545i hydrolocked (well maybe)
10-02-2013, 08:45 AM
#31
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i hate to keep beating on the subject, but the filter slowed down the water from getting sucked in, but the water did pass, enough to hydrolock his engine and stall, thus preventing more water from getting sucked in.
his engine must have taken a decent gulp of water, if he found water in his oil.
and a engine is not going to lock up with a few drops of water in the combustion chamber. and its not the boiling water or steam that does the damage. its the piston trying to compress a liquid.
his engine must have taken a decent gulp of water, if he found water in his oil.
and a engine is not going to lock up with a few drops of water in the combustion chamber. and its not the boiling water or steam that does the damage. its the piston trying to compress a liquid.
Let's wait to see what the damage is and perhaps have a more informed discussion on how the damage might have been caused.
Salut, Bob P.
10-02-2013, 03:26 PM
#32
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Nipcon,
at this point you know you have damage to the engine. You should put it in your garage or outside where you can start tearing it down. The easiest thing would be to pull the heads off and have them looked at. This is a good start. Usually when you ingest water, the rods will bend. You will be able to inspect the cylinder walls for damage with the heads off as well as pistons. You also can tell if a rod is bent by turning the crank with the heads off and seeing if each piston fully returns to the top of its cylinder, there will be a mark where it has been stopping at for some time.
I am just on the other side of pulling the engine and rebuilding a good portion of it on my 550. Feel free to ask if you have questions. Its not difficult if you take your time, put all of the bolts in bags and label them. Put the larger parts in your trunk if you dont have room to store. It may take a few months but will save you big money. You can rent the tools for timing the engine from bimmertoolrental.com and most of the parts you can order through RMEuropean, GetBMWParts.com, etc. They are the cheapest i have found, A few items will need to be dealer sourced.
at this point you know you have damage to the engine. You should put it in your garage or outside where you can start tearing it down. The easiest thing would be to pull the heads off and have them looked at. This is a good start. Usually when you ingest water, the rods will bend. You will be able to inspect the cylinder walls for damage with the heads off as well as pistons. You also can tell if a rod is bent by turning the crank with the heads off and seeing if each piston fully returns to the top of its cylinder, there will be a mark where it has been stopping at for some time.
I am just on the other side of pulling the engine and rebuilding a good portion of it on my 550. Feel free to ask if you have questions. Its not difficult if you take your time, put all of the bolts in bags and label them. Put the larger parts in your trunk if you dont have room to store. It may take a few months but will save you big money. You can rent the tools for timing the engine from bimmertoolrental.com and most of the parts you can order through RMEuropean, GetBMWParts.com, etc. They are the cheapest i have found, A few items will need to be dealer sourced.
Last edited by Only Bimmers; 10-02-2013 at 03:34 PM.
10-02-2013, 04:40 PM
#33
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Does this sound familiar??
Not a good thing. If it gulped water, it bent a rod. The engine cannot be rebuilt.
Not a good thing. If it gulped water, it bent a rod. The engine cannot be rebuilt.
Last edited by Cricketts; 10-02-2013 at 04:44 PM.
10-02-2013, 07:48 PM
#34
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at this point you know you have damage to the engine. You should put it in your garage or outside where you can start tearing it down. The easiest thing would be to pull the heads off and have them looked at. This is a good start. Usually when you ingest water, the rods will bend. You will be able to inspect the cylinder walls for damage with the heads off as well as pistons. You also can tell if a rod is bent by turning the crank with the heads off and seeing if each piston fully returns to the top of its cylinder, there will be a mark where it has been stopping at for some time.
I am just on the other side of pulling the engine and rebuilding a good portion of it on my 550. Feel free to ask if you have questions. Its not difficult if you take your time, put all of the bolts in bags and label them. Put the larger parts in your trunk if you dont have room to store. It may take a few months but will save you big money. You can rent the tools for timing the engine from bimmertoolrental.com and most of the parts you can order through RMEuropean, GetBMWParts.com, etc. They are the cheapest i have found, A few items will need to be dealer sourced.
