Car troubles

Tonto86

Hi folks, mite be the wrong section for this but what the hell.

I think i got myself a bad camshaft, head gasket or valve seals on my 97 bmw 316i. Last nite the engine started making a loud clicking noise that got faster with the higher i reved it.

Then i got a loss of power and its unable to hold the idle (ie it just die's). It revs up horribly like its got a blown spark plug.

The head gasket was only done 30k miles ago so i dont see how it could go again. It wasnt overheating either, although I am gettin white smoke out the back and the spark plugs are covered with oil.

When i start it now it'll die unless i put the foot down on the petrol and even reving it up its throwing out smoke and struggling.

Any help would be great, just tryin to figure out if its worth fixing. Cheers in advance

Anan1

Might it have dropped a valve? Are all the spark plugs oily?

Tonto86

thanks for the reply mate.

Yeah all of them are, the engine was leaking oil from around the top.

that a big job to fix? am i lookin big money?

Anan1

I'm afriad i'm only guessing really, i'm not a mechanic! You could try the Motors Tech Forum, post here for access: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055840967

Tonto86

im on my way now, cheers mate!

JoeySully

the valve cover gasket will leak if not tightened properly. It is sitting on a rubber gasket. Don't over tighten it.

When you say the plugs are oily do you mean the end that does into the cylinder or the end that is connected to the lead.

Tonto86

its the end that go's into the cylinder, mite have a look at taking that valve cover gasket off, see if its leaking

Anan1

A leaky cylinder head gasket won't let oil into the combustion chamber though, which sounds like what is happening here.

Tonto86

i think your right, from what i've been reading the head gasket should be causing it to overheat and burn coolent, which its not.

The problem seems to be oil in the cylinders, the ticking could be from low oil presure caused from there being no seal on the valve cover gasket. But im only guessing from what i've been readin on the net & service manual.... im no expert on this stuff

elainesnuffles

could someone please start this as a new thred?? i dont know how to, my dad just replaced the clutch on my 2001 fiat punto, but now the stereo isnt working, he has checked the fuse and said its not that, he removed the battery when changing the clutch but said he did not see any connections for the stereo. any help is greatly appreciated as he is 60 yrs old and past this job but does it to save me money

Atlantic Dawn

elainesnuffles wrote: »

could someone please start this as a new thred?? i dont know how to, my dad just replaced the clutch on my 2001 fiat punto, but now the stereo isnt working, he has checked the fuse and said its not that, he removed the battery when changing the clutch but said he did not see any connections for the stereo. any help is greatly appreciated as he is 60 yrs old and past this job but does it to save me money

Is it looking for a security code? Do you know if the radio is the original that came with the car or is it one that was fitted later?

elainesnuffles

its not looking for a code, there is no power going through to it, its not even lighting up!! i know that i will have to find the code for it when i get it working. and yes it is the original stereo