BMW X3 E83 M54 Head Gasket Replacement DIY: Head Removal
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- Опубліковано 28 лют 2018
- If the M54 engine has one fatal flaw, it's the cooling system. The expansion tank will crack with age and cause the engine to overheat, the cylinder head warps and the head studs pull out the aluminum threads in the block. So I am expecting to find all of those problems when I tear this engine down but as you will see, I find something much much worse...
The previous owner of this car had started to do this job and gave up halfway through. He had pulled out the intake manifold and the valve cover so I don't need to do that. To find out how to do that, go ahead and take a look at my previous videos:
M54 Common Repair Steps: • BMW 330i 325i E46 Comm...
M54 Intake Manifold: • BMW 330i 325i E46 CCV ...
M54 Valve Cover Replacement: • BMW 330i 325i E46 Valv...
X3 Project Intro: • BMW X3 E83 Project Int...
And that will get you caught up to where I am beginning the teardown of the engine on this X3.
My mailing address for correspondence or swag of any kind is on my about page.
This video is for entertainment purposes only. 50sKid assumes no liability for any repairs or modifications performed by the viewer as a result of the information contained in this video. - Авто та транспорт
![Lp. Последняя Реальность #97 ЧЁРНАЯ МАТЕРИЯ [Анти Скинт] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k4MjXCzKsYw/mqdefault.jpg)
I just replaced the head gasket on my 2004 X3. I used the same approach of pulling the head with the manifolds attached. The wood block idea was great. Thanks for the awesome video!
Thank you so much!! I appreciate all the videos on the m54 im doing my head now and out of all the videos i have searched you are my top go to!! Thank you!!
The original transmission fluid started with an olive green color. It quickly changes to appear to be black, and the sulfur-based EP compounds make it stink like diff fluid.
There is video where a transmission instructor talks about passing a sample of this fluid around and all of the experienced techs described it as "old" and "burnt" based on the color and smell, despite the fluid being essentially new. Color and smell can be a hint, but they aren't reliable.
You are the best bro! You’ll get it fixed 👌🏻
waiting for the next video. keen to see what happen next
Very intuitive video series... You explain it all... "Thanks"
hmmmmm i wonder what that could be ... well great video again ... keep em coming .
greetings from the Netherlands
Hey Jason! This balm You got on the movie it looks like blended engine oil and radiator fluid. If it's more pink, then it's ATF, You will have it in the gearbox aswell (but from a viewer perspective the color is more likely engine oil - maybe it is more pink in real life ;-)). I had a case like that in an mercedes - the ATF Coolant was a part of the regular radiator. When it broke, the radator blew up the cork, there was preety good presure buildet up there ;-) After changing the radiator, I flushed the whole cooling system system with clean water first, later with some special oil dissolving chemistry. after 300 liters of water passing through the cooling system while running the engine it was clean and ready to fill up with fresh coolant. Important was to flush the heater core properly aswell, I connected to it separately. Later I flushed the gearbox two times, used ca. 25 liters of ATF - until the ATF was clear, without any pink shit. Mercedes is still driving, and driving well :-)
anyways - just check on the gearbox filling plug - because if the coolant got into the gearbox, You will surely have too much fluids inside there ;-) If It is like that - ATF coolant will be most likely the issue.
Good luck!
Hey man. Nice Vids. I was an apprencite at Beemer when M54 was staple and the N series engines were new. The engine is designed so you can pull the head out with the exhaust manifold (Those are headers in the US right?) attached, and you put the maifold on the head while it's on the bench before you put it back. Just have to put the head gasket back very gingerly. What also helps is to take the exhaust off completely, so you don't battle with the nuts on the flange under the car while you're trying to drop the head in place. I'll stay tuned for more. Cheers amigo
For me the best part of the video is min 8:00, great trick, sooo helpful, helped me in the rusty bolts I had, thanks a lot
This is great! i just picked up a 04 e83 3.0 yesterday. Had a misfire and the guy literally dumped it for cheap. Ill be for sure watching your videos, although im hoping its a bad coil/plug or injector. We shall see! subscribing for sure.
mitch500 hey this Ty how did u get on with your issue here u mentioned about was possible issues with your BMW bro...
Yeah, I had the misfire issue in my 06’ X3, even though it did not throw a misfire code. New plugs and coils solved the problem!
