Any M guys in Houston, TX?

[pharaohEG08]

Oh damn that sounds horrible man. I never thought of getting timing checked on my car, thats something I'll defiantly look into now though. Im about to hit 100k....

Fridays sound fine, we should find a nice little spot than can be a good hangout for other M guys in HTX.

[stm37s]

Sounds like a plan thursday friday saturday waterer. Why is your M in the shop?? Mine will be done this coming weekend hopefully, putting coils on.

I attempted to swap out the spark plugs because I hit the 100K mile mark and when I was removing plugs from cyl 5 & 6, there was wet oil on the threads.

I am by no means an expert, but I have never seen/heard of it being normal when oil is on the plugs. I knew something was wrong but I proceeded with the install anyway and hoped for the best.

So I turn over the engine (I was pretty nervous about this), and next thing you know, smoke everywhere, idling at 3500 RPM, two cylinders completely misfiring. I turned the car off and called a tow truck.

The shop ran a compression leak-down test and measured 300 misfires in 30 seconds and they verified my suspicions that the the valve-cover gaskets were worn out and oil was leaking into the spark-plug cylinder and other components.

The really weird thing is I am surprised I wasn't losing a lot of oil prior to this discovery and also surprised that I was still getting around 20 MPG even with and no sign of burning oil.

Long-story short, it set me back $615 bucks because I couldn't do that work on my own with the tools I have, nor did I have enough time to get the parts, additional tools, help from friends and whatever else I needed. I should be getting it back tomorrow.

For future reference, definitely make sure you run a compression-leak down test on your Ms if you have high miles and measure your misfires. If you catch it early, you can do the work with help from friends. It will take an entire day, but it will also save you $700 bucks (hell, I'll help you just so you guys can avoid the same drama I had to deal with)

In terms of meeting up, next Friday works for me.

That's good to know man, thanks for passing this on to the other brothers on here

[hsingh2088]

Just got worse, the shop called me up yesterday and gave me the bad news (another thing to look for)

The valve covers on both sides need to be swapped because the spark plug seals have worn down. In a typical car, plug seals are easy to swap. You pull out the old and install the new. In the case of the M35 specifically, the seals are pressed onto the valve cover and cannot be swapped.

Long-story short, swapping the valve cover gaskets won't fix the leak. The only way to stop the seals from leaking is to buy new valve covers.

This sucks for one major reason, each cover sells for $200 a piece. The shop charged me $260 per cover and I'm ok with that because they will guarantee parts and labor for 24K miles or 2 years, whichever comes first (I've seen some other posts on the forum that have talked about new valve covers also leaking after the swap, paying extra for some insurance)

Check your plugs fellas! Run your leak-down compression tests! I am lucky enough to find this problem early on in the way that I did. I'm sure if I kept on driving, it would have gotten worse and I would have blown out a cylinder over time.

[hsingh2088]

So let's plan something out for next week.

Next Friday at 7PM? Want to meet-up at City Center off of I-10?

[stm37s]

Just got worse, the shop called me up yesterday and gave me the bad news (another thing to look for)

The valve covers on both sides need to be swapped because the spark plug seals have worn down. In a typical car, plug seals are easy to swap. You pull out the old and install the new. In the case of the M35 specifically, the seals are pressed onto the valve cover and cannot be swapped.

Long-story short, swapping the valve cover gaskets won't fix the leak. The only way to stop the seals from leaking is to buy new valve covers.

This sucks for one major reason, each cover sells for $200 a piece. The shop charged me $260 per cover and I'm ok with that because they will guarantee parts and labor for 24K miles or 2 years, whichever comes first (I've seen some other posts on the forum that have talked about new valve covers also leaking after the swap, paying extra for some insurance)

Check your plugs fellas! Run your leak-down compression tests! I am lucky enough to find this problem early on in the way that I did. I'm sure if I kept on driving, it would have gotten worse and I would have blown out a cylinder over time.

sorry to hear that bruh, good u caught it in time

[poohouze]

i work weekends in the galleria, i get off around 7 so ill be in the area if you guys decide to meet up!!!

