mm.

Its also hard to tell in that picture weather there is oil ingress into the cylinder or just burning very rich from the split cv boot, if the end of those plugs were wet then oil is getting into the cylinder if its very black and sootiy more likely burning very rich.

Lee

Hi lee, if the inlet boot had split (causing more,unmetered air to be consumed by the engine) would it not cause lean running, not richer?
Regards

 

[t-tony]

No, because the computer reacts by dumping more fuel in to counteract the unmetered air.

Tony.

 

[zedonist]

The plugs are oil fouled, this supports the issue of the oil control rings gumming up and sticking, and would account for all the blue smoke, the rocker gasket would leak out onto the engine.

The two key things on this engine when using oil excessively is either the CCV or the oil control rings.

If you remember Gaz, your plugs were quite nice and dry, which suggests your issue is more CCV related, on this one I would look to give it a thorough engine flush, and repeat every time you change the oil which I would do every month for a few months.

 

[smartbear]

I've heard of people adding a pint of diesel to act as an engine flush & running with it for half hour or so, has anybody tried this?
Regards

 

[oldcarman]

The plugs are oil fouled, this supports the issue of the oil control rings gumming up and sticking, and would account for all the blue smoke, the rocker gasket would leak out onto the engine.

The two key things on this engine when using oil excessively is either the CCV or the oil control rings.

If you remember Gaz, your plugs were quite nice and dry, which suggests your issue is more CCV related, on this one I would look to give it a thorough engine flush, and repeat every time you change the oil which I would do every month for a few months.

That's why I asked if there was any gas in the oil. It must be getting by the oil ring both directions. Definitely flush the engine a few times as there's likely a lot of crap in it as it looks like this problems been ignored for quite some time. JIM

 

[oldcarman]

I've heard of people adding a pint of diesel to act as an engine flush & running with it for half hour or so, has anybody tried this?
Regards

Yes, especially in my real old cars that had been sitting for a long time before I bought them. Pour it slowly through the carb, which obviously can't be done here, shut the car down for a day. Start it up and let it run for a half hour or so and you can usually hear the engine smoothing out as the diesel loosens up gummed up parts. Back then there weren't the flushes available like today so diesel or even auto trans fluid and at times even water had to be used. Good god I'm older than I thought!! HTH JIM

 

[smartbear]

Hi jim, you used it as a "redex" type treatment?
I meant an engine flush, adding it to the engine oil so the internals are cleaned that way-I'm not sure how the lambdas/cats would cope with burnt diesel coating them.......
Regards

 

[oldcarman]

Hi jim, you used it as a "redex" type treatment?
I meant an engine flush, adding it to the engine oil so the internals are cleaned that way-I'm not sure how the lambdas/cats would cope with burnt diesel coating them.......
Regards

Usually that's been about a litre of auto trans fluid in the oil run through the oil galleries for about 1/2 hr and oil drained and filter change, if it was one of those new fangled engines that had one, repeat. Sometimes after an engine had been sitting for 30-40 years it might take two even three attempts to loosen everything clogging things up. Again, you can hear the engine smoothing out. Ask me sometime to tell you about my 56 Pontiac that had been sitting since 68. JIM

 

[Lee]

I think a good way to put this one to bed would be if I bring my compression tester next time you all get together again. That way you can rule things out or as the case may be confirm a few things.

Lee