No problem brother, one team one fight!

To me it looks like some was trying to limit oil getting into the PVC system. I have been wrong before.

 

Hmm, if that's the case I'm tempted to remove it and replace the PCV valve. Does anyone see a better solution?

 

ChiefM - your guess makes sense. To be sure, I emailed Way. He replied that it comes that way from the factory. Seems strange but there you have it.

 

Strange way to do things but OK.

 

I remember seeing the same. I could be mixing this up with a separate project car also a bmw…

it’s like this from factory?

 

Yeah, according to Way. I also saw an older thread in which several guys noted they found the same thing in their valve covers.

 

Yup that was on the inside of mine too. I think it’s for sound deadening.

 

Thats normal indeed, I encountered the same on my 2006 R53

 

I replaced the valve cover gasket in my 2003 R53 in early September. I too can confirm that the underside of my valve cover exhibited the same. The epoxy struck me as a bit of bodgery from the factory. They must have had trouble with that reinforcement (?) plate falling off.

And yep, my valve cover collar screws were toast, particularly in the front where the rain water can drip in from the hood scoop and pool on the cover. I had not wanted to replace them, given the expense, but even after hitting them with penetrating oil for a couple of days prior, the screw heads were corroded badly and I had to either pound on a 7mm socket (next smaller size) , or in a couple of cases, use an extractor to get purchase on them to turn them out. The threads were fine; heads were not.

 

The head is off. It's not that difficult. Let's see if I say the same after reassembly.

It's the first time I've removed a cylinder head so I'm not certain of the condition of the valves and cylinders. Two photos below: one of the bottom of the head and one of the cylinders. Feedback is welcome. I also have individual photos of each set of valves and each piston if that will help.

 

I can't read valves, or pistons, but 1&3 pistons have a bit more carbon build up and the valves on 4 seem out of place color-wise to the others. Is there that much of a difference, or is it one of the illusions that cameras create? Will you be taking the head to the machine shop to have it checked and resurfaced if needed? They'd be able to read the valves and tell you what's up.

Great work and perseverance!

 

I think the differences you're seeing are actual. The right exhaust valve in cylinder 4 only has carbon around the perimeter and the two intake valves are different colors. I don't know what that means. Maybe a symptom of the bad head gasket?

I'm going to have the head evaluated but I haven't decided where. Where we live, I don't know that I'd trust any of the shops. They certainly wouldn't have much MINI experience. The nearest big cities are 2 to 2.5 hours away. Minneapolis has a good European shop that works on a lot of MINIs. I could take it there. I'm also considering sending it to Way. He certainly has a lot of MINI experience.

 

Not much time to play in the garage this week. A few more parts arrived yesterday but I won't need them until I'm ready to reassemble the engine. I have everything I need to do the timing chain but I might as well wait until the head is ready to go back on. Since it's still sitting on my bench and I haven't yet made a decision on where to take it, it will be a while before it's good to go.

Since the engine is in a holding pattern, I have a question. There is a loud-ish clunking sound from inside the dash when going over bumps. I guess is could be a number of things but are there any particularly common noisemakers on these cars?

 

As for the noise under the dash, everything there is normally buttoned down well.
Fan motor for ac/heat?

 

Thanks. That makes sense. A couple of times when I've turned the fan on, it's made a sound like it's rubbing something. So if the unit is moving around, it could explain why the noise only happens now and then.

 

Today I did a little cleaning on the head. Planned to remove the timing cover as well. Unfortunately, I discovered that to remove the ATI damper, I need a Torx TP40. Ordered one that will be here in a few days. I also noticed that one of the timing cover bolts is missing: the round-head Torx at the lower right. Something else to order. Every time I walk into the garage my favorite parts vendor prints a shipping label.

 

Personally, I've measured my M6 and M8 bolts and ordered the common lengths from McMaster-Carr online in packs of 50-100. I spend about $7-15 a pack and always have fresh spares on hand. They are all 8.8 for strength, so no worries there. I refuse to buy BMW bolts if I can find the same hardware elsewhere. I will buy things like valve cover bolts, but not much else. I know the feeling of shipping labels being printed when I walk into the garage. I'm guessing lots of parts houses have a Sat-Mon rush in orders. lol

 

Thanks, McMaster-Carr is a good idea. I've had an account for years but only use it occasionally. Which coating do you choose if replacing a ZN3-coated OE bolt?

 

I generally use their zinc plated. I also like the yellow zinc plated, but I've found that for M6 bolts I have tried to keep the torx to make it easy for me to just use one tool for removal/installation, but it just depends on if I'm replacing things for service mode (torx), or engine use (hex).

 

Thanks, Steve.

 

Today I prepped the cylinder head to send to Way for service. After the below photo was taken, I removed the cam journals and cam shaft followed by some cleaning. I'll pack it and ship either Saturday or Monday.

 

Two heavy-duty boxes, 90 sq ft of bubble wrap, and an entire roll of packing tape are all it took to get the cylinder head on the road to Atlanta. It's scheduled to arrive on Thursday. I'm very anxious to hear Way's evaluation. Unless he says it's not salvageable, in which case I'm considerably less anxious. When I checked it for flat after cleaning, it looked good to my untrained eyes so fingers crossed.

Last week I posted that the bolt at the lower-right corner of the timing cover is missing on my car. The RealOEM diagram is below (#7). Curious, I looked at a couple of idler pulley replacement videos and the same bolt appeared to be missing on both cars. I had already bought the M8 x 20mm button head bolt identified by RealOEM at Ace so I installed it. Fits perfectly but I'm wondering if there's a reason the entire population of cars I've sampled are missing it. Anyone know whether it's present or missing on their car?

 

Yay!!
I’m glad you got it shipped off. I hope they can repair it for you and you won’t need a new head. Fingers crossed for you.

 

In a holding pattern on the big stuff until the head comes back so I plan to tinker around the edges. Today I changed the fuel filter. Not too bad but it was easier in the old days: under the hood, a couple of small hose clamps, done in 5 minutes. The gas that splashed on the back of the rear seat gave me an excuse to clean the leather. Next, I'll probably do some cleaning in the engine bay, something that never crossed the previous owner's mind.

 

Unfortunately, the head isn't going to arrive at WMW today. It's currently sitting in Kentucky -- five days after I shipped it in Wisconsin. I get that shipping companies are dealing with high demand and labor shortages and am sympathetic. What annoys me is that FedEx tracking is completely wonky. When I shipped the package, the delivery date was Thursday, October 21 (today). Yesterday morning, tracking told me that it would arrive a day early -- yesterday. At the time, the package was still in Chicago (on its way to Atlanta). Now it says that there is no expected delivery date. I'm willing to bet that later today it will give me an expected delivery date of Sunday (this has happened with a number of packages shipped to me since I started working on the MCS despite the fact that I've never received a Sunday delivery from FedEx). I'll be thrilled if it gets there tomorrow but think Monday is probably more likely.