That milky white substance is a classic case of water oil mixture. For instance, N46 engines sweats a lot and you get the same on oil dipstick and oil refill cap, but when the gasket blows, then it looks like that.
Aleksandar Ignjatovic in my case previous owner used a sealant in there..on top of the conclusion reached as to water oil mix issue having led to milky white or creamy looking substance found. Would you know what all the specific tools i will need to perform this job? Email me if u don't mind with whatever insight and information on the issue as a reference point. I thank you in advance for providing me with what info you are able to upon said matter here. For 2006 E53 X5 3.0i M54B30 SAV.
Thanks for this video and your expounding upon the potential issues. You spoke of engine not holding compression what did you mean in reference to that? I have a 2006 BMW X5 3.0i E53 M54B30 SAV that isn't pressurizing properly which my initial prognosis and bit of research is telling me that from overheating is potentially the water pump "Impeller" has come loose from the pump shaft maybe. I also need to drop oil pan to determine whether the bolt or nut that go to pully wheel inside oil pan has not backed itself off..if so this to is a reason i think as to why vehicle isn't pressurizing right which leads to issue of overheating i am guessing. I plan to check head gasket as well to rule out blown head gasket. If it is i can change it reassemble add fluids n see what happens from there.
Another great video that I missed. If I were to use the same lifting jig, would it be possible to lift the cylinder head with the manifold headers attached just enough to access all the bolts on the manifold from the top of the engine more easily ? I mean without going under the car and removing them from the rest of the exhaust system.
Good job and thanks for your work. I have a question. I'm reinstalling my head and am having a terrible time trying to line it up with the dowels. The first attempt resulted in damaging the head surface, resulting in another trip to the machine shop for another resurfacing job. Does anyone know if there alignment tools available for this purpose? I've looked all around and can't find any.
Just really stupid that you got banned for posting a picture and asking if anyone else had experienced this. I like your down to earth videos.
A combustion leak and any leak sealant wil make a huge mess. Or perhaps there was no problem with the gasket to start with. Great project.
Absolutely fantastic! So as the head popped loose it broke the plastic guide inside the block. Is there a way of getting to it and pulling it out or do I just leave the attached end in there. I also found I have a chipped valve. :( not sure I want to continue on the project.
I have determined that the issue of no power and no crank was due to my battery lol. I gotta try and get video of the radiator so i can upload here. It has sealant coated inside of radiator and hoses some more than others. Is their any chemical substance that can be safely used to break up the coated film of sealant in the radiator? I am thinking from seeing radiator in its condition that my heater core located behind dashboard has same thing in it. And i don't think it will be wise to address head issue without addressing that as well, to get as much of that sealant out of said heater core from vehicle. B4 putting everything back together filling with fluids n have same thing occur with my new radiator thermostat water pump hoses and coolant temp sensor etc here..if u know of a solution outside of having to remove dash to put new heater core in please let me know as soon as possible thank you.
I really hope you've checked to make sure that goo isn't in the heater matrix... Great video tho... Very informative 👍👍
ray ahmed what do.u mean in heater matrix? Can it be back flushed out possibly if its the case?
If you were just changing the head gasket could you just suspend the head in the air and sort of reach underneath and swap it out without having to completely remove it from the exhaust? Cheers
If I have a little yellowish goo on my oil cap what should I do or aspect? I replaced my valve cover gasket and noticed. Still have a coolant leak which is from the "head coolant hose" under the manifold. Could I run it like that as long as good coolant is running through or would it take a shit soon? I have the part but couldn't get my fuel rail off so gave up to not break anything.
Hi buddy.. Wanted to know on how did you manage to loosen the exhaust manifold. ?? You just loosen from middle under ??
Hi I replaced my head gasket on my 03 325i, how can I remove the gunk from my cooling system? Do I need to use chemicals?
What did you use for exhaust nut n bolt relief? Wax? Candle Wax? sorry didnt get it please explain. Thx
Maybe draining a small amount of transmission oil would be a tell tale of a leaking exchanger: engine coolant will be heavier than transmission oil so it would settle at the bottom. BTW, BMW used brazed type plate heat exchanger with stainless steel plates. The only way they would leak is if there are chlorides in any of the fluids.
Any idea how to get to the rear manifold bolts off on the e39.... Such little access from the top 😢
that Genius shirt is for real.
