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Saving a S54 From Parting Out.

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  • Anri
    replied
    Coating piston skirt and coating bearings is std
    in my builds.

    Regards,
    Anri





    Leave a comment:


  • Anri
    replied
    For the last 10-15engines I started doing Molybdenum skirt coating
    in-house mandatory on my std engine rebuild/s. Its either to restore
    the S54 OEM or aftermarket unless they are ordered with.
    Many good benefits to be had.


    Moving forward.


    Regards,
    Anri
















    Last edited by Anri; 07-04-2023, 07:44 AM.

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  • Anri
    replied
    Originally posted by sapote View Post
    Anri,
    I believe you have found the root cause of the gasket eating problem: engine high temperature due to cooling channels blockage.
    The question is how to heat sink the multiple stacked gaskets to offset the 0.021” machined block, in order to keep the gaskets eating monster away.
    Sapote,

    The blockage was not the primary reason but certainly does not help.

    The main reason as I mentioned above is the fact that the left over impeller
    count like may be 2max I don't have the broken water pump infront
    of me but I found 2 impeller pieces in the engine block and 1 in the head.

    So from total of 5 blades only 2 left! At 2 the water flow is disaster and with
    the combination of the 2Bar cap to keep the cooling system under hi pressure
    in order to raise the boiling point makes the water move slow to almost none
    and this is the pure evidence why the engine suffered maaaaasive overheat but
    with water inside. I'm sure that the pressure exceeded 2Bars and the expansion
    tank was releasing/splashing coolant but the engine never lost water.

    When I put the head to inspect it as-is the natural warpage was nearly none!
    I don't remember already but it was 1-2thou across...which gives me the indication
    that the engine never lost water/coolant, or otherwise the head warpage would
    have been far more than what I found.

    Shortly I will compare the water pump and why S54/M3 owners should NEVER
    use any other water pump than OEM.


    Regards,
    Anri
    Last edited by Anri; 07-03-2023, 09:38 PM.

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  • Anri
    replied
    Originally posted by sapote View Post
    Short skirt piston like.
    Far more important to say is the lower 1.52 Rod Ratio which is very bad
    for the piston trying to cock the cyl wall. On top add the short skirt.

    But this proves that if you do coating and the groves there is no problem at all..

    On S38 B35 with Connecting Rod ratio of 1.71 (were S54 will only dream to get)
    the damn skirts have scores on the exhaust side...and less on the intake.

    S38 pistons have no coating, and the groves are Coarse and the reason to get
    scored.

    Regards,
    Anri
    Last edited by Anri; 07-04-2023, 09:14 PM.

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  • sapote
    replied
    Anri,
    I believe you have found the root cause of the gasket eating problem: engine high temperature due to cooling channels blockage.
    The question is how to heat sink the multiple stacked gaskets to offset the 0.021” machined block, in order to keep the gaskets eating monster away.

    Leave a comment:


  • sapote
    replied
    Short skirt piston like S54 tends to have more wear due to higher rubbing force.
    You are right that the grooves around the piston retain oil and helps.

    Leave a comment:


  • Anri
    replied
    Clean parts and clean assembly is a must providing the best service to customers.






    Last edited by Anri; 07-02-2023, 07:58 AM.

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  • Anri
    replied
    Sapote,

    Originally posted by sapote View Post
    Great work, Anri.
    Q: The high temperature and pressure gas leaked and cut through the cast iron wall between the cylinders, but why it didn’t cut through the softer walls on the head (except one with a hair line crack)?
    Remember the cylinder bores are Siamese on S54 engine and the heat is concentrated exactly in that spot.
    That material is way hotter than the one on the head were the water sits. Its also the reason why when BMW increased
    the bore from (S50B32 Euro at 86.4mm) up to 87mm they had to move to MLS gasket and single solution to
    survive the increased heat and even then from age (not damage such overheating etc) they get tired and its time for
    service. S5032 never burns gasket in this way in-between the bores. Its never common problem on them,
    the older BMW engines the problem is corrosion on the gasket which leads to failure.[/QUOTE]



    Originally posted by sapote View Post
    It is amazing that the old pistons have almost no wear on the side and skirt from touching the cylinder wall. How?
    Answer: There are 2 main reasons.

    A) Primary key/reason is the OEM pistons do have Graphite coating from new !!!!
    B) If you pay attention the side skirts on S54 pistons the lines/groves are very deep and that is very good thing because
    retains oil !!! If you take any aftermarket pistons they have those Coarse if I can use this word?, groves/lines.
    At last is the expansion rates are very well calculated, I have never ever heard piston slap on S54s engines. Take
    an older S38, S14, M30 etc...they have massive piston slap on cold start till they warm up.

    The graphite coating+deep groves= to a absolute great lubrication operation and with the great hone from the factory
    is the Engineering answer behind your question.[/QUOTE]

    Originally posted by sapote View Post
    Any measurable on the ring lands by the rings?
    I work from ages on S38/S14/S54 and have not seen single one with worn out lands, at least the ones I worked
    on rebuild re-using the OEM pistons. This is not subject of ware out area.


    Moving forward.

    Regards
    Anri


    Last edited by Anri; 07-02-2023, 07:04 PM.

