So I think my oil suction pipe may be cracking

[1996 328ti]

I've been experiencing a flickering oil light on high g turns.
I thought it might just be an oil sensor but now I'm reading that it could be a crack in the oil suction tube, if that is the correct term.

M52 motor. Wasn't there a thread on what part to replace it with?
Would this be the time to wire tie the oil pump nut?

[spidertri]

The pickup tube from the 2.8 Z3 is reinforced from the factory. Here's the thread on bimmerforums. You should definitely secure the oil pump nut if you're going in to change the suction pipe.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...z3+pickup+tube

[1996 328ti]

Crap. My shop bills it as a 7 hour job.
I don't even know if that's the problem.

My car is getting to the point where every repair is $50 in parts and 7 hours to install.

[cooljess76]

It's kind of an involved task. Not so much replacing the pickup tube, but removing and reinstalling the oil pan is the laborsome part of the job. Not sure about the M52 pan, but the S52 pan has a baffle which keeps oil in the sump so that the oil pickup is almost always completely submerged. you may consider upgrading to an S52 pan if the M52 pan differs. As for the oil pump nut, I've heard all sorts of wacky stuff. Some people weld it, others safety wire it and I've even heard of people purposely smashing the threads. Personally, I'm not too fond of welding it though others have done it without issue. Reason being, I think the heat may transfer from the shock heated metal sprocket to the chain which could possibly fatigue it. Again, I've never heard of anyone having problems with that, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it. Smashing the threads, just kind of makes me cringe thinking about it. I went with the safety wire route. The oil pump nut itself is kind of a specialty nut. Well not really "kind of", it IS a specialty nut. I'm confident that you could scour the Earth and never find one except for used or from a BMW parts supplier. It's a metric, reverse thread, grade 10 jam nut! Trying to drill holes in one would be next to impossible without a million dollar piece of machinery. Lucky for us, rallyroad.net sells pre-drilled oil pump nuts for like 7 bucks! That is an absolute steal if you ask me, considering the uniqueness of the nut itself. I almost bought a few of them just in case I do another S50/S52 swap.

Things to know about this task:
-Use red locktite.
-The nut is reverse threaded.
-Tighten the nut only to the specified torque in the manual(I was taught to NEVER remember torques, always look in the manual)
-Your safety wire should be pulling in the tightening direction, so in this case, it'll be backwards since the nut is reverse threaded.

[1996 328ti]

Thanks.
It's all such a conundrum.
At what point do I come to grips that the car has had a good life and let it enjoy it's twilight years.
I've often thought about a E36 M3, but the ti is so unique.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by 1996 328ti

...I've often thought about a E36 M3, but the ti is so unique...

coughS52swapcoughs62swapcoughcough


sorry, I had something caught in my throat

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

coughS52swapcoughs62swapcoughcough


sorry, I had something caught in my throat

I had the same thing caught in my throat. Must be contagious.
But I have +250,000 miles on the chassis and transmission.
Limited financial resources. Need to put $10,000 into my house.

I think my diff is starting to act up.
I have a Quaife and I'm starting to hear a chirp when I take turns.

[slow_ti]

Have fun with the diff. Most pain in the ass ever. Lol. If money permits. Have someone do it for you. It's not worth the head ache for you old timers


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[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by slow_ti

Have fun with the diff. Most pain in the ass ever. Lol. If money permits. Have someone do it for you. It's not worth the head ache for you old timers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wouldn't let just anyone work on a Quaife.

[Platanos]

Originally Posted by 1996 328ti

I've been experiencing a flickering oil light on high g turns.
I thought it might just be an oil sensor but now I'm reading that it could be a crack in the oil suction tube, if that is the correct term.

M52 motor. Wasn't there a thread on what part to replace it with?
Would this be the time to wire tie the oil pump nut?

Do you have an oil pan baffle? By oil suction tube, you mean the oil pick up tube, right? I just had to swap mine out the other day, but my engine was on a standI'd hate to do it from under the car. I didn't think about the oil pump nut...what's the benefit from welding/wire tie/smashing threads Are they known for backing out??

[Platanos]

Just found this. From skimming, it looks to be a pretty detailed write up.

http://revmat.ch/bmw-e36-m3-and-t2851.html?