That gunk looks milky white to me, in which case it's engine oil mixed with coolant. Actually quite common when the heads or blocks crack due to an overheat. Yours looks particularly "well mixed", which means it was likely running like that for a while. If the coolant looks like that, I wouldn't be surprised the oil does too, in which case it would be a fool's errand to reinstall the head without disassembling the bottom end, tanking the block, and rebuilding it.
dvatp hi can you explain the tanking bottom end of block with regard to the possible engine oil being mixed with coolant given u stated would be fools errand if bottom end wasn't inspected too for same reason as what has been discovered from top portion of engine here. Reason I'm asking you this is because previous owner used some type of sealant in my motor to seal leak im assuming. I want to remove my head on my 2006 X5 E53 M54B30 SAV here. To check for warping of head (if it is) if it isn't warped then just replace old gasket with new head gasket after cleaning the surface of both pieces right then re assemble everything. My email is coontakentay@hotmail.com and any tools i need to do it would be great informing me of those tools needed is greatly appreciated as well. Thank you.
Tanking the block is industry speak for cleaning it in an acid bath. Once that crap gets into all of the oil galleries you're playing with fire trying to reassemble the engine and hoping it will be cleaned out over several oil changes, because by that time your bearings are scored / shot.
dvatp so their isn't any other way to clean the block using acid bath...procedure only way is by taking out entire motor stripping it down for the acid bath to get all oil port holes free n cleaned of the gunk which might of built up in lower end of block your saying correct?
There are alternatives, but none that help preserve the bearings. If someone came to me with this engine I would have told him to pull and rebuild.
Coolant and aft mixture....my vote. I’m sorry if that’s the case.
Legend
Its atf from little cooler of the power steering system IT is cooled with the same coolant by the heat exchanger jest to the radiator.
14:32 did anybody else see him unscrew the p/s cap 😂😂😂
any idea if this process also applies to the N52?
It’s just a process of elimination now isn’t it.. Everything you said makes sense. So good hunting..
there is an excellent video here on youtube about the poor quality of aftermarket head bolts for bmw. They are smaller diameter than original bmw bolts for starters and that could be a real problem with the aluminum threads stripping out. Dealer price isn't much more than aftermarket
If it's the video I've seen, it doesn't show that the aftermarket head bolts are smaller in diameter. It shows that the old head bolts were stiffer in the holes, which likely mean that the original bolts had stretched.
Based on that video I ordered EK head bolts instead of VR. They were barely more expensive and EK has a slightly better reputation (they were the actual OEM for various M54 parts, rather than just a OE supplier for other BMW models). The EK head bolts fit more tightly than VR, but it was because they were actually curved! The heat treatment had returned them to the arc of the original coil of the raw steel. It's not a functional problem, but it does show that a "tight fit" isn't a better fit.
The proper way to measure the thread diameter is with a pair of gauge wires, which are sized to contact the thread at the mid-point. Otherwise you are measuring the thread root or OD, both of which can vary.
I have seen atf coolers fail before and mix with coolant. If that’s the case, it could very well take the transmission with it. Luckily you have skill to address about any scenario. Would be a kick in the pants to wonder if the HG did not really fail. Leak down test might have been a good thing to do before tearing off the head.
rueliotube how can i perform the leak down test using old paint can and tubing connected to motor that will tell me that the head gasket is in fact blown or not?
Al Beee I don’t know. I have a leak down tester from OTC I got on Amazon
rueliotube oh ok you got link for that tool. I saw a video on home made one using a paint can as leak down tester. What am i hooking my hose to on my X5 to determine whether HG is or isn't blown?
Al Beee here ya go: smile.amazon.com/OTC-5609-Cylinder-Leakage-Tester/dp/B0030EVL60
rueliotube thank you.
That pink stuff you're seeing in the engine is probably some product they poured into the radiator to try and stop the leak.
Someone put pink coolant in it what color is the coolant?
how can i remove the head by hand?
maybe its some of the stuff you add to the coolant that is supposed "patch" your head gascket and the guy tried to put a lot of it in hope of fixing his gascket
Damn how come a person always able to find good items deals etc but then your transportation is messed up lol preventing you from going to get the item or stuff....i found the same $75 plus engine bar that holds engine or heads up in air etc for $50 but got no damn way to go pick it up smgdh right now...n i need it for my head gasket task too.
