Dropping the new head in

[Andrew]

Hello

Well, thanks to all of your help, I removed the cylinder head from my car w/o too much trouble. I am in the process of cleaning the piston tops and the bolt holes.

I decided to buy a new (refurbished) head. My question is should I lubricate the lobes on the camshaft with some type of grease? It seems that the head is mildly lubricated with a light oily film already. The last thing I want is a dry startup which scores my camshaft.

My Hanes repair manual says to use some "Engine assembly lube or Moly based grease" on the cam lobes and journals. Well, I found some "Moly EP" grease at Autozone but I just cant help but think that it is intended for wheel bearings and CV joints etc. The Bentley manual doesnt talk about this...

What if anything should I use to lubricate my new head before the first start?

If I ever get this thing to start up again, I will be sure to post some pics.

Thanks again
Andrew
'90 535i

[jjw]

Yes, you should. Put some engine assembly lube on it, after you have wash all the parts with liquid dish washer in hot water to get rid of small particles.

[632 Regal]

concidering that your engine isnt completley dry it wont take long for oil to get up there, use any assembly lube that contains moly, race shops have it. looks like thick crappy black grease, dont use a lot because it isnt good for bearing surfaces. Its intended for interferance pressure situations such as cam lobes.

[uscharalph]

Keep us posted.

[Kalevera]

True. Also, depending somewhat on the oil pump's condition, both turning the crank a few revolutions after seating the timing chain (to make sure that it stays in time) and before buttoning up the valve cover (to check that the oil spray bar is doing its job) will help assure that the top end is adequately lubricated for startup. I would turn the crank by hand when doing the timing chain; use remote start to verify the spray bar -- pressure should be there within a few seconds of cranking.

Beyond that, mind the torque spec and procedure. Everything else is routine M30 stuff.

best, whit

[Andrew]

Thanks guys!

I like the idea about bumping the starter to make sure the oil is indeed spraying.

Today I cleaned out the bolt holes, cleaned the top of the block, and scraped the tops of the pistons. I also put new seals and (cam) covers on the new head. Tomorrow I hope to attach the intake manifold to the head and drop them back into the car. (I give up trying to polish the stupid intake manifold!)

Hopefully she will be ready to fire up on the fourth!

Andrew

[winfred]

before you install the valve cover dump a quart or so of regular engine oil over the valve train, it will lube up everything well enough till the oil pump gets on the ball, it will take a while for the system to prime up at starter speeds till that happins everything is somewhat dry