[Xerix]

Ok, so I am in the process of trying to walnut blast my intake ports and need a little clarification.

To ensure the ports are closed I want to bump the starter solenoid like you see in some N54 Engine videos. Slight difference with the diesel is that there is no connector to remove, but instead has a bolted on connection.

Do I need to remove (unbolt) this connection so that I can bump the starter in the same way?

Until I get this going I cant do anything and I already have the intake removed.

Any explanation/info is appreciated.

Image of the starter:


Thanks

[Xerix]

So based on this thread http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1058497 I went ahead and just jumped it with everything bolted on and its turning the engine over. Now I just need a brighter light in the intake so I can see the ports better.

[Yozh]

You can also turn the crank manually. Just make sure you are going the way engine turns normally. Use a 31mm 12pt socket on the dampener bolts.

[rbreding]

You will need a scope also to see inside and make sure the valves are closed

[jjbaldasano]

I just bumped the starter for a second to turn the position slightly. A bore scope/inspection camera is highly recommended to get a good view inside and see position of valves.

[Xerix]

I already have a borescope camera. Problem was the LED light on it was too weak and I couldn't see well enough.

So I bought 4 LED's with the following specs and soldered them together in series.

3 Volts
0.02 Amps
10,000 MCD (10 Lumens each)

Total draw would be 12 Volts and 0.1 Amps. No resistors were needed. I checked my car battery with a multimeter and it was at 12 volts, so I just wired my light directly to the positive and negative terminal under the hood. With the light behind the camera I was able to clearly see my ports and valves. I only use the light when needed and do not leave it running.

I'll post a full accounting of what I used to blast everything once i'm done. Hopefully I will get back to it tomorrow and finish it all off.

[jrod5k]

I used my shop vac to verify the valves were closed. I have a very quiet vac and if you attach to either the of the ports I could hear if the valves were open through the corresponding port. My head was so dirty that it was nearly impossible to get a camera down there without it getting full of gunk. This method was added piece of mind before blasting.

[rbreding]

This camera is awesome. It has some attachments that go on the end to help keep it off the wall of the intake so you can inspect when dirty. The leds are super bright also.

Here are some examples of my 335d at 60k miles.

[sjobs99]

Originally Posted by Yozh

You can also turn the crank manually. Just make sure you are going the way engine turns normally. Use a 31mm 12pt socket on the dampener bolts.

Looking for a way to manually crank the engine instead of using the bump-start method. Can you show/tell me where this bolt is? Is this the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer bolt and is it really a 31mm socket or is that what's needed to grab those "posts" in the middle of the pulley? Lastly, it looks like I'd need to remove the fan to get something down in there, so is there anything easier to grab that can crank it? Sorry, I'm relatively new to working on bimmers. Thx!!

[Xerix]

Yes, he is referring to the harmonic balancer with the 4 bolts holding it on. I have never done this myself, but essentially you are getting a socket (31mm by his measurement) that will hopefully sit on top of all 4 bolts so you can turn the engine by hand.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by Yozh

You can also turn the crank manually. Just make sure you are going the way engine turns normally. Use a 31mm 12pt socket on the dampener bolts.

Or you can cheaply buy a special socket that fits the 4 bolt heads. I got one with a timing kit for about £12, if I remember rightly