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  • tlow98
    replied
    Originally posted by sapote View Post
    Great work, Anri.
    Q: The high temperature and pressure gas leaked and cut through the cast iron wall between the cylinders, but why it didn’t cut through the softer walls on the head (except one with a hair line crack)?

    It is amazing that the old pistons have almost no wear on the side and skirt from touching the cylinder wall. How?

    Any measurable on the ring lands by the rings?
    I was shocked by the lack of wear on my 212k mile motor. The pistons spec’d out to exactly like new. Within the tolerance of a new piston. Every one. I have no idea how. The rings lands were the same.

    the bores had opened up slightly, but only ~20% of total allowable wear. The rings were at double the bmw spec. They seemed to be the sacrificial anode.

    Leave a comment:


  • sapote
    replied
    Great work, Anri.
    Q: The high temperature and pressure gas leaked and cut through the cast iron wall between the cylinders, but why it didn’t cut through the softer walls on the head (except one with a hair line crack)?

    It is amazing that the old pistons have almost no wear on the side and skirt from touching the cylinder wall. How?

    Any measurable on the ring lands by the rings?

    Leave a comment:


  • Anri
    replied
    Again, clean parts and assembly is crucial when I assemble
    engine.


    A lot/most people have absolute no clue how much time it takes
    to clean the parts to a level of how you see it in the pictures.


    AquaBlast is knife with 2 edges, it is very physical work when one
    is after to clean the engine parts. If cleaning crankshaft main cover is not
    a big deal but when you start spending 1 2 3 hours my hand gets
    sore because the gloves are hard and the Hi pressure requires
    lot of muscle work out. Parts like the cylinder head It takes around
    2 hours to clean, wash after its done and dry.

    Moving forward.

    Regards,
    Anri












    Leave a comment:


  • Anri
    replied
    The OEM pistons are still in spec. Cyl number 2 piston is replaced with a good one I
    have exactly for this kind of situation/s and needs replacement of 1. The new/old
    piston is totally in spec.

    Every engine I rebuild re-using the OEM pistons with New rings like in this case
    I make sure there is not a dot of carbon build-up left anywhere. Few months ago
    I started using Aqua-Blast method cleaning parts. I am tired of the old school
    rub-rub with a brush in parts washer...

    In the picture on the far left is S54 piston, middle is S38-B35, and far right is S14
    pistons being cleaned up for current on going engine rebuilds.

    It is critically important to clean the ring land areas to be absolute free of dirt,
    carbon etc...Each ring land has been closely inspected for potential cracks
    after being completely cleaned up.















    Last edited by Anri; 07-03-2023, 05:48 AM.

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  • Anri
    replied
    Today's day was nearly ruined.....the composite water
    pump piece was stuck hard in between the casting as
    can be seen in the picture above.

    I started very gently to push the piece but it was not
    moving at all. Tried many approaches and was still
    not moving, then increase the pressure and all of
    a sudden the piece unlocked and ran on me inside
    further in the cylinder head and completely got lost.

    Then put grease on the seats again and back in the
    water bath container. The container is just as big as
    the cylinder head filled up with water all the way up
    and started to pull the head from the water up in the air
    so that the water drains from the head. After I repeated
    this several times the piece came out from the Back
    tapered water plug.

    It felt very good to see the piece came out. I went with my
    bore scope camera and checked the rest and seems
    its now finally all clean.

    Moving forward.

    Regadrs,
    Anri



    Last edited by Anri; 07-01-2023, 05:59 PM.

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  • tlow98
    replied
    Wow. That’s a bunch of stuff. Thanks for the tips on the oil passageway cleaning.

    sry to see those cracks in the heads.

    The lesson I’m seeing here (and that I learned first hand) is that all used s54s are not equal. The block/head interface is sensitive to blown HGs and delaying that repair incurs a ton of extra time, expense, and engjne build changes.

    what HG will you use on this build?

    Leave a comment:


  • Anri
    replied
    Were is this going to stop?.....Its one surprise after
    another...When I meant from parting out I really meant from
    parting out !!! sapote cylinder head is aluminum and
    welding a crack is a common practice.

    Okay, so the block is now done and on the engine stand
    ready to assemble.

    After the block was finished I moved to skim the head

    I set the head on the stand, put the marker paint and made
    a micro pass to inspect if the head is set on the table flat, it
    checked like 0.000002mm lol...which is totally fine.

    Then set the machine to make my 1st pass at 3thousand-0.076mm,
    Ran a pass and what do I see....fucking hidden micro cranks
    were the compression was crossing back and forth.....fuck is
    what I said loud.

    I called local Hot-Rodder chassis fabricator who welds on
    daily bases.

    He came and ground the cracked area like ~8mm deep in
    Arc but in flipped upside down orientation. He welded a bead then
    stopped and started forging it with small hummer with half a moon
    shape. Ones he forged the bead he started to weld on top and add
    material and repeat the process 3-4 times.

    Ones he was done then back on the decking machine. With the
    welded areas I ended taking 7-8" thou or ~0.18mm which is
    not that bad for what I am dealing with.


    Regards,
    Anri








    Last edited by Anri; 07-02-2023, 02:08 PM.

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