head gasket question

[socalfiver]

In Las Vegas visiting family for the weekend. On the way here from Los Angeles, my water pump pulley rubbed a hole in my lower radiator hose and let all of my coolant out at 80mph when I was 40 miles from my destination. I smelled coolant and my heater got cold. I pulled over, my engine sounding like it had filled up with marbles. It couldn't stay running, and had killed itself before I came to a complete stop and wouldn't even turn over. The temp guage never made it into the red zone, just the 3/4 mark.

in filling it back up with water, I discovered the holy hose. AAA towed me to Vegas, and the hose was changed the next morning. Unfortunately, the car won't start, but the cooling system is super pressurizing, which means a blown head gasket at the least, possibly cracked head.

I overnighted a gasket set and tore it down yesterday. Head gasket is blown, milky coolant in cyls 2,4 and 5. No Cracks!!

Can I reinstall the head without having it resurfaced? Is that super dumb? I'm stuck here and the machine shops don't reopen til Monday.

The head was just resurfaced 3 months ago. It's a small hole water passage '86 casting. If the engine got hot enough to blow a head gasket, is it likely warped?

[Mike W.]

The reason the head gasket blew is because it overheated and warped the head, so, absolutely you need to have it surfaced. My guess why you only saw the gauge at 3/4 was by the time you noticed it was so low it was trying to read air, not water. Don't even think about changing the gasket without at the very least checking the head for straightness, I think .006 is spec, but I wouldn't put one on with more than 2 or 3 thou out of true.

[socalfiver]

Thanks, Mike. I dropped the head off at the shop this AM.

I really appreciate your help. I've had trouble logging in to the site from my phone, so this has been my first opportunity to say thanks.

-Ted

[socalfiver]

An update to my head gasket problem...

I'm still stranded. 11 days. All machine shops were closed 4 days for the thanksgiving holiday. I dropped the head off last Monday to be resurfaced and for a full valve job as recommended by the machinist. ($180! what a deal!) Supposed to be done the next day, but wasn't. I picked it up yesterday, Friday, 5 days later.

Spent all day yesterday getting the car back in one piece, including a trek to the local stealership where I paid $52 for 3 exhaust studs and nuts. No joke. $52. 3 studs and 3 nuts.

Got her back together in the dark at 11:30 last night. This morning, I double checked all connections, changed the oil and filled up the cooling system. Now she won't start. Won't even sputter. With the #6 plug pulled, I'm getting weak spark and the smell of fuel is definitely coming from the plug hole.

When assembling, I set the flywheel to the TDC position and lined up the cam bolt as per the FAQ on cam timing. Both #1 cams were on the low part of the lobe (i.e. closed?). I then installed the distributor with the rotor lined up with the notch in the distributor body for the #1 plug wire.
Valves were adjusted per the manual.

What could be wrong? I swapped in a spare ICU, same weak spark. I had the battery charged, cleaned the terminals. Starter is spinning quicker than before I cleaned the posts. I have an extra ecu and distributor with me as well.

I'm at my wit's end. Has anyone ever killed themselves over e12 frustration, or will I be the first? I just want to get back home.

[socalfiver]

`I've been out trying to diagnose this problem for the past few hours.

I took the valve cover off, verified that the cam is timed properly. Re-set the distributor to #1 cylinder.

No start.

Took all the plugs out, verified that all plugs and wires are firing normally (cleaning contacts in dist. cap strengthened spark). Still smelling fuel when engine is cranked with plugs out.

No start.

I sprayed Starting Fluid into the wide open throttle body while cranking.

No start.

It's not even sputtering or backfiring. Since combustion requires fuel, spark and compression, am I left to believe that I have no compression? I don't have a pressure tester, but I do feel a blast of air with my finger in the spark plug well (but my fingers aren't long enough to reach the actual spark plug hole.).

I'm grasping at straws here... did the overheat ruin my block as well as warp the head? Does the block warp? Can anyone suggest anything I haven't tried yet?

[marc79euro645]

try switching your spark plug wires 180 degrees at the distributor. I know you think it's timed right, but I've seen this happen before.

[socalfiver]

I made it home safe last Sunday. Sorry for the delay in updating, but my computer is still down.

It turns out that I had everything assembled correctly, but an exhaust system full of water and oil was preventing it from starting.

I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be driving my dad's car home and leaving the BMW in Vegas to be seen by a mechanic in my absence. I had the other car packed. I decided to try one last time to start the 5.

I held the throttle open, and it coughed to life! I had my friend hold the throttle open while I hooked up the timing light and got it set. At first, I was upset by a giant cloud of blue smoke from the tailpipe, figuring my rings were toasted.

After a few minutes, all of the smoke cleared and it's running perfectly again. We made the 270 mile drive home with no issues at all, and it's been running great ever since.

[GripGreg]

What an excuse to mooch off the parents! Good one.
Actually, I'm glad you didn't give up. It did seem like you were doin' everything right to me. I don't recall anything about water & oil in the exhaust system. (small shade tree) I guess you pushed the gunk far enough for it to come out? Because of that, when you get it smogged, you may need a new cat.?
Don't forget to re-check the head torque after about 500 miles, plus the oil change & valve adjustment. You're pretty close right now, huh?
Don't forget to start from the center of the head & work your way to the outer bolts. I'm glad I was caught with the wrong info on this website.
Good job,,,,Greg

[Mike W.]

I don't think a one time event will kill the cat. When I got my E28 running years ago now it smoked up a storm for a good 20 minutes or so due to fluid in the exhaust. It had been run I don't know how long with a blown head gasket til they finally ran it out of oil and thru a rod. But 11 years later the original cat was still good and passed with flying colors when I sold the car. Congrats to the OP on his success story and finally making it home!

[1st 5er]

It doesn't pay to quit.