So many codes...where do i start?

Ironhead Dave · 02-24-2019, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

Also, just to confirm - the weather is about 50f/10c there at the moment? I'm only questioning this as the coolant temp doesn't seem to rise after over a minute of running. It was barely above ambient from your first screenshots on the scanner

The pics at the beginning of the thread were from mid January when it was single digit temps here. My shop generally does not get much colder than the low 40s and I had my heater running for a while that brought the shop temp up to the mid 50s so the engine was quite cold. I had no issues with heat before the VCG. Other than a little oil burning smell at the stoplights, it ran perfectly.

Ironhead Dave · 02-24-2019, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

Before you take the cover off, do you mind uploading some photos of the front of the engine which show the connections to the VANOS solenoids and whichever other connector you removed to allow the rocker cover to be removed?

Here are the pics. I also had to take the connectors off for the injectors but there really is not any good way to take a pic of them.

Ironhead Dave · 02-24-2019, 07:58 PM

I removed the oil cap so I could watch the valvetronics teach. When I switched on the ignition, nothing happened. So I used my scanner to teach and everything looked to function fine and the scanner said it was successful. So without turning the ignition off, I started the car and it started and ran with a slight miss but it was the best it has ran in a long time. After about 5-10 seconds, it started getting progressively worse. I hooked up INPA and started it again and watched the valvetronic values. It starts around 45-50 degrees and runs good. Then it slowly increases value and when it gets up to 70 it starts missing and then it climbs up over 100 and runs really bad and stalls.

I had cleared the codes previously and when i read them after this, the only code I got was 2A7C DME: VANOS, inlet, cold start. I removed and cleaned both of the solenoids about a week ago. Tomorrow I will switch them to see what happens.

juld0zer · 02-26-2019, 07:16 AM

Could you try swapping the cam sensors, clearing the faults and then trying again - recalibrate the valvetronic and starting it up.

Have you already swapped VANOS solenoid positions?

What are the insulation colours of the top VANOS solenoid harness? It's hard to be 100% sure from the photos as it's too bright there

Ironhead Dave · 02-26-2019, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

Could you try swapping the cam sensors, clearing the faults and then trying again - recalibrate the valvetronic and starting it up.

Have you already swapped VANOS solenoid positions?

The VANOS connections are correct. My wife has the same car and mine matches hers. Plus other than to clean the solenoids (which I did one at a time) I only ever had the bottom one unplugged. The top one did not need to be unplugged for the VCG.

So I switched the VANOS and the cam sensors. Usually I only would do one at a time but I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time. I cleared the codes and taught the valvetronic. It acted the same as the other night. Started smooth and got rough as it went on. The valvetronic numbers went up to 175. I shut it off and checked the codes. Sure enough the fault moved from the intake to the exhaust. So i switched the cam sensors back and it stayed at the exhaust. I switched the VANOS back and it cleared up and ran fine. Valvetronic numbers all stayed inline with what my wife’s car reads. Hopefully I got it. I didn’t drive it as it is late and if I break down I have no way to get back home. The drive will wait until tomorrow. I think I will buy new solenoids since this one ‘cured itself’ I don’t know that I can trust it.

Everyone keep some positive vibes coming my way.......

juld0zer · 02-28-2019, 05:07 AM

It may also be worth removing and inspecting the so called VANOS one-way valves/check valves. If you follow the bunch of three corrugated plastic looms that you moved to do the rocker cover, down to the exhaust side of the cylinder head, you will find two of these valves. They are in-fact the mesh filters for the VANOS system and can get clogged with age and sludge.

You will need a Torx socket and rag beneath to catch the escaping oil. This is one where it's best done by feel with your eyes closed.

Take a photo of what you find.

Have a look at this picture, they are directly in front of the cylinder 1 exhaust port:
https://activeautowerkeblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/e9x-header.jpg

Ironhead Dave · 03-01-2019, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

It may also be worth removing and inspecting the so called VANOS one-way valves/check valves. If you follow the bunch of three corrugated plastic looms that you moved to do the rocker cover, down to the exhaust side of the cylinder head, you will find two of these valves. They are in-fact the mesh filters for the VANOS system and can get clogged with age and sludge.

You will need a Torx socket and rag beneath to catch the escaping oil. This is one where it's best done by feel with your eyes closed.

Take a photo of what you find.

Have a look at this picture, they are directly in front of the cylinder 1 exhaust port:
https://activeautowerkeblog.files.wo...m/2014/12/e9x-

header.jpg

I’ll give them a look. I put the new solenoids in tonight and it runs ok. It has started whistling after runnin for about half a minute and gets progressively louder. I am assuming a vacuum leak so I am going to fab up a smoke tester this weekend and see what I find.