I am just on the other side of pulling the engine and rebuilding a good portion of it on my 550. Feel free to ask if you have questions. Its not difficult if you take your time, put all of the bolts in bags and label them. Put the larger parts in your trunk if you dont have room to store. It may take a few months but will save you big money. You can rent the tools for timing the engine from bimmertoolrental.com and most of the parts you can order through RMEuropean, GetBMWParts.com, etc. They are the cheapest i have found, A few items will need to be dealer sourced.
10-02-2013, 08:52 PM
#35
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My Ride: 2006 BMW 550i
I am finished commenting here,since it appears that you know more than two engineers ( I have designed and run many an air induction system for turbines etc. and do know a thing or two about vacuum systems and liquid entrainment in air induction systems).
Let's wait to see what the damage is and perhaps have a more informed discussion on how the damage might have been caused.
Salut, Bob P.
Let's wait to see what the damage is and perhaps have a more informed discussion on how the damage might have been caused.
Salut, Bob P.
10-03-2013, 12:06 PM
#36
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I work in the insurance industry, and was a former tech at a BMW indy. I can absolutely tell you that a BMW engine, with a properly functioning air filter in place, is definitely capable of ingesting enough water to cause catastrophic engine failure. I took apart more than one hydrolocked BMW engine at my old shop and found standing water inside of cylinders, bent connecting rods, fractured connecting rods, etc. I have seen the same numerous times during the course of my work in the insurance industry. These were all what appeared to be well maintained cars that drove through high levels of standing water (6" or greater...it doesn't take much).
OP, your engine is most likely done for. If your filter was fully saturated to the point where water is dripping off of it, you can bet that water made its way into the cylinder, didn't compress like air should, and overloaded one or more connecting rods to the point of failure. Perform a compression test on all cylinders. You'll likely see a few that are within spec, and others that are nowhere close. If you bent rods, you lost volume in that cylinder at TDC and therefore, a drastic reduction in cylinder pressure at TDC.
More than likely, it's replacement engine time. Good luck.
OP, your engine is most likely done for. If your filter was fully saturated to the point where water is dripping off of it, you can bet that water made its way into the cylinder, didn't compress like air should, and overloaded one or more connecting rods to the point of failure. Perform a compression test on all cylinders. You'll likely see a few that are within spec, and others that are nowhere close. If you bent rods, you lost volume in that cylinder at TDC and therefore, a drastic reduction in cylinder pressure at TDC.
More than likely, it's replacement engine time. Good luck.
Last edited by KyleB; 10-03-2013 at 01:33 PM.
10-05-2013, 03:14 AM
#37
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Since you have the consensus now that the motor is toast backed by your own findings, you are going to have to pull it anyway. Take it apart and see what the results are. You would be surprised what a good machine shop can do that a manufacturer states you cant. BMW also states that if you overheat any aluminum block engine it is non repairable. But timeserts solved that issue. The machine shop that did my 550 heads, works on allot of aluminum European engines. Also considered non repairable by factory, but they do it every day. The engine actually can be rebuilt, though others say not. If it has damage to the block that is another story. The cylinders are steel sleeves which hopefully will help. Tear it down and have the block and heads checked, cleaned, and decked.
I just tore my 550 down to the block then back up an almost complete now. So any questions, feel free to ask.
I just tore my 550 down to the block then back up an almost complete now. So any questions, feel free to ask.
Last edited by Only Bimmers; 10-05-2013 at 03:19 AM.
10-05-2013, 07:37 PM
#38
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The cylinder walls of a N62 engine are NOT iron. They are some exotic hardened aluminum. They cannot be machined. Your vehicle most likely suffered a bent rod that in turn scored a cylinder wall (s)
10-08-2013, 03:06 PM
#40
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These engines can be rebuilt, same as any other. You can even buy most of the parts without going to BMW, saving a huge amount of money. BMW has specs for different size bearings, different size pistons, even different thickness head gaskets, just so they CAN be rebuilt
If the block were cracked obviously it'd be another story
Did he ever do a compression check on 8 vs the others? That needs to be done first