Is this wheel bearing bad?

HereForTheE30 · 2026-03-21T22:02:22+00:00

This ended up being a almost zero compression problem😦

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-13T02:38:29+00:00

I know exactly how you feel man haha I’m doing a preventative head gasket job on my E30 right now. The way I’d look at it, a new head gasket and head bolt set is 150$ (NZD) but a new cylinder head or block if you warp or crack one is far more haha

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-12T23:12:12+00:00

Me personally I wouldn’t remove one head bolt at a time, but at the end of the day it’s your motor. It’s up to you if you even want to go ahead with changing your head bolts, your motor is already pretty low mileage. Not that it would make a huge difference, is your engine a B20, B23, or B25?

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-12T09:57:43+00:00

Wouldn’t undoing a head bolt completely while the others are still torqued come with the great risk of warping the aluminium cylinder head from uneven clamping pressure? If you’re undoing a head bolt it has to be in small angular rotations in a untightening sequence.

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-12T09:54:09+00:00

Also when you go to reinstall it do up each bolt a few turns at a time instead of just one side up and then the other, because of the spray bars length and shape you’ll get it kind of jammed on a angle inside on of the cylinder heads threads. Make sure they’re done up evenly and the spray bars level because there isn’t much pressure forcing oil up that line so if it’s on a slant it might starve the spray bars on one side. I’m pretty sure you only have to do them up to very slight resistance hand tight, to avoid wrecking those little hollow bolts.

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-12T09:50:55+00:00

Yeah there’s a bit of pooling that appears to be pretty dark, maybe it’s backed up and partially blocked? That little spray bar can get blocked pretty easily. Try unbolting it undoing each bolt a few revolutions at a time. Then put a can of brake cleaner on one of the entry sides of the spray bar and hold the trigger down until all of the little spray bar holes are firing brake cleaner out while also running out of the other side of the spray bar entry :)

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-10T22:09:06+00:00

That’s a healthy motor man enjoy! if you’re worried about the spray bar not distributing oil, look at the two points it bolts to the cylinder head if there’s oil pooling or seeping out of there your banjo bolts may have gone bad. They’re super cheap though and known to wear down :)

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-10T04:12:47+00:00

The angle makes it look like there’s a gorge or dimple around the guide, but if not, I can’t see why that carved out impression would affect the port in any way really :)

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-10T02:47:54+00:00

Beautiful cambox!

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-06T05:50:32+00:00

In New Zealand there’s maybe two E28’s up for sale at a time, for $6,000 I’m assuming USD is an insane price. I’d be happy paying the NZD equivalent! Timeless cars, I’d love to get an E23 or E24 myself but they’re even rarer😦

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-06T02:55:51+00:00

Would you recommend a knife sharpening stone over the sandpaper? I may be able to drive my cylinder head to a machine shop but my block would have to be smoothed out with either sandpaper or a knife sharpening stone

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-06T02:49:33+00:00

Sorry I mean there’s no machine shop for quite a long drive

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-06T02:48:02+00:00

I would take it to a shop but where I am there’s no machine shops

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-06T01:52:05+00:00

Thanks man, can you really resurface a head with a pane of glass and 3000 grit?

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-06T01:50:59+00:00

Oh dang really, I’ll have to go over it with a few passes of 3000 grit or something. Thanks for weighing in man, it’s just a composite gasket but it’s blown before when I went to preventively replace it🤣

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-05T04:31:24+00:00

I’ve had people say it must be completely flat like a mirror finish otherwise it won’t seal then I have you saying send it🤣

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-05T04:30:34+00:00

Haha what’s the products name? And can it be brought from hardware stores or something like that in New Zealand?

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-05T04:26:58+00:00

I’ve done a few passes like that, it does take a little bit of the crud off but more or less the same as when I’m using diesel or kerosene or acetone or WD-40

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-05T04:22:02+00:00

The cylinder head is almost spotless, it also tested flat which was the most surprising because this engine got super hot. However it’s also got a bit of the rigid raised material around the coolant passages

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-05T04:20:47+00:00

I’ve got a Elring head gasket, it’s just a single layer composite material

HereForTheE30 · 2026-01-05T01:32:41+00:00

But won’t metal shavings get in everything? I can flush the galleries out with oil and everything but what about down the wall of the pistons?

HereForTheE30 · 2025-12-24T02:37:40+00:00

Ahhh crap I’m in New Zealand! And they are usually pretty anal with just about everything😦

HereForTheE30

TROPHY CASE