[mississippiBMW]

Hey guys,

A friend of mine wanted me to repair his OFHG on his 2008 328i. It appears that a previous owner worked on this....and broke off the corner of the mounting surface on the engine. I discovered this when removing the front bolt. The previous owner had repaired this corner with some type of putty/epoxy material.....possibly JB Weld or Belzona.


I'm wondering what is the best way to go about repairing this? Is a cold weld material plausible....or will this need to be fixed by braze welding?

I've never had to perform cast iron repair haha.

[kkasson]

The same spot is broken on mine. It's been JB welded for about 20,000 miles and it's been fine so far. There isn't much pressure there...the bolt is only compressing the gasket rather than fastening metal to metal. I've also been trying to figure out what to do about it, but it's been fine with the epoxy so far.

[Efthreeoh]

This is most likely the result of a ham-fisted gorilla over torquing the bolt and cracking the head. I'd have the car towed, have the head tig welded, resurfaced and re-tapped at an automotive machine shop.

[mississippiBMW]

Efthreeoh,

Would this require removing the cylinder head or could it be performed while still attached to the engine?

[hassmaschine]

TBH the simplest thing to do would be to replace the head (used N52 heads with low miles are pretty cheap). Or leave it be if it's working ok.

You could try to weld it in place, but I think that will be tough, especially since now the surface is contaminated with both oil and whatever epoxy that is. You can't braze aluminum as far as I know..

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by mississippiBMW

Efthreeoh,

Would this require removing the cylinder head or could it be performed while still attached to the engine?

Hass does have a good point that there is some epoxy in the joint now, but it should wire brush out. MIG might yield a better repair. Thinking more about it, I'd weld a new larger block of aluminum in the area, then fitting the OFH and making a new bolt hole. I'd think the alternator and radiator need to come out at a minimum to get some room.

Maybe affix a 1/4 aluminum plate to the head sandwitched inbetween the head and the OFH. It'd have to be machined of course to make the oil and coolant passages.

[hassmaschine]

how much is all of that going to cost though. a good used head is like $300, it could be swapped at home in a weekend. Unless he owns an aluminum welder and knows how to do the repair himself, he's going to be paying a lot of labor.

[Needbmwpartzz]

i would either go the epoxy route and see if that doesnt hold.....if not i would fab up a notch and pull type screw to keep it sealed for a on the cheap fix.
the stealer would probably replace the head
GLop

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by mississippiBMW

Hey guys,

A friend of mine wanted me to repair his OFHG on his 2008 328i. It appears that a previous owner worked on this....and broke off the corner of the mounting surface on the engine. I discovered this when removing the front bolt. The previous owner had repaired this corner with some type of putty/epoxy material.....possibly JB Weld or Belzona.


.

Is that the picture from internet or the real one you are working on?
If latter, there seems to be enough left on the main part for the bolt head to hold on to. My guess that is why the epoxy was holding on. Keep it same, as long as bolt can hold on there and apply enough pressure to clamp the gasket it would be fine. If you think the leak was because of that bolt, that is a different matter.
If ain't broken don't fix it, if ain't broken that bad to fix it, still don't fix it

[Vnon3luv]

Mine broke off too, try jb weld didn't hold, simple solution!! Just put a washer on and tighten it, the washer will hit against the engine block while you tighten.

[kkasson]

Originally Posted by Vnon3luv

Mine broke off too, try jb weld didn't hold, simple solution!! Just put a washer on and tighten it, the washer will hit against the engine block while you tighten.

Nice idea there, looks like it should probably work fine. As I mentioned before all that bolt is doing is pulling the gasket tight, so it shouldn't be too hard to get it to seal.

The JB weld on mine is still holding up fine after about 60k miles. Same gasket, no leaks, JB weld still appears to be holding. I guess I'll find out if I ever have to replace the gasket but it's been fine so far.

[Vnon3luv]

QUOTE]

Originally Posted by kkasson

Nice idea there, looks like it should probably work fine. As I mentioned before all that bolt is doing is pulling the gasket tight, so it shouldn't be too hard to get it to seal.

The JB weld on mine is still holding up fine after about 60k miles. Same gasket, no leaks, JB weld still appears to be holding. I guess I'll find out if I ever have to replace the gasket but it's been fine so far.

I think why it didn't work because I try J-B Weld 37901 ExtremeHeat High Temperature Resistant Metallic instead of the original J-B weld. Regardless whichever materials you have in hand J-B weld original or put a washer.

[SalPal727]

Is there a way just to replace whole thing i have problem where thing that holds hoes that pushes coolant trough broke off and i need to replace it i need as much info as possible like part number i have 2008 bmw 328i

[chilledn52]

Have had the same problem myself from previous owner. the same crack location plus even little bit of the flat lower half. i tightened it down with the broken piece in there. Did multiple layers of Permatex Cold Weld, letting each layer cure in between coats. without coolant in the system for a dry mating area. there might be slight troubles removing housing (as the cold weld is holding the housing to block) when i need to but everything is sealed and FINALLY not leaking on me. (been 2 weeks)

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by SalPal727

Is there a way just to replace whole thing i have problem where thing that holds hoes that pushes coolant trough broke off and i need to replace it i need as much info as possible like part number i have 2008 bmw 328i

goto realoem.com , enter your car model year etc then browse the parts.

2008 328i oil filter housing section from realoem.com:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3867

[crashoverride]

Originally Posted by PhaseP

goto realoem.com , enter your car model year etc then browse the parts.

2008 328i oil filter housing section from realoem.com:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=11_3867

RealOEM will get you the parts numbers needed. However the above link is to the good side and not the damaged as someone else said cylinder head side of things where the broken hole is.

[PhaseP]

From the description, which is vague, SalPal727 gave to which I had replied to, it sounded like his problem is on the oil filter housing itself

[crashoverride]

Originally Posted by PhaseP

From the description, which is vague, SalPal727 gave to which I had replied to, it sounded like his problem is on the oil filter housing itself

Except every single photo and following response indicate otherwise. But yea RealOEM is where it's at for getting parts numbers.