A client asked yesterday why we always start with a valve adjustment when a car comes in

[sfdon]

Because- so few mechanics know that oil bars are not symmetrical…..and many,many 50 year old engines have been rebuilt.

25% of all cars coming into the shop have the bar in backwards, starving 1/2 the cam lobes and 1/2 the rockers. 25% have loose banjo bolts and on occasion the bar or the banjo bolt hole are damaged.

This car was sold by a well known European seller who obviously never checked under the valve cover before delivering the car here in the states.
All valves too tight, oil bar in backwards, oil bar broken in 1/2, banjo bolts falling out.

A perfect storm for a wrecked head.

Don’t let it happen to you. Inspect your oiler bar on your next valve adjustment. Make sure your banjo bolts are torqued in correctly.

 

[sfdon]

For the record- the tiny arrow points to FRONT of engine when installed correctly.

When in doubt flip the oil bar over on top of the valve train and see which way has the oil holes equally over the cam lobes.

 

[sfdon]

And you now know- any monkey can put a paint mark on a bolt head and still have absolutely no idea what he is doing.

 

[JamesE30]

For the record- the tiny arrow points to FRONT of engine when installed correctly.

When in doubt flip the oil bar over on top of the valve train and see which way has the oil holes equally over the cam lobes.
View attachment 208860

Thanks for the tip, going to double check mine!

 

[tdgray]

According to Korman this exact problem contributed greatly to the demise of my engine. Put together wrong by the repair shop.

 

[CSteve]

Thank you Don. You saved many of us much grief and more money.

 

[JMinPDX]

@sfdon are these “wired” banjo bolts a good option?

page_2.htm

 

[Ohmess]

@sfdon are these “wired” banjo bolts a good option?

page_2.htm

If I remember correctly, @Stevehose drilled and safety wired his banjo bolts.

 

[ScottAndrews]

If I remember correctly, @Stevehose drilled and safety wired his banjo bolts.

That's a great idea! I suspect @Stevehose is somewhat phobic about bits of loose metal wandering around inside the engine...

 

[boonies]

I drilled mine as well. Easy with a jig and had the safety wire from safety wiring the bottom of the front struts. Also drilled and safety wired the speedometer retainer bolt. Thanks to @Stevehose for catching that I needed to reverse the oil bar which I did before start-up.

 

[alprada70]

Is the M10 oil bar not symmetrical either?

 

[BinksE9]

If you have a front fill valve cover, remove the oil cap and you can see the front end of the oil tube. You should be able to see the arrow pointing forward as in the picture.

 

[Ulrich 3.0 CSA]

Hello
Ok I understood that the oil bar is asymetrical and it can mounted in a wrong way.
But
Sfdon says that the arrow on the oil bar should point forward.
Isn’t forward were the double chain is located? On Sfdons Foto I can’t see the chain. I would say foto shows back of engine (towards drivers cab)
The foto with view through front filler cap is located at double chain location. So this may be correct with arrow pointing forward.
But which side is the correct „forward“

Regard Ulrich

 

[day66]

I read it as the photo was showing what was found, not what was correct.

 

[dbower]

Checked my oil bar today. Yep...reversed. I've owned the car for 12 years so it happened before then. No obvious damage but now corrected. Thanks, SFDon!

The other Don

 

[sfdon]

Every year… over and over.

Always check the top of the cam lobe at number one to see if there is an edge or a saddle in the cam lobe.
As the lobe wears down, the idle gets worse and worse as the lift relative to the other lobes changes. Usually it’s cam lobes one and six end up being the worst.

 

[sfdon]

@sfdon are these “wired” banjo bolts a good option?

page_2.htm

The problem became so bad. The BMW finally came out with a solution -
the banjo bolts for the oiler bar now come when you order them correctly with Loctite.

Inexpensive solution and it works.

 

[sfdon]

Note and it took them five tries to get a solution…,

 

[Stevehose]

Years ago I bought a set of safety wired banjo bolts from a guy who makes them for this purpose on M10/30’s. I can try to find info if interested

 

[boonies]

This guy sells them as a kit: http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/banjo.htm

Or you can roll your own. Amazon has several jigs that you can get so you can use what you have and there are other applications you will find.
Drill jig
Safety wire
Safety wire pliers