Vanos timing

[Redchugger]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160924/e44c323d3211ab76b43495b6610a6a7a.jpg
I am installing the vanos on a head gasket job and the gears have full travel but when i put the vanos on it stops before it should and i cant seem to find any other info about it
i thought it was supposed to go all the way to the end of the gear?
Thanks
Robert

[ben4bama]

When I did my HG I found my vanos didn't perfectly move the exact range either but if you look at the plates you should be able to see markings from the range movement the way it's been all this time and tell the position to put it back so the range movement will be the same.

[Redchugger]

yeah i have full range until i slide the vanos on then it doesnt rotate to the end of the sprocket
did i slip a tooth in the beginning? i have tried it like 5 different times to make sure and end up with the same result

[boarder2k7]

As long as you lock it in to the first tooth it will engage, it should be fine. Mine didn't exhibit full slot travel, I'm not sure if any do/are supposed to.

[Redchugger]

As long as you lock it in to the first tooth it will engage, it should be fine. Mine didn't exhibit full slot travel, I'm not sure if any do/are supposed to.
Thank you!
i wonder why that is important then for the slots to have full travel before you put the vanos on? a safety if you did skip a tooth it would still get full travel?

[AJLM34A]

Watch from 12 minutes on....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23jXHhkpV_I

[boarder2k7]

Thank you!
i wonder why that is important then for the slots to have full travel before you put the vanos on? a safety if you did skip a tooth it would still get full travel?

As far as I could figure out, that's correct, it fixes any manufacturing or assembly tolerance issues.


Watch from 12 minutes on....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23jXHhkpV_I

On watching this I'll say his move the vanos a few teeth to make it catch thing is unnecessary, all the teeth are the same, reseating it will be enough. As per the assembly manual it needs to catch the first available tooth to catch, that doesn't necessarily mean it will catch immediately, and the adjustment compensates for this. Mine catches at about a half tooth of rotation. (I'm not entirely sure he even pushed it all the way back when he reset, so that may be why it caught immediately)

As a side note, I'm always amused by people worrying about marking the teeth on the timing chains so they line up with the same teeth. These (and all competently designed systems) are hunting-tooth. There are 58 rollers in the upper timing chain, and 30 teeth on the sprocket, meaning each revolution of a cam covers 51.7% of the timing chain aka, 1.93 revolutions per full chain. So cruising at 3000 RPM you're hitting every tooth on every roller 6.5 times a second. The main chain is also hunting tooth. (36 teeth on a 104 roller chain, don't remember the crank gear tooth count)

The only thing I'd worry about is making sure you have it facing the right way in/out but even there I'm not sure it matters.

[Redchugger]

how else can you make sure it is timed right? currently i am having problems timing the upper sprocket to the crank sprocket with the harmonic balancer TDC mark
after turning the crank and lining the cam blocks back im about half an inch off of the TDC mark and am confused how to truly fix it to TDC without the flywheel pin because i dont have one
just move the chain on the sprocket?

[pbonsalb]

Remember the engine is tilted so you must look at crank pulley and front cover timing marks from an angle. Also, approach tdc only in direction of engine rotation. Dont reverse into it. There is a little play around tdc and you want to just come exactly up to it, not go a little past and then reverse a bit.

[Redchugger]

okay and then just lock the sprocket and tensioner down and rotate a couple times to check timing is good?

[pbonsalb]

I would have the tensioner in place as you rotate to locate tdc. Drop the cam blocks on. Hopefully they fit. I always rotate 2x and then recheck with the cam blocks.

[Redchugger]

yeah i did that the first time and the cam blocks sat flush but the crank timing was like a half inch behind the mark so i should move the chain forward and try it again right?

[rajicase]

The first engine I had in my m3, an s50, was a bit off in relation to the timing cover marks and tdc. With the marks about 1/4" off, the crank was at tdc.

[Redchugger]

behind or after the mark on the block?

[rajicase]

I don't remember. That was several engines ago lol. Just remember the marks were not lined up at tdc.

[Redchugger]

oh okay i feel like i can make sure the valves dont smash pistons and start it if it runs like shit ill just try a different tooth ha

[rajicase]

Stick a dowel down the spark plug hole and rotate the engine over and mark TDC on the dowel. Then compare to your timing marks.

[boarder2k7]

Skipping teeth around in relation to where you think it should be is a good way to break something. You really want to risk your engine for the lack of a $13 pin? Sure you might turn it over by hand and be okay, but what of you're off and mash all the intake valves when the vanos kicks in?

Just buy or borrow the pin. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VDPDZFI/

[Redchugger]

i have the pin but the flywheel doesnt lock at TDC it locks like 90 degrees out