Hi there,
I am reposting this from the BMW thread, as I am not sure how active that thread is anymore.
Hi there,
I launched my new (to me) sailboat the other day, and had an immediate engine failure - it's a BMW D50 (ii).
Large popping sound like backfire through the air intake (middle chamber). I pulled the boat again, and took the valve covers off to discover that 3 valves were stuck, and at least 3 of the push rods were either slightly bent, horribly bent, or had come off the rocker arm.
The engine ran perfectly the day before the launch.
I spoke with a mechanic, and he recommended a full head job.
I saw from another post on the BMW forum from a Mr. Langtry at V12 engineering that valve work almost never requires taking the head off.
I am not sure what the best course of action is.
a) replace push rods and have the mechanic do a valve job - get her turning over and and try to fire her up.
b) follow the mechanics advice and take the head off, for a full inspection to possibly determine any other damage, and/or underlying cause of the failure in the first place.
I think I can get the push rods out of a spare parts engine I own, but the availability of head gaskets is a major concern. Also, my window for all of this is 3 weeks, before I have to either launch or pay for summer storage.
What would you do?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Macdara
PS I've attached a few photos where you can see the stuck valve, and also (sorry about the quality) the bent push rod.
I am reposting this from the BMW thread, as I am not sure how active that thread is anymore.
Hi there,
I launched my new (to me) sailboat the other day, and had an immediate engine failure - it's a BMW D50 (ii).
Large popping sound like backfire through the air intake (middle chamber). I pulled the boat again, and took the valve covers off to discover that 3 valves were stuck, and at least 3 of the push rods were either slightly bent, horribly bent, or had come off the rocker arm.
The engine ran perfectly the day before the launch.
I spoke with a mechanic, and he recommended a full head job.
I saw from another post on the BMW forum from a Mr. Langtry at V12 engineering that valve work almost never requires taking the head off.
I am not sure what the best course of action is.
a) replace push rods and have the mechanic do a valve job - get her turning over and and try to fire her up.
b) follow the mechanics advice and take the head off, for a full inspection to possibly determine any other damage, and/or underlying cause of the failure in the first place.
I think I can get the push rods out of a spare parts engine I own, but the availability of head gaskets is a major concern. Also, my window for all of this is 3 weeks, before I have to either launch or pay for summer storage.
What would you do?
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Macdara
PS I've attached a few photos where you can see the stuck valve, and also (sorry about the quality) the bent push rod.
