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PSA: That $60 infrared thermometer from Amazon saved my hide on a BMW timing job
Last month I was doing a timing chain on a 2011 BMW 328i and got to the point where you gotta check the oil temp before finishing up. I was gonna just wing it by feel like I used to do, but I remembered I had this little infrared thermometer I bought for like 60 bucks off Amazon sitting in my toolbox. I pointed it at the oil pan and sure enough it was reading 185 degrees, way hotter than the 140 you want for the tensioner procedure. So I let it cool down another hour and a half before buttoning it up. That thing probably saved me from a botched job and a come back, which would have cost me way more than 60 bucks in lost time and parts. Have any of you guys used one of those on a job where the temp spec really mattered?
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the_thea27d ago
Yeah but come on, how many times have you done that exact job before without the fancy tool and it turned out fine? I mean sure it's a nice peace of mind but I bet half the guys in here have let it cool by touch and never had an issue. Seems like a lot of stress over a temp reading that probably has some margin for error anyway.
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robin62827d ago
Point the gun at the oil pan right where the sensor is, that gives you the most accurate reading for the tensioner spec. The block can read way different because of heat soaking, so don't trust that for the oil temp. And the margin for error on these tensioners is smaller than people think when you're talking about the difference between 140 and 185 degrees on a hydraulic part.
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