Ironhead Dave · 03-08-2019, 06:16 AM

I did a smoke test last night and found nothing so I think a vacuum leak is ruled out. I am noticing that it does not seem that the Valvetronic motor is teaching every time. Should it? Or does it just need to teach once and be ok? I had an instance last week where I would hook up the scanner and turn in the ignition and I wouldn’t hear it teach. I also tried to force it with the scanner but it didn’t seem to. It would turn on the motor but I have done this enough to know what a normal teach cycle sounds like. It usually starts at about 58 degrees, rotates to 0 then up to 220+ and then back to 58. This sounded like it was only doing the 58 to 0 and stopping. I cannot confirm it because it was not the focus of my task so I didn’t really look into it and i guess I assumed that maybe it didn’t always need to go through the whole cycle.

So where I am going with this is that last week when I used the scanner and teach it to verify it is correct, it would start and run good. But then after about 30 seconds it would start to whistle faintly and get louder the more it ran. The best I can tell it sounded like it was in the general vicinity of the valvetronic motor. Maybe down the passenger side some. I was thinking maybe the gasket was bad there. That is why i did the smoke test.

Last night I got in and started it. I did not verify the valvetronic position and I started the car. It idled rough and made a loud knock, just once, after running a while. I shut it off and ran the teach cycle a couple times with the key but didn’t verify the position with the scanner and started it again. Same. Rough idle and the knock, just once.

For a reference, when I first took my wife’s car apart, I knew nothing about all of this. I unbolted the valvetronic motor and the spring spit the motor out at me and when the shaft reached full travel, it made a loud knock from the spring bottoming out the shaft travel. That is what this knock sounds like. Similar to that. Her car runs fine BTW.

I don’t know if any of this helps or hurts my diagnosis. I am really about at my end with this thing I feel like I am just chasing my tail.

I am considering, unless someone has a reason not to, taking the VC off, bolting the valvetronic motor up and teaching it a number of times with the cover off to see what it is doing and if I can see anything odd.

Ironhead Dave · 03-09-2019, 09:40 AM

I have a question about adaptations. I have read that the car calculates adaptations very rapidly. Since this my car almost feels like there is no consistency on how it acts from start to start, is there a chance that it is adapting (or trying to) for the poor performance and essentially creating its own isssues? Should I try clearing codes and adaptations, maybe unhook the battery for a while too, and then see what happens? Or am I putting too much into how the process works?

Ironhead Dave · 03-09-2019, 02:19 PM

https://youtu.be/bIOXm7PW7M0I turned the motor manually stop to stop and did not see any evidence of misalignment. I hooked it up and used the scanner to teach it and shot video which is linked below. I have had faults pop up for a sluggish motor but it seems ok. I was wondering if my new motor gasket could be causing some misalignment and not letting the worm gear engage full and that is the cause of the snapping noise I heard. Has anyone ever experienced that?

https://youtu.be/KJ6DSYjjQyM

Close up

https://youtu.be/bIOXm7PW7M0

SLO-mo

https://youtu.be/qGgCCHUzPyk

juld0zer · 03-10-2019, 12:53 AM

Did you grease the worm gear and the eccentric shaft gear?

Ironhead Dave · 03-10-2019, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

Did you grease the worm gear and the eccentric shaft gear?

No I did not. But it is not back together yet. I am going to get a new gasket set since this is the fifth time I have had it apart. Any particular type of grease?

SilverSlug · 03-10-2019, 10:57 PM

This might be a long shot, but did you test your alternator? (very easy to do with a meter).

When mine was on it's way out, my CEL was throwing up all kinds of codes, including vanos, misfires and various sensor codes.

I replaced the alternator and all the codes went away, like magic.

Ironhead Dave · 03-11-2019, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverSlug

This might be a long shot, but did you test your alternator? (very easy to do with a meter).

When mine was on it's way out, my CEL was throwing up all kinds of codes, including vanos, misfires and various sensor codes.

I replaced the alternator and all the codes went away, like magic.

I have not but it is certainly easy enough to do. Thanks!

juld0zer · 03-14-2019, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironhead Dave

No I did not. But it is not back together yet. I am going to get a new gasket set since this is the fifth time I have had it apart. Any particular type of grease?

You'll have a hard time finding it off the shelf but I use the BMW specified one as I have access to it. The grease does not appear to contain any solids like moly. It is amber in colour and quite light. There has been some speculation about its actual purpose as it is so light it would not be a lifetime type grease. There is an oil sprayer that further displaces the grease.