[hsingh2088]

Let's definitely meet up on Friday. I was just thinking, if we met up at City center it will be hard to find each other. How about the parking lot by the 24hr Starbucks on Post Oak, the one next to Jamba Juice. We can park our cars and find each other just by looking.

Let's meet up at 7PM over there.

Here is the address: 2521 Post Oak Blvd, Houston, TX 77056

My cell number is: 510-691-4360

[pharaohEG08]

Yeah post oak sounds good. Honestly I'm a bit jealous of the NY guys and their damn BBQ hahha. Hopefully we can get HTX on that level. My number is 832-866-3eight eight eight if y'all need anything. What I need though is a damn clay bar and wax

[pharaohEG08]

Just double checking we are talking about next friday the 19th right?

[hsingh2088]

Yes.

[poohouze]

sounds good im in too.. i my name is Josh 281-804-4729 hit me up with a group text ill definitely swing by!!! the 19th

[speedracervroom]

Also here in Houston

[pharaohEG08]

Guys don't forget we are meeting tomorrow on post oak. Hopefully its not raining like it is now

[hsingh2088]

Guys don't forget we are meeting tomorrow on post oak. Hopefully its not raining like it is now

That's a good point. I tomorrow is going to be more of the same today according to the forecast.

[hsingh2088]

What up fellas. Three of us are meeting up at 8PM at Fox n Hound off of Westheimer. If you're interested in coming through, shoot me a text or give me a call.

[poohouze]

had a great time with you guys last night.. ready to schedule another meet!

[hsingh2088]

Definitely, same here. Lets definitely meet up again in October.

All you Houston M owners on this forum, come through! We're trying to make this big!

[The Bodyguard]

I can make it Friday's after 9:30 pm so either we schedule it a bit later than 8 pm or I'll be the late one coming through!! I'm working evenings right now so can't do earlier... Saturday is worse so that's out of the question also, I work in the southwest so any place you decide on I'll be there in five minutes!!

[cweaver]

Sup fellas, I was gonna try to make it but the wife had other plans for me. Did anyone
get any pics?

[hsingh2088]

Sup fellas, I was gonna try to make it but the wife had other plans for me. Did anyone
get any pics?

We got one pic, posted it on the forum. Did you see it?

[poohouze]

check the pic above.. as of right now just three of us.. but we haven't planned next months meet but we will soon. give us ur phone number so we can add you to the group text!

[pharaohEG08]

yeah what poo poo and singh thing said

[poohouze]

hey eye of ra (pharaoh) its poohouze!!! lol

[KayhanW]

What's crackin?? Guess I missed the meet....If someone can PM me for my number unless you guys do Whatsapp & we can connect....


Thanks...I am out in Katy & trying to get the 2003 - 2004 M45 owners to come together without much luck...They all seem to be in a hurry whenever I come around one except for one who works at Walmart off of Bellaire & 99 which I am about to tag for a contact....

[pharaohEG08]

hey eye of ra (pharaoh) its poohouze!!! lol

Who's house? lol

KayhanW- yeah man come for a bit next time should be fun. maybe next time we will do a bbq or just get blasted at the bar like last time

[KayhanW]

Whats up fellas.....Hope 2015 is treating u well.....

I don't drink so can't hang on that one! Anything else, I am down....If we can coordinate for our next meet either via txt messaging or some smartphone chatting app?? I use whatsapp available for iphones & android ppl....let me know...

Thanks

[poohouze]

im in just give me a heads up and join the M Society International page on facebook.

[speedracervroom]

how about a Houston Groupme been thinking about that idea to get all local guys in one chat lmk what y'all think

[speedracervroom]

i started a groupme chat pm me your numbers or email and i will add Texas people.

[LCC828]

looking for other local M's. Have established a day and area yet? Looking to chime in.