Have i blown my engine??

Took my bike on a 200mile ride yesterday. it felt down on power and wasn't warming up. at one point it was running 65degrees after being on the motorway for ages... it always used to run 80 to 105 degrees, but yesterday it was mid 70s...

was in the garage tonight and noticed oil on my right downpipe... stopped what i was doing (clearing stuff up) and stripped the bike down to get a better look..

This is what i found:

One oily downpipe:

the oily one (closest to the camera) hasnt gone as blue as the rest:

HEaders removed - the oily one looks really clean inside:

compared to number two cylinder (bad photo - but it's a nice even colour consistent with the others)

So, its all very strange - looks like number one cylinder hasnt been running and just pumping out oil thats leaked down the downpipe...

Tomorrow i'll whip the plugs out for a look and remove the PCV to eliminate that from the equation...

Thoughts are, either its a bad plug/coil, or the PCV has not been fueling number one cylinder properly - there are two injectors per cyclinder and the PCV only connects to one injector per cylinder, so maybe ive only been running one one injector? this might account for low working temp and lack of power...

Really hoping nothing internal has gone like a piston ring or stem seal etc - but if it had i would have expected more smoke...

Any ideas people?? ever seen anything like this before??

more pics:

wondering if it might be coil gone bad... seems BMW coils fail quite a lot... heres a thread on another forum reporting simiar loss in power with no engine lights:

http://www.i-bmw.com/showthread.php?t=40371" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

my bike has only done 7600 miles so i surely cant have blow the motor already can i??

But i do have a history of blowing engines up...

Clean like that i would be checking the coolant level.

If its not gof the eml on it an intermittant fault. Or mechanical. Its not doomed yet but i had a new engine in mine at 5k

Coolant level is fine and still looks in good shape. No sign of oil in the coolant.

Ordered an endoscopic camera so I can take a look inside the cylinder and look for scoring or dodgy valves.

Assuming it's not mechanical, it can only be lack of fuel or lack of spark, both of which I would expect to show an engine light...

So, hoping it's either a bad plug l, bad coil, bad injector or bad Power Commander.

Oil does look a bit black so maybe it's been injecting fuel but not burning it, and it's been running down the bores into the sump and being pushed out the exhaust once mixed with oil..

I'll drain the oil anyway as a precaution and look for metal fragments, and I'll change the coolant anyway and check the thermostat operation.

Busy few evenings ahead if it's to be ready for the TMBF rally...

Hi looking at the down pipe and the internal of that exhaust, it doesn't look like its been firing on that cylinder for some time, think the mechanicals are alright I would be looking at electrics and spark at that cylinder

Eek Hope there's no scoring Joe..

Have my fingers crossed for fuelling / spark plug issues..

If it's that new, surely this is a warrantee issue?

it seams odd you have oil pissing out and its running cool!

they could be two separate issues here!

I am guessing the 2 year warranty has now ran out?

first things I would do is check the stat, check for oil in the air box check plugs and coils

is the bike running on all 4 cylinders?

I am guessing the 2 year warranty has now ran out?

it seams odd you have oil pissing out and its running cool!

they could be two separate issues here!

I am guessing the 2 year warranty has now ran out?

first things I would do is check the stat, check for oil in the air box check plugs and coils

is the bike running on all 4 cylinders?

Yep it's a strange one indeed!

The bike was pulling well, not as well as it used to, but i put that down to the dodgy map in the PCV.. and ordered an auto tune yesterday to sort it out.

Since nothing nasty in the exhaust port I'll refit the headers and run the bike with the PCV removed to eliminate that from the picture. I've got a laser infrared thermometer so I can check the temp of each of the headers. If it's still cold then I'll swap the coil pack with another cylinder and test temperatures again.

Typical Bmw - i need a special tool just to remove the coil pack from the top of the plug. Sourcing one at the moment.

But running cold was a worry. Coolant all looks fine but I'll drain and replace and I check the thermostat. But if it was only running on three cylinders iy makes sense that maybe 20% cooler.

Already scanning ebay for an ex BSB motor - just in case

I am guessing the 2 year warranty has now ran out?

Yep and I didn't bother with the extended warranty as I fitted exhaust and PCV a d only do a couple of thousand miles a year!!

Bloody typical...

Tempted to put it all back together and trade it in for a new one.

you could always speak to the dealer as at the end of the day if the motor is screwed for whatever reason it should have lasted longer and they may help you out

you do have the law on your side when it comes to things like this warranty or no warranty

yes special tool is a pain! I have seen someone making them somewhere but cant remember where I saw it!

Maybe shorty will have an idea of anyone supplying them if he hangs around any BMW forums

you could always speak to the dealer as at the end of the day if the motor is screwed for whatever reason it should have lasted longer and they may help you out

you do have the law on your side when it comes to things like this warranty or no warranty

yes special tool is a pain! I have seen someone making them somewhere but cant remember where I saw it!