Pull the motor and trans for the views! Restore as much as you can
hey 50sKid i bought a 325 with i think its blown headgasket because previous owner overheat the car. the car starts after a couple of trys but has stumbling idle, how could you replace vanos after removing it?
408skills. he did an engine rebuild on a e46 , with vanos replacement and everything ... just watch that 👍
408skills. There are video's on the vanos brotha..youtube it..they got kits as well to just change whats in vanos u got on vehicle. If u were to go that route on repair.
Yeah fursure I ended up selling the 325 for a bit of a loss however I bought another 323 with no transmission and I'm just going try install one from ebay
Strawberry milkshake - Toyota owners know about it, happens when the tran cooler in the rad fails and the ATF and coolant mix.
same as 2004 325xi?
You'll figure it out Jason ;). Did you drain the coolant yourself or was it already done? Maybe it's not ATF, maybe they used the wrong coolant which gave it the pink colour?
It was mostly gone, the hoses were off... I figured they had drained the coolant but I must admit I forgot to do it when i started the job. I would have perhaps known what I was in for sooner rather than later.
The fresh air intake could've come off and you'll have plenty room in the back, its held on by two bolts and 2 brkts on top, .good luck
How many miles on this engine ?
Is it red coolant? I’m hoping it’s not that simple. Lol
My M54 is overheating, luckily I noticed it fairly quick I think.. I changed the thermostat, waterpump, radiator and some hoses and bled the system. I have no leaks, no sludge in oil or coolant, and the engine runs good until it reaches temperature, but then it overheats right away. I'm completely out of idea's on how to fix this, could it be the headgasket? A small hole in it maybe? I'm planning on selling the car and don't want to spend much more money on it.. Should I replace the gasket or could I just use gasketsealant in the coolant? Anyone have any experience using gasketsealant in coolantfluid?
Andy T does your cooling fan work? Does it turn on when you turn on the ac compressor?
50sKid hi, thank you for the great video you post. I learned a lot from you. Can I have your email. I have a problem with my 06 330ci ZHP. and would like to take your opinion. Thank you.
Will you get a BMW E92 project in future?
yep that's what I want to get next
Can you get some of this gunk in vial and go to laboratory and they will tell you for sure what's in it.
Wait, you got banned for posting a photo? Why?
Dude I have no idea. The admins in that group were a bunch of superior assholes who banned the guys who were looking for help rather than actually helping them. Maybe they only wanted to see reports of advanced diagnoses or something.
So 81 Newton Meters is the final torque?
Miguel Lara no. More something like three stages 40nm then 90* and another 90*
Crook Ed
Yes I know, but he at first checked the torque to see if any threads had pulled out.
Miguel Lara yep. Final torque could be something like that.
The final torque varies quite a bit. Installation is, approximately, 'make certain that the bolt is fully seated then stretch a half turn'. The tightening order and schedule is to avoid binding the head up or applying too much uneven force while this is done.
It appears that he pick 81 Nm because that's close to the nominal torque that a non-TTY bolt of that size should be tightened to. Good threads should easily hold that value, with a 2x - 3x safety margin.
Other sources recommend using the old head bolts and following the factory pattern/schedule.
Donald Becker jep!
the fatal cooling system flaw continues through lots of generations of bmws :’(
Why couldn't you make this last week lmao I blew my head gasket on a 02 e46 and was debating doing this job I would leaned to yes if I saw this
That oil Is like that because of oil in water no need to pull the pan just flush it
I put ATF in mine😁😢
oil +water+marvel mystery oil =pink sludge
Coolant + oil + engine sealant
80MXM08 what do you mean in your comment. Coolant + Oil + Engine Sealant??? I'm learning how to work on my own vehicle.
Al Beee someone tried to fix it cheap way by pouring engine sealant in coolant
80MXM08 is that fixable in respect to having used the sealant as a quick temporary fix? I can't find any information that tells me exactly what tools i will need to remove the head. Is their any video stating the exact tools and how long of a job to change head gasket?
Al Beee sure it’s fixable just requires lot of effort to clean that shit out of every hole
80MXM08 when you state clean crap out of every hole what do you specifically mean here? And best thing to do is replace all hoses and flush radiator or replace radiator right?
Hope the ATF didn't mix with the coolant. That would be a shitshow.
Sabotage?
Haha.. its power steering from the radiator..
Dude, its oil and antifreeze
I know I seemed very sure of myself but did you figure out what the it actually was?