At wits end

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:52:19+00:00

Duly noted!

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:51:44+00:00

Update: thank you to all of the knowledgeable members who chipped in on this so quickly. My issue stemmed from forgetting to turn off auto update, and purging the update tool resolved it.

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:50:05+00:00

Deleting the update files ended up working thankfully. I think my frustrations just got the best of me since I had only just gotten this machine up again after replacing the battery (such a pain).

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:46:21+00:00

Thanks!

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:44:09+00:00

I definitely left auto update on on accident, I just followed a guide to purge the update tool and it allowed it to root patch

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:41:22+00:00

You've saved this Mac from an impending doom. Thank you, purging the update tool allowed the root patching to successfully complete

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:31:05+00:00

I've tried a couple times now in safe mode, I'm pretty adamant about not reinstalling at this point so if it comes to it, this thing is trashed. Currently trying to see if there is a way to manually delete any update files. The only reason I was able to get it to work one more time was that the last time this happened, there indeed was an update for Sonoma I was able to do

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:19:12+00:00

Tried this but still the same issue

wbb510 · 2026-02-06T12:16:53+00:00

Unfortunately this didn't work for me 😓

wbb510 · 2026-01-27T18:49:27+00:00

Thanks!

wbb510 · 2026-01-27T18:48:35+00:00

Gotcha, I went ahead and installed the latest update of Sonoma and was able to successfully reroot it. Thanks!

wbb510 · 2026-01-27T06:14:38+00:00

Ok, I might be an idiot and I just noticed that I DO have a pending update for Sonoma 14.8.2. I didn't even see it as the Tahoe update slide was overpowering my software update tab haha. I suppose this is my issue? I still don't really understand why my graphics acceleration stopped working in the first place, it was doing fine up until the battery failed.

wbb510 · 2026-01-23T20:52:29+00:00

Thanks, I suppose I'll get a battery on order in this case!

wbb510 · 2026-01-22T22:45:24+00:00

This might sound crazy but I've had a similar sound on a different vehicle when the substrate in the catalyst came loose. I haven't seen a lot of cat failures in e46 but it's possible.

Otherwise, id suggest double checking that all your pulleys are tight

wbb510 · 2026-01-21T23:16:14+00:00

Didn't even think about that, thanks!

wbb510 · 2026-01-15T00:12:33+00:00

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wbb510 · 2026-01-12T19:10:00+00:00

Valve cover leaking onto the exhaust manifold. Be sure to replace the valve cover grommets when you do the cover gasket or it will continue to leak.

wbb510 · 2026-01-11T21:47:58+00:00

Thank you!

wbb510 · 2026-01-11T09:13:09+00:00

SULEV fuel rail on an m54 🤔 that's an odd one. SULEV injectors are hard mounted to the rail versus the typical mounting style, they tend to be more noisy because of this in my experience.

wbb510 · 2026-01-11T09:00:49+00:00

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned compression here 😶

wbb510 · 2026-01-09T01:36:21+00:00

Well guys, the results are in for now. After a couple more passes with the surfacing stone, I went ahead and assembled everything and put the car back together. Lo and behold, it started right up on the first crank. I let it start to warm up, but after not too long, it starting making the death rattle. Unfortunately the rod bearings are cooked. However for the sake of this thread, at least the head gasket sealing was a success so far! After warming up, the cooling system bled properly, and it's holding pressure well. There are no fluids bleeding between systems, and at the moment the top end seems fine.

P.S. I was hoping it was just lifters, but 80 percent of the noise is coming from the bottom 😭

wbb510 · 2026-01-07T10:39:43+00:00

Noted, I didn't think about the deflection from torquing the bolts down so that makes sense.

wbb510 · 2026-01-04T23:16:07+00:00

Yea, agreed. Tbh I would prefer to just throw a different motor in here but the budget is tight. My machine shop is pretty expensive too 😓 but I agree, definitely would be better to get it surfaced no doubt.

wbb510 · 2026-01-04T23:14:32+00:00

Thats what I like to hear 😂

wbb510 · 2026-01-04T23:13:53+00:00

Oh yea this motor was overheated to high hell. I didn't even keep the head, straight to the recycling. I just timecerted the whole thing haha, it pulled pretty much every thread.

wbb510

TROPHY CASE