Any lubricant is better than no lubricant but i suppose you wouldn't want a chunk of heavy grease end up blocking an oil passage. During the calibration/end stop learning procedure it is done with the engine off so there would be no oil spraying on the gears. I believe this is the main purpose of the grease but I am not an engineer

Ironhead Dave · 03-17-2019, 06:48 PM

I purchased a new gasket set since I have had mine on and off so much. When I installed the gasket for the valvetronic motor, I checked how it fit to the casting where the motor mates up. There was a significant gap. 2+mm actually. So i dug my old one out of the trash (luckily I don’t make much trash in the shop and i am lazy so it was still there from New Year’s Eve) and I compared them. Sure enough, both the one I put on 3 months ago and my brand new one are shorter than the original. By 2mm. Also, they do not seem to fit up against the valve cover correctly. This could explain a lot of things. 1. The erratic behavior of the valvetronic motor. If the motor was not tight against the casting, it could be binding which could be giving me the code about the motor being sluggish. 2. Along the same lines, this could also allow the motor to be loose which may account for the ‘snapping’ noise that I heard. The motor might not be meshing completely and be jumping teeth. 3. The new gaskets do not seem to fit up against the valve cover like the old one. This could be my vacuum leak that everyone felt I had but I couldn’t find.

I am going to go to the dealer and buy an OEM gasket and see if that makes a difference.

Ironhead Dave · 03-19-2019, 09:32 PM

I very methodically installed the new gasket set. I reset all of the adaptations. I taught the valvetronic motor. Crossed my fingers and hit the start button. It started and was a little rough but smoothed right out. I figure it was from the adaptation reset. It had whatb sounded like a loud lifter tick. I figure since it has been sitting for three months and only being run for a minute or two once or twice a week that it would probably go away. It idled for a few minutes. I shut it off and turned it back on. Started right up and idled fine. Still ticking. I went for about a five mile drive and just likebthe last time, i pulled in the drive and it started whining and running rough. I barely got it in the garage. I got a bunch of codes. Most of which are not in my Bentley and I have found very little on the net.

Here is the grand total of what I have done:
New VCG
New coils and plugs
New ESS sensor
New VANOS solenoids.
Smoke test
Cleaned MAF
Checked all wiring and connectors for damage
Charged battery (per owners manual) to make sure coltagebwas adequate.
Reset adaptations
Taught valvetronic stops via scanner

I reset all the codes before my drive so these are fresh

juld0zer · 03-22-2019, 05:10 AM

Did you have a chance to inspect the check valves on the side of the head near the chain tensioner?

Ironhead Dave · 03-22-2019, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juld0zer

Did you have a chance to inspect the check valves on the side of the head near the chain tensioner?

No. I completely forgot. I willtry that this weekend. I am going to take it to an Indy next week if I don’t get this figured out this weekend.

fleet · 03-22-2019, 08:17 PM

I generally don't advocate "just throwing parts at it" but...for $11

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Cranksh...72.m2749.l2649

Ironhead Dave · 03-24-2019, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fleet

I generally don't advocate "just throwing parts at it" but...for $11

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Cranksh...72.m2749.l2649

Lol! That and the valvetronic motor are about all I have left.

I broke down and made an appointment with a local indy that worked service at the local dealer for around 10 years and has had his own shop for quite some time. He comes highly recommended. I drop the car off on 4/2 so I have a week to get it figured out.

The scary thing is that when I run the codes on INPA, out of about 5 or 6 codes, there is only one that comes back that is not ‘unknown’.

Ironhead Dave · 04-02-2019, 04:31 PM

UPDATE: I took the car to a local indy that is highly recommended by several people that I have spoken to. They ran a smoke test and it showed the fill cap leaked and the diaphragm in the valve cover was bad. So I gave the ok to fix it. Then they sent me the attached video. It seems that my variable timing sprockets are bad.

https://youtu.be/nrV7qTPSnbQ

I asked if there was anything that I had done that could have caused this and he said he couldn’t see it being from me. It is more of a ‘perfect timing’ scenario. I still feel that it had to be from something along the way that contributed. So I have a quote for $2700 to replace the cap, valve cover, both sprockets, and both sensors.

I hope that this is it. I don’t need anymore surprises today.

