Re: Sorry (more)... (archive)

In diagram 23_0289 in the Euro ETK for the 3.6 M5, it appears to have a slit or an open part on the underside of the bellhousing of the tranny. This will allow water and dirt to drain out of the bell housing, and also allows for inspection of flywheel teeth, and with a screwdriver the inspection of flywheel play. Depending on build date, it could have a left-over Getrag 280 from E24/E28 M5/M6 which have flywheel reference pins holes that have been plugged up, which can be removed to do the same inspections. If it has neither of these, then remove the starter, it's easiest thing next to removing the tranny to inspect the flywheel.

Check the spark plugs for any damage. Spark plugs tell no lies.

But, I think you may have to remove the oil pan to inspect for the rod bearing failure anyway. But, personally I'd try to rotate the motor with tranny in neutral (and no spark plugs) with the front crank hub. If this is possible, then you can either you have a stuck starter, or some problem with the engine management, or serious motor damage. But it still sounds like a rod end bearing failure, but usually it is still possible to rotate the engine in this case. Since you've sheared a flywheel bolt previously, which is exceedingly difficult to do in a BMW, I think you may have damaged internals in the bottom end because of imbalance of the flywheel on the end of the crank. Flywheel balance is one of the most important things in these cars. But this is worst case scenario, but it's still very likely since you've sheared the flywheel bolt, which caused serious stress and damage. This could have done anything from seizing the block (oiling problems of the bearings), spun bearings, etc.

And yes, the E34 M5 doesn't have an access cover, I was thinking of the E34 535i, and E24/E28s. Sorry.

Chris Graff
www.m535i.org

Chris:

The E34 M5 does not have a flywheel access cover. The oil pan must be removed if you do not wish to remove the transmission.

Neil Deshpande
http://www.neilwerke.com

***

Remove the flywheel access cover and try moving the flywheel fore and aft. If there is no play, and you can't move it in rotation either, then I doubt it's the flywheel. You can always check the pressure plate and clutch, but since you say that the engine won't TURN over when you try to start it, it leads me to believe you lunched a rod end bearing or crank bearing due to your previous flywheel/clutch problem, rather than binding of the clutch components. Especially since you were describing an RPM dependent ticking sound that got louder and louder. You'll need to take off the oil pan - and if you see nice shreds of metal in the oil, then you've found your problem. Sorry.

Chris Graff
www.m535.org

Wish I could give you some hopeful news but it does sound like something came apart in the clutch or flywheel. Think you just have to pull it again and inspect. If it looks fine then try rotating the engine.
Thanks for letting me know about the ski pass thru I figured you sold it. Let us know what happens.

Winston

It engages and can't physically turn over the motor. I tried to popstart it, and all it does is come to an immediate stop. The ticking noise occured lastnight while I was driving down the highway, and didn't change whether I pushed in the clutch or not. Is there a possibility that it could be the clutch, again?! I made sure that I did all of the torques right this time just becuase I didn't want the bolts on the flywheel to back out again. I used all new flywheel bolts since one of them sheared off, but I reused the same pressure plate bolts since they only had about 300 miles on them, which I doubt could have caused the pressure plate to break off. What do you guys think?

Do you mean the starter spins the engine over but it won't run or does it engage and can't physically turn it over.

Winston

Well, after installing my clutch, for the second time, my car decided to die on me later that evening. I finished the job around 11:00 lastnight, got cleaned-up, and everything was good to go. I went to Seattle for the evening, drove roughly 50 miles throughout the whole night. Everything was going good till I was on my way hope until I was about 10 minutes away from my house. The car started making this constant ticking noise, RPM related, and this time it had nothing to do with the clutch. The ticking got to the point where I could hear it over the stereo as I tried to gently limp it home. After leaving a light, the car completely came to a screaching halt the second I went into 2nd gear. I tried to start the car, and nothing would happen, and I know the battery is completely charged. My problem is that I don't have any idea what could have caused this, but I am assuming that it is something major since the car won't even turn over. Any ideas before I turn it into an exchange parts car for others on the board? I am starting another job on Tuesday, and this couldn't of happened at a worse time, so I am hoping someone can shed some light on what happened at if it would be feasible for me to fix it.

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