Hey guys. Well Ive had my 89 260E for just over a week now and its running WAAAY better then when I first got it. After some fuel cleaner, fresh fuel, a tune up, some tuning and a new fuel pressure regulator, it purrs like a kitten at idle and drives smooth on the hwy. Just waiting on a fuel accumulator to solve my hard hot start issue and hopefully Ill be done for a while, if i pass smog.
Today though I tackled a mechanically simple repair that is a big PITA. I replaced the leaking engine oil galley plug (threaded freeze plug for block heater). the car sat for 5yrs and who knows how old the coolant was so it ate a small hole in the plug. Seems that this happens to quite a few m103's. The car was leaking about a gallon of coolant a week. Of course, the hex part of the plug rounded off so we had to "chisel" it off with a big screwdriver. Wasnt too hard to do but I did remove the rear exhaust manifold for better access to the plug. Thank goodness its a CA car and all the nuts and bolts came off without a fight. Installed new $7 plug, used a high quality flange sealant on the threads, filled the coolant system and was good to go. I did though, find plenty of junk in the block behind the plug so i stuck a hose in the block and flushed it all out till the water came out clear. Filled with Dex-Cool, 70%dex 30% water for now. Not a job I want to do again.
Heres some pics.
After plug removal. This plug is threaded for the installation of a block heater. Thank goodness. Lol
New plug with flange sealant. Same sealant used on Porsche blocks. Better then the wimpy oem o-ring.