02-24-2019, 07:58 PM	#91
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	I removed the oil cap so I could watch the valvetronics teach. When I switched on the ignition, nothing happened. So I used my scanner to teach and everything looked to function fine and the scanner said it was successful. So without turning the ignition off, I started the car and it started and ran with a slight miss but it was the best it has ran in a long time. After about 5-10 seconds, it started getting progressively worse. I hooked up INPA and started it again and watched the valvetronic values. It starts around 45-50 degrees and runs good. Then it slowly increases value and when it gets up to 70 it starts missing and then it climbs up over 100 and runs really bad and stalls. I had cleared the codes previously and when i read them after this, the only code I got was 2A7C DME: VANOS, inlet, cold start. I removed and cleaned both of the solenoids about a week ago. Tomorrow I will switch them to see what happens.
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02-26-2019, 07:16 AM	#92
juld0zer Lieutenant Colonel 480 Rep 1,600 Posts Drives: Prev 135i 7DCT, Now 130i 6sp Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: 2153 iTrader: (0)	Could you try swapping the cam sensors, clearing the faults and then trying again - recalibrate the valvetronic and starting it up. Have you already swapped VANOS solenoid positions? What are the insulation colours of the top VANOS solenoid harness? It's hard to be 100% sure from the photos as it's too bright there
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02-28-2019, 05:07 AM	#94
juld0zer Lieutenant Colonel 480 Rep 1,600 Posts Drives: Prev 135i 7DCT, Now 130i 6sp Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: 2153 iTrader: (0)	It may also be worth removing and inspecting the so called VANOS one-way valves/check valves. If you follow the bunch of three corrugated plastic looms that you moved to do the rocker cover, down to the exhaust side of the cylinder head, you will find two of these valves. They are in-fact the mesh filters for the VANOS system and can get clogged with age and sludge. You will need a Torx socket and rag beneath to catch the escaping oil. This is one where it's best done by feel with your eyes closed. Take a photo of what you find. Have a look at this picture, they are directly in front of the cylinder 1 exhaust port: https://activeautowerkeblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/e9x-header.jpg
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03-08-2019, 06:16 AM	#96
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	I did a smoke test last night and found nothing so I think a vacuum leak is ruled out. I am noticing that it does not seem that the Valvetronic motor is teaching every time. Should it? Or does it just need to teach once and be ok? I had an instance last week where I would hook up the scanner and turn in the ignition and I wouldn’t hear it teach. I also tried to force it with the scanner but it didn’t seem to. It would turn on the motor but I have done this enough to know what a normal teach cycle sounds like. It usually starts at about 58 degrees, rotates to 0 then up to 220+ and then back to 58. This sounded like it was only doing the 58 to 0 and stopping. I cannot confirm it because it was not the focus of my task so I didn’t really look into it and i guess I assumed that maybe it didn’t always need to go through the whole cycle. So where I am going with this is that last week when I used the scanner and teach it to verify it is correct, it would start and run good. But then after about 30 seconds it would start to whistle faintly and get louder the more it ran. The best I can tell it sounded like it was in the general vicinity of the valvetronic motor. Maybe down the passenger side some. I was thinking maybe the gasket was bad there. That is why i did the smoke test. Last night I got in and started it. I did not verify the valvetronic position and I started the car. It idled rough and made a loud knock, just once, after running a while. I shut it off and ran the teach cycle a couple times with the key but didn’t verify the position with the scanner and started it again. Same. Rough idle and the knock, just once. For a reference, when I first took my wife’s car apart, I knew nothing about all of this. I unbolted the valvetronic motor and the spring spit the motor out at me and when the shaft reached full travel, it made a loud knock from the spring bottoming out the shaft travel. That is what this knock sounds like. Similar to that. Her car runs fine BTW. I don’t know if any of this helps or hurts my diagnosis. I am really about at my end with this thing I feel like I am just chasing my tail. I am considering, unless someone has a reason not to, taking the VC off, bolting the valvetronic motor up and teaching it a number of times with the cover off to see what it is doing and if I can see anything odd.
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03-09-2019, 09:40 AM	#97
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	I have a question about adaptations. I have read that the car calculates adaptations very rapidly. Since this my car almost feels like there is no consistency on how it acts from start to start, is there a chance that it is adapting (or trying to) for the poor performance and essentially creating its own isssues? Should I try clearing codes and adaptations, maybe unhook the battery for a while too, and then see what happens? Or am I putting too much into how the process works?
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03-09-2019, 02:19 PM	#98
