[sifonix]

Hello guys, my e92 n54 (450 crank hp) blew headgasket more than half year ago. The coolant was purging through reservoir cap so after replacing everything coolant related, my decision was to replace the headgasket. So the head was skimmed - 0,06mm, pressure tested, block cleaned, headgasket replaced with Elring 1,52 thicker one, bolts replaced and a valve job done. After first drive I saw there was a milkshake under the oil cap and coolant was missing and I immediately thought that I did something wrong. So just to be sure, ordered new headgasket and bolts and did all of that again. Went for a drive and when checking next morning, there was mayo on the oil cap and coolant missing again. The oil in the oil filter housing is really thin, just like water. There are no any other problems, car is running perfectly fine, no pressurizing of the coolant lines anymore, no misfires, etc.

So my question is, could it be the cracked oil filter housing itself or should I be worried about cracked block ?

[335i54n]

with an open deck design more likely the block is the issue, would be wary of Not machining/testing both surfaces. with a bright light maybe look for cracks or use a straight end and check the engine deck but at this point probably just find a good donor motor

[feuer]

Originally Posted by sifonix

So my question is, could it be the cracked oil filter housing itself or should I be worried about cracked block ?

how much coolant was gone?

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by feuer

how much coolant was gone?

After around 100 kms, it drinks whole coolant tank

[sifonix]

After pulling the motor out and disassembling it, it seems like everything is fine, there is no sign of any problem with cracked block, headgasket or the head itself. Im pretty stuck now.

[Brandoch]

OFHG?

[335i54n]

did you check the surfaces with a straight edge? otherwise if not hg, ofgh (poor seal/warped housing) and oil cooler only other places fluids might mix

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by Brandoch

OFHG?

replaced

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by 335i54n

did you check the surfaces with a straight edge? otherwise if not hg, ofgh (poor seal/warped housing) and oil cooler only other places fluids might mix

haha, now even rebuilt the engine with new block and there is a slight condensation again after 300km hope its just burning water from oil cooler and turbo lines off...

[Podunk]

Was the block magnaflux Spot checked with their penetrating dye for cracks? and the head gasket, i believe there is a rivet that needs removed for the gasket to properly seal.

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by Podunk

Was the block magnaflux Spot checked with their penetrating dye for cracks? and the head gasket, i believe there is a rivet that needs removed for the gasket to properly seal.

no way, that also the new block (by new I mean with like 50k km) is cracked, if that is the case, the standard headgasket does not need to be drilled as far as I know

Going to replace the oil filter housing and install thermostat delete, if the mixing does not stop, its the head 100% then

[sifonix]

So, after replacing the oil filter housing and installing thermostat delete plate, my car is still mixing oil with water, so I going to blame the shop that pressure tested and skimmed my head. Cant be anything else.

[Podunk]

well here is a list of all th e ways coolant can enter the crankcase, and vice versa.

Cracked head
bad sealing surface
bad gasket
Cracked block
OFHG failure
CHRA on turbo cracked/failed


if you are using head studs, over torquing them can crack the block ( as evidenced by an individual on youtube doing this to his new block) as much as you want to blame the machien shop, you can check their work with a machinists edge if it's flat on edge, and middle, and diagonally, they did their job right, as both the head and block are aluminum it will require the magnaflux dye to see if there is any cracks in the head, or block.

if nothing is foudn on either one, then check the OFHG, also aluminum for cracks, and if all those are good and all mating surfaces are verified sealed ( can verify with a pressure test on cooling system with all assembled) about the only thing left where oil and coolant both go through is the turbo CHRA.

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by Podunk

well here is a list of all th e ways coolant can enter the crankcase, and vice versa.

Cracked head
bad sealing surface
bad gasket
Cracked block
OFHG failure
CHRA on turbo cracked/failed


if you are using head studs, over torquing them can crack the block ( as evidenced by an individual on youtube doing this to his new block) as much as you want to blame the machien shop, you can check their work with a machinists edge if it's flat on edge, and middle, and diagonally, they did their job right, as both the head and block are aluminum it will require the magnaflux dye to see if there is any cracks in the head, or block.

if nothing is foudn on either one, then check the OFHG, also aluminum for cracks, and if all those are good and all mating surfaces are verified sealed ( can verify with a pressure test on cooling system with all assembled) about the only thing left where oil and coolant both go through is the turbo CHRA.

once there is replaced second block, OFH, thermostat and even turbos, could not be anything else than head. I am using stock head bolts, we checked the head with another machinist and its straight all across. Already bought another head, will swap it and hope that it will finally go away... The thing is, before the head was not at the machinist shop, oil was not mixing with coolant..

[autoart]

Have you done a compression test or leak-down test? You can also pressurize the coolant.
If you are using that much coolant is one piston or spark plug cleaner then the others?