Maybe shorty will have an idea of anyone supplying them if he hangs around any BMW forums

Oh yes , if it turns out to be a blown motor I'll be having serious words with BMW and make it very clear that it's their problem not mine. They don't want to upset a customer like me... im their target audience but also could easily become their worst nightmare.

Very sucky situation Joe. I seldom find talking to a BMW dealer is a happy experience (although I've changed the dealership I use to the guys at Peterborough - definitely an upgrade)

Hope you sort out one way or the other.

it seams odd you have oil pissing out and its running cool!

they could be two separate issues here!

I am guessing the 2 year warranty has now ran out?

first things I would do is check the stat, check for oil in the air box check plugs and coils

is the bike running on all 4 cylinders?

Been looking at the photos all day...

Look at this one - look where the oil starts:

The oil doesn't start right at the header

Have I just got a leaky rocker cover gasket (again) that's dripping down onto the header pipe??

Yeah, looks like the oil is dropping on there from higher up, Joe.

Is there unburnt fuel in that header? If it wasn't sparking on that cylinder I'd expect unburnt fuel in there.

What is it with BMW and their coil packs?.......my 318i company car I had a couple of years back went through 2 complete sets of coil packs in the 3 years I had it.......It never ran right for very long before one of the coil packs started breaking down......

What colour is the end of the plug ? Looks like its not firing on all four, have you checked any earths coil packs loose cables melted cables, ht caps

What colour is the end of the plug ? Looks like its not firing on all four, have you checked any earths coil packs loose cables melted cables, ht caps

Not got that far yet. Getting to the plugs is an epic task requiring tank and airbox removal and special BMW tool to remove the plug caps/coils. At 2am this morning I figured I should leave it until later.

If I get time tonight all have a crack at it without the special tool.. what's the worst that can happen?

What does the special tool look like ?

If you have access to a compression tester, checking the compression will tell you if there is and valve.piston, head, gasket damage.

Your cam cover could have been seeping for a while, while the cylinder was running correctly and hot the oil would have been burnt away.

I would suspect coil/injector problem. Swapping coil packs injectors over should help diagnose the problem.

If you have access to a compression tester, checking the compression will tell you if there is and valve.piston, head, gasket damage.

Your cam cover could have been seeping for a while, while the cylinder was running correctly and hot the oil would have been burnt away.

I would suspect coil/injector problem. Swapping coil packs injectors over should help diagnose the problem.

Yep, it's the same side as the original leak i had when I first bought the bike. Here's the original thread:

http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=52392" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They did a poor job of patching it up so wouldn't be surprised if it's leaking again. so hopefully thats the oil explained.

The bike was running too well to be on three cylinders. The cylinder must have been firing else it would have been a very rough ride. Bike still pulled hard upto tripple digits speeds which I don't think it would have done on just three cylinders.

Even though i put the exhaust on a year ago, it's only done maybe a thousand miles tops - Ive not had chance to ride it much

I've been moaning about low power ever since fitting the exhaust.

Here's the thread:

http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=59590" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So It was lumpy prior to the power commander going on.... I'm suspecting I've had a dodgy coil pack for a year!!

Swapping the coils about and measuring header temps with digital thermometer seems the next course of action.

it seams odd you have oil pissing out and its running cool!

they could be two separate issues here!

I am guessing the 2 year warranty has now ran out?

first things I would do is check the stat, check for oil in the air box check plugs and coils

is the bike running on all 4 cylinders?

 

Been looking at the photos all day...

Look at this one - look where the oil starts:

The oil doesn't start right at the header

Have I just got a leaky rocker cover gasket (again) that's dripping down onto the header pipe??

To be honest I did look at the pics and think maybe it's the rocker cover but I thought you might have ruled that out and the fact that in another pic it looks like you have oil around the header gasket too

Is it sluggish low down in the revs? One set of injectors wont start putting fuel in untill your up in the revs. I can't remember what way round it is.

Litttle update..

8:30pm went into my garage.

Removed remaining fairings, seat, tank. Ecu, air filter and loosened the airbox. Can now access the tops of the plug coils..

Special tool?? Not required! I just gave then a tug with my hand and they pop off...

Now here's the funny part... the problem cylinder, the coil pack was not fully pushed down - it just lifted up with no resistance!!

So that's my problem I think - i reckon it's been bouncing about, intermittently connecting and sometimes not. Maybe the spark has been jumping from the cap to the top of the plug??

Whatever, I suspect that's my problem...

Could well be the problem Joe

Now what about the oil leak?

Get rid of that map. There as bad as not havving one on.

Leave it as stock or get some dyno time booked in.