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Car Forum / BMW Cars / November 2006

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Vanos not working?

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MW de Jager - 09 Nov 2006 06:23 GMT
Hi

My 1995 328 has been very difficult to pull away with ever since I got it
two years ago.  You need to get the revs up to about 1500 to keep it from
stalling.  My wife had it stall with her 3 times yesterday before she
managed to pull away and she drives a 1996 316 daily which she never stalls.
So I am statring to believe that this is not driver related.

I'm suspecting that the Vanos does not work on the 328, 'cause it would
often idle rough.  Yet from 2500 RPM upwards it pulls like a train, even
when towing a 1 tonne caravan.

Is there anything I can do to check whether the Vanos is working or not.
Apart from the mechanism being broken, could there be a vacuum hose or
something similar that is blocked that could cause the Vanos to malfunction?
The car has only done 160,000km or 100,000 miles, full service history and
is still like new otherwise.

Thanks in advance for any advice

MW
yaofeng - 09 Nov 2006 13:51 GMT
> Hi
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> MW

The VANOS is actuated by the engine oil pressure.  You'll have to pull
the valva cover to see.  My guess is it is working unless the valve
train is all sludged up.

As to why the car is stalling, someone else my offer a better opinion
on it.
Fred W - 09 Nov 2006 15:43 GMT
>>Hi
>>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> As to why the car is stalling, someone else my offer a better opinion
> on it.

Actually, the oil pressure does the work, but there is a solenoid that
must engage and that sometimes sticks.  If it does, the symptom is poor
driveability at low rpms.

Signature

-Fred W

Fred W - 09 Nov 2006 15:39 GMT
> Hi
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> MW

There is a solenoid that is actuated by the car's ECU.  That solenoid
opens and closes a valve that routes oil pressure to the VANOS actuator,
which is the mecanical device that slides the helical gears on the
camshaft and cam sprocket.  This is how the cam gets advanced,

There is an SI bulletin that applies to all M52 engines for this
problem.  It is "SI 11 09 98, Subject: VANOS Valve Mechanically Jamming"

If you send me an email offline I will email you back a pdf copy of that
SI bulletin.  You will have to un-mung my email address first.  Oh and
let me know here if you've done that so I look out for your mail, as
that email account is a spam trap.

Signature

-Fred W

MW de Jager - 10 Nov 2006 10:43 GMT
Hi Fred, will be sending you an email shortly

>> Hi
>>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> me know here if you've done that so I look out for your mail, as that
> email account is a spam trap.
Leroy - 09 Nov 2006 18:19 GMT
I would take it to a dealer and ask them to check the engine control unit
fault memory for you.  It's a quick job and could save you a lot of time.

> Hi
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> MW
Fred W - 09 Nov 2006 23:09 GMT
> I would take it to a dealer and ask them to check the engine control unit
> fault memory for you.  It's a quick job and could save you a lot of time.

I wouldn't take any 12 year old car to a dealer unless I was looking for
a rectal cleansing.

Are you nuts?

Signature

-Fred W

Thomas Wright - 09 Nov 2006 23:48 GMT
>> I would take it to a dealer and ask them to check the engine control
>> unit fault memory for you.  It's a quick job and could save you a lot
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Are you nuts?

I thought I had seen some reference to disconnecting the solenoid and
see if there was any difference.  If no difference, you have a vanos
problem.  Anybody know if this will work?
Fred W - 10 Nov 2006 16:23 GMT
>>> I would take it to a dealer and ask them to check the engine control
>>> unit fault memory for you.  It's a quick job and could save you a lot
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> see if there was any difference.  If no difference, you have a vanos
> problem.  Anybody know if this will work?

I suppose that you could also disconnect the solenoid electrically as
you say, and look for a change.  But if there is none, you still don't
know if the problem is the ECU, solenoid or mechanical VANOS problem.

The SI Bulletin (forwarded to the OP via email) has you remove the
solenoid and exercise the piston manually, checking for it being stuck
or binding.

Signature

-Fred W

Pashlipops - 10 Nov 2006 06:25 GMT
Or do it yourself with a laptop and www.tekmatetools.com - they (the
company) often sell on EBay for cheaper than the retail costs.

I have one and am very pleased with it.

> I would take it to a dealer and ask them to check the engine control unit
> fault memory for you.  It's a quick job and could save you a lot of time.
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
> >
> > MW
MW de Jager - 10 Nov 2006 11:02 GMT
Thanks everyone for your replies.  I'll be taking it to a BMW "specialist",
who did not pick this up when he serviced the car 6 months ago, and have him
sort it out.  The more I think about it, the more plausible the "dead
solenoid" sounds.

MW

> Or do it yourself with a laptop and www.tekmatetools.com - they (the
> company) often sell on EBay for cheaper than the retail costs.
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
>> >
>> > MW
 
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