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by autoart

Have you done a compression test or leak-down test? You can also pressurize the coolant.
If you are using that much coolant is one piston or spark plug cleaner then the others?

there is no difference on the sparkplugs, pressurized the system, and the coolant just went somewhere, no leaks found, but finally solved the problem.

[sifonix]

So just solved the problem, bought another head and brought it to the other machine shop, they did perfect job skimming the head, did the valve job by myself, installed and its finally running and not mixing or pressurizing

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by sifonix

So just solved the problem, bought another head and brought it to the other machine shop, they did perfect job skimming the head, did the valve job by myself, installed and its finally running and not mixing or pressurizing

So the head was warped? That was your problem?

Did the machine shop say how much material they needed to take off to get it flat?

Did you check the compression on the cylinders before you pulled that warped head back off?

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

So the head was warped? That was your problem?

Did the machine shop say how much material they needed to take off to get it flat?

Did you check the compression on the cylinders before you pulled that warped head back off?

1.The head was not warped, we checked it at 3 independent machine shops, so there was probably a crack between oil and coolant passages.

2.From the cracked head for the first time it was around 0.06 mm, from the spare head I am running right now more than 1.2 mm.

3.Yes, the compression was all the same across the cylinders after the engine rebuild with the cracked head.

My theory is that the machine shop, where the head was skimmed for the first time did a mistake and accidentally cracked the head. I pulled the head for the first time because of pressurizing the coolant system and it turned out that the headgasket was toast near the cylinder number 6. Once reinstalled the head (again, for the first time), the oil and coolant started to mix.

So after all the struggles, where there are now 4 headgaskets hanging in my garage, its finally done and not mixing or pressurizing again. However, engine rebuild is already complete so I hope its going to drive again like crazy, after solving the freaking misfire on cylinder number 3, after my mosfets went boom That n54 always surprises

[iqraceworks]

I'm struggling with a similar issue.

I just got done rebuilding my engine....cracked a ringland. The bock and head were checked out, and were within .001" flatness, so no machine work was needed. Then they were blocked down with 400g paper and a glass plate to get the desired 20ra surface finish for the MLS head gasket.

I used new Elring oem head gasket, new oem head bolts, and followed the torque/angle specs from BMW exactly.

The new engine runs great, but it's using coolant. It's got the typical milky looking junk under the oil cap, and after 1,000 miles, I had to top off the coolant tank again. Thought my OFHG might be leaking, mixing oil in to the coolant. When I pulled the intake off to replace the OFHG, I noticed what looks like coolant seeping out of the gasket, between the head and block. Very strange, I've never seen anything like that. Compression is good, the engine runs great, the exhaust doesn't smell like coolant, plugs all look fine........but it's getting coolant into the oil somehow. Makes me wonder if I just got a bad head gasket? The first 500 miles on the engine were just breakin mines, taking it pretty easy. I've gotten into the boost (25psi) a few times, but I haven't done any long hard pulls on it.

With only 1000 miles on this engine, I'm really stumped as to why I've got head gasket issues......

[sifonix]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

I'm struggling with a similar issue.

I just got done rebuilding my engine....cracked a ringland. The bock and head were checked out, and were within .001" flatness, so no machine work was needed. Then they were blocked down with 400g paper and a glass plate to get the desired 20ra surface finish for the MLS head gasket.

I used new Elring oem head gasket, new oem head bolts, and followed the torque/angle specs from BMW exactly.

The new engine runs great, but it's using coolant. It's got the typical milky looking junk under the oil cap, and after 1,000 miles, I had to top off the coolant tank again. Thought my OFHG might be leaking, mixing oil in to the coolant. When I pulled the intake off to replace the OFHG, I noticed what looks like coolant seeping out of the gasket, between the head and block. Very strange, I've never seen anything like that. Compression is good, the engine runs great, the exhaust doesn't smell like coolant, plugs all look fine........but it's getting coolant into the oil somehow. Makes me wonder if I just got a bad head gasket? The first 500 miles on the engine were just breakin mines, taking it pretty easy. I've gotten into the boost (25psi) a few times, but I haven't done any long hard pulls on it.

With only 1000 miles on this engine, I'm really stumped as to why I've got head gasket issues......

Don’t know if it’s even possible, but I’m thinking if the elring head gasket is not the faulty part in the chain. Did replaced head gaskets 4 times and 3 times using elring gasket, the oil was mixing with coolant. Last time, when I replaced the head itself, I used victor reinz gasket. Can’t really tell if the problem in my car was solved by head or head gasket, but considering you have got the same problem, it may be that the elring gasket is not working properly.

[lowrydr310]

The issue iqraceworks is having just plain sucks... I'd hate to properly rebuild an engine only to have coolant issues immediately after. Hope you find a simple solution quickly.

sifonix, do you know what caused your initial head gasket failure? It's pretty uncommon on the N54 as far as I can tell; lots of people running high boost with high mileage on these engines without head gasket problems.