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	https://youtu.be/bIOXm7PW7M0I turned the motor manually stop to stop and did not see any evidence of misalignment. I hooked it up and used the scanner to teach it and shot video which is linked below. I have had faults pop up for a sluggish motor but it seems ok. I was wondering if my new motor gasket could be causing some misalignment and not letting the worm gear engage full and that is the cause of the snapping noise I heard. Has anyone ever experienced that? https://youtu.be/KJ6DSYjjQyM Close up https://youtu.be/bIOXm7PW7M0 SLO-mo https://youtu.be/qGgCCHUzPyk Last edited by Ironhead Dave; 03-09-2019 at 02:54 PM..
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03-10-2019, 12:53 AM	#99
juld0zer Lieutenant Colonel 480 Rep 1,600 Posts Drives: Prev 135i 7DCT, Now 130i 6sp Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: 2153 iTrader: (0)	Did you grease the worm gear and the eccentric shaft gear?
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03-10-2019, 10:57 PM	#101
SilverSlug Hey, where have you been all my life? 680 Rep 1,401 Posts Drives: 2011 M3 6MT Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: San Francisco, CA iTrader: (2)	This might be a long shot, but did you test your alternator? (very easy to do with a meter). When mine was on it's way out, my CEL was throwing up all kinds of codes, including vanos, misfires and various sensor codes. I replaced the alternator and all the codes went away, like magic.
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03-17-2019, 06:48 PM	#104
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	I purchased a new gasket set since I have had mine on and off so much. When I installed the gasket for the valvetronic motor, I checked how it fit to the casting where the motor mates up. There was a significant gap. 2+mm actually. So i dug my old one out of the trash (luckily I don’t make much trash in the shop and i am lazy so it was still there from New Year’s Eve) and I compared them. Sure enough, both the one I put on 3 months ago and my brand new one are shorter than the original. By 2mm. Also, they do not seem to fit up against the valve cover correctly. This could explain a lot of things. 1. The erratic behavior of the valvetronic motor. If the motor was not tight against the casting, it could be binding which could be giving me the code about the motor being sluggish. 2. Along the same lines, this could also allow the motor to be loose which may account for the ‘snapping’ noise that I heard. The motor might not be meshing completely and be jumping teeth. 3. The new gaskets do not seem to fit up against the valve cover like the old one. This could be my vacuum leak that everyone felt I had but I couldn’t find. I am going to go to the dealer and buy an OEM gasket and see if that makes a difference. Attached Images
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03-19-2019, 09:32 PM	#105
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	I very methodically installed the new gasket set. I reset all of the adaptations. I taught the valvetronic motor. Crossed my fingers and hit the start button. It started and was a little rough but smoothed right out. I figure it was from the adaptation reset. It had whatb sounded like a loud lifter tick. I figure since it has been sitting for three months and only being run for a minute or two once or twice a week that it would probably go away. It idled for a few minutes. I shut it off and turned it back on. Started right up and idled fine. Still ticking. I went for about a five mile drive and just likebthe last time, i pulled in the drive and it started whining and running rough. I barely got it in the garage. I got a bunch of codes. Most of which are not in my Bentley and I have found very little on the net. Here is the grand total of what I have done: New VCG New coils and plugs New ESS sensor New VANOS solenoids. Smoke test Cleaned MAF Checked all wiring and connectors for damage Charged battery (per owners manual) to make sure coltagebwas adequate. Reset adaptations Taught valvetronic stops via scanner I reset all the codes before my drive so these are fresh Attached Images
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03-22-2019, 05:10 AM	#106
juld0zer Lieutenant Colonel 480 Rep 1,600 Posts Drives: Prev 135i 7DCT, Now 130i 6sp Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: 2153 iTrader: (0)	Did you have a chance to inspect the check valves on the side of the head near the chain tensioner?
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03-22-2019, 08:17 PM	#108
fleet Private 54 Rep 74 Posts Drives: 328xi Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: Upstate NY iTrader: (0)	I generally don't advocate "just throwing parts at it" but...for $11 https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Cranksh...72.m2749.l2649 __________________ I like broken things.
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04-02-2019, 04:31 PM	#110
Ironhead Dave Private First Class 12 Rep 112 Posts Drives: 2011 328i X-drive Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Paris, KY iTrader: (0)	UPDATE: I took the car to a local indy that is highly recommended by several people that I have spoken to. They ran a smoke test and it showed the fill cap leaked and the diaphragm in the valve cover was bad. So I gave the ok to fix it. Then they sent me the attached video. It seems that my variable timing sprockets are bad. https://youtu.be/nrV7qTPSnbQ I asked if there was anything that I had done that could have caused this and he said he couldn’t see it being from me. It is more of a ‘perfect timing’ scenario. I still feel that it had to be from something along the way that contributed. So I have a quote for $2700 to replace the cap, valve cover, both sprockets, and both sensors. I hope that this is it. I don’t need anymore surprises today.
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