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      05-26-2023, 09:34 PM   #1
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Need pointers '07 335i N54

New to doing work on a car myself.

I have been working on my ‘07 335i for a month now, had a major oil leak and did many other things while I was waiting on tools/parts & addressing leaks. I’m afraid that I have 2 issues right now with the engine and the radiator. What I did, so someone can tell me where I possibly messed up:

*Oil filter housing was deep cleaned & both gaskets replaced. Pumped out coolant, replaced. Normal: new engine & cabin air filters, oil filter, etc.

*New valve cover, gasket & upgraded PCV valve- 5 new spark plugs (1 stuck), cleaned coils, cleaned fuel injectors, removed rust from fuel rods/rails and cleaned, cleaned ledges. Since the cover was off for over 2 weeks, I kept a bag over it, but I’m still anxious that bugs or something had gotten in the engine. I was careful and cleaned the sludge off the ledges with q-tips

*wrapped up MAP sensors while manifold was off (but one “looks” bad), cleaned intake manifold/new gaskets, cleaned throttle body/new gasket, new vacuum lines

*hand-scrubbed and soaked the build-up in 4 of the 6 intake valves, with the open valves I scraped what I could outwards. I was unable to reach the very ends though, so am anxious about that.

*alternator was covered in oil, I removed every bit I could with qtips. Some people told me it was shot and one person told me that BMW alternators might be able to survive it?

*I also had to deep clean the “wall” of the intake valves, I may have messed up here from overcleaning. I think there were 2 sensors on the wall that got dosed with brake cleaner, but they were metal???

*replaced front crankshaft seal 3 days ago. The major oil leak was caused by a wadded up piece of serpentine belt on the upper part of the seal. It’s holding well so far. I ended up doing it myself after finally getting the tool in. It was hard to see inside before I put in the seal, but I think I got every bit of serpentine belt, which was only stuck in the seal and not inside the engine. From what I could see there and under the valve cover, there were no belt shreds in the timing chain and from what I know that timing chain hasn’t moved at all and I avoided the middle bolt.

*Yesterday, I went ahead and put on another new serpentine belt (too much oil on it) and cleaned the pullies and every surface I could reach. My BIL gave me a hand in getting the belt on the last pulley.

*after I got that on, I ended up buying a new upper radiator hose after noticing it dripping. Since much of what I had filled was gone by this point, I went ahead and dumped the rest of the new coolant out from the hose underneath. My BIL had to help me because it took a lot of force to get it on, and I had to ask him to reconnect it three times. Replaced with new coolant. No other leaks at this point. Then,

*putting my radiator fan back in, I turned it to the side way too much and the bottom edge on the right side of the fan got hung up in side pocket of the radiator. It was stuck. The radiator definitely experienced some pressure from me having to get it out.

*as I was putting connections back together, I replaced just the right side of the 2 crusty vacuum hoses that go to the cylinders with new silicone hoses. I wasn’t thinking clearly and just thought it would be a good idea to do it right then and it only took a minute. Now I realize that might have been a bad idea because the other side might need to also be replaced at the same time? Some sort of pressure difference?

*It wouldn’t start after all that. My battery was reading 7volts.

*So after work today, I bought a new battery, put it in. It cranked and I think the engine gave 4 pushes and then fully shutdown. The radiator fan was still running, the belts were not. I inspected it further noticed there was little coolant in the tank and there was coolant on the right side of the radiator in the finns leaking down.

When it sputtered and shut down, it let out a scentless huge high energy white cloud of smoke out of the tailpipe that quickly cleared. There wasn’t any visible smoke under the hood, but there was a faint smell like when electrical parts burn, maybe coming front the air box area

I think I have 2 issues:

Question 1: I’m tired right now and haven’t pulled everything off again to get a closer look. Is it possible that the fan wedging situation broke the radiator? Or did all the pressure my BIL have to put on the upper radiator hose to get it to connect break the inlet or point at the radiator right there? I know very little about radiators. What do you think has happened here? What should be my plan tomorrow?

Question 2: Shouldn’t the engine have ran without the radiator working? This is what’s got me freaking out right now. At what point could I have jacked up the engine in what I’ve done to it? Your experiences?

What other issues do you think I’m having?
Surely this isn’t about recoding and registering the battery? I ended up going for an 850 cca battery, the previous owners had put in a 690 cca, so I went by recommendations that I had found online. I planned on doing that with my scanner immediately after it was running. Or would the alternator going bad from the oil explosion prevent it from running? Someone also mentioned to me earlier about serpentine shreds getting into the oil sump, would this be a culprit? Oil pretty much coated everything on the right side and front of the cabin, the starter, catalytic converter, etc

I tried running my scanner as fast as I could but didn’t know exactly how to use it to troubleshoot, it’s one of those scanners that has full systems and is programmed for BMWs. How can I use this scanner to troubleshoot if I messed up the engine? It can only find so much if the engine doesn’t get running right?

Any tips or guidance would be much appreciated! What should my plan be? If I’ve done anything wrong, please point it out to me!

I know this is long, so thanks for reading!
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      05-28-2023, 03:36 AM   #2
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Puff of smoke could have been left over carbon that was loose but not cleaned out of the intake ports.

I wouldn’t trust that pieces of the belt didn’t get into the engine. Did you turn the engine with the valve cover off to see if any pieces of belt came back up?

Radiator fins could have gotten damaged and are not leaking.
A lot of pressure on the upper radiator hose could have cracked the radiator neck.
Could also be leaking from where the plastic end tanks connect to the radiator fins.

Burnt smell was probably the starter.
Any starter codes?
Too much strain on the starter could be from a failed/seized pulley(belt wrapped in a pulley),
seized engine if the belt blocked the oil pick up tube, but you didn’t mention any knocking noise.

Engine can/will start with no radiator and bad alternator.

Start by removing the belt and turning the engine by hand and see how it turns.
Check pulleys and make sure they spin freely.
Check for pieces of belts stuck behind pulleys.
Start engine with belt removed.
Start engine with belt on and coolant filled, see where the leak is coming from.
Removing the oil pan to check the oil pick up tube would be ideal.
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      05-28-2023, 10:42 AM   #3
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you did all that work and have a hard time running? yeah might take a bit to clear out but would still double check all lines and connections before another start/run try.

if any piece of belt got in the crank/seal, its always good to drop the pan and get the rest/double check and clear the oil sump. you can go to town with a pressure washer for oil leaks but dont degrease the engine and the alternator regulator is a nice preventive repair.
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      05-28-2023, 01:41 PM   #4
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Don't use a pressure washer as it forces water in places you don't want. A garden hose and degreaser works just fine.
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