Battling Vacuum Leaks

[BMW1023i]

poolman i have a question. since you took the DISA valve apart did you happen to move the flap in side twisting it. If so did you notice any weird noise coming from the end part of that part thats round. It seems like mine is sticky and im not sure if it supposed to be like or not. Thanks

[quacktoduck]

cleaned mine and redid the seal with some rtv sealant... sprayed some maf cleaner in my intake manifold... and cut out all the seals in my disa valve and put a nice bit of rtv to reseal the valve and make a new seal... ill tell you how it all goes tomorrow... ive had the worst chatter in my engine... sounds like a diesle...

[Poolman]

I gutted the disa valve and then put a seal on it--the main thing though is I only ran the car a few weeks with the valve in this configuration. While at low rpm and out on the road it's OK--the performance of the car is diminished.

[Jason5driver]

I gutted the disa valve and then put a seal on it--the main thing though is I only ran the car a few weeks with the valve in this configuration. While at low rpm and out on the road it's OK--the performance of the car is diminished.

Did you gut the old Disa valve aka Adjuster Unit, or the new one???

Did you replace the old O-ring to the Adjuster Unit with a new one?

Real OEM:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...79&hg=11&fg=40

Part #7



Thanks!
Jason

[Poolman]

Hey Jason--I gutted the old DISA vakve so that I could drive around with it and not have the clicking sound going on. That racket can caues the knock sensors retard the ignition so that was the only reason I took it apart and reworked it.
On my model there was no 0 ring to use as a gasket--there are numerous problems with this because there can be vacuum leaks from there.
I went to my local advance auto and bought some rubberized gasket making material.
I cut out my own gasket to seal off this area and elimanate any chance of a problem of vac leaks.

[Jason5driver]

Hey Jason--I gutted the old DISA vakve so that I could drive around with it and not have the clicking sound going on. That racket can caues the knock sensors retard the ignition so that was the only reason I took it apart and reworked it.
On my model there was no 0 ring to use as a gasket--there are numerous problems with this because there can be vacuum leaks from there.
I went to my local advance auto and bought some rubberized gasket making material.
I cut out my own gasket to seal off this area and elimanate any chance of a problem of vac leaks.

Thanks Poolman!

So, later, did you replace the old adjuster unit for a new one?

I don't think I have the O-ring, like yours does...

Jason

[Poolman]

Yeah--I replaced it--just did the work on the old one until I could get the one from Crown BMW --177.bucks

[Jason5driver]

Yeah--I replaced it--just did the work on the old one until I could get the one from Crown BMW --177.bucks

Pretty expensive for that thing!

Did you notice a difference after installing the new one?

Jason

[Poolman]

Oh yeah--with the old bad versus the new one installed the car pulled just great again--but this is only in the higher rpm levels is where this thing works for you.

[quacktoduck]

hey so does it get rid of that god aweful clicking noise that makes the intake sound like a diesle cause its pissing me off... i did the stuff last night... gas and oil all over it... or maybe just carbon... but yeah i try to turn the car on this morning and its sputturing and having difficulty but one push of the gas and it was fine.... will getting a new valve make it sound less and loose that effing chatter...

[Jason5driver]

hey so does it get rid of that god aweful clicking noise that makes the intake sound like a diesle cause its pissing me off... i did the stuff last night... gas and oil all over it... or maybe just carbon... but yeah i try to turn the car on this morning and its sputturing and having difficulty but one push of the gas and it was fine.... will getting a new valve make it sound less and loose that effing chatter...

I have to listen to mine!

I know I get a lot of valve clatter though...

[Poolman]

Problem with oil useage after replacement of the CCV valve--read below

I've gone around the horn on this one people and those who have good memories
will attest, it's gotten my goat a few times. Back a few months ago I replaced my
CCV valve and all the hose's that go with it. After doing so my oil consumption went from not using any to where I was using around 1 quart every 1000 miles.
I deduced that I had gotten a bad CCV from the factory and went thru the ordeal of replacing the sucker for the second time. After this change over I would still use oil but not as much as I did with the first change over. If I drove the and babyed it around--about a qt every 2000 miles.
Over the weekend I had a few warm days and had noticed that my hose on the back of the pump had started to leak--so I replaced it--while under there I thought what the hell--I removed the air box and all down to the throttle body
and was going to do some more inspection of the CCV to see If I could figure out what was going on.
When I removed the bolt that holds the dipstick in place I noticed how wobbly the dipstick housing was in just how it was easy to move back out of the way. HHMMMM
There's supposed to be an 0 ring sealing that dipstick housing, to the oil pan to make sure there is no vacuum leak -or pulling air back into the system from there. I tried to remove the housing, but to no avail. At that point I checked all my hose's going to the ccv and found them to be solid and then focused back on the dipstick--I used some sensor safe gasket
maker and applied it all around the seal where the dipstick housing goes back into the oil pan.
I let the stuff set up over night. After it was all set again --I test drove the car--car felt a little better--pulled a little better I thought and after about a 30 mile jaunt--I checked the tail pipe and it was really clean agin--like it used to be.
Now the gas mileage[ is up to where it should be again---and the oil consumption has stoped--I've put 350 miles on her in the last 2 days and the oil is right on the mark
as it should be.
I'm thinking that the times I had taken the throttle body off to clean it, and what have you =had weakened the 0 ring at the dipstick--that allowed air into the system and it was being sucked back into the ccv valve and then pulling oil into the engine to be burned.
Don't know if this will help anyone--but you can add this to the list of what to check
when Battling Vacuum Leaks.

[Poolman]

Just found one more item that can cause vac leak--and when I replaced this part
found great increase in gas mileage--post is below
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1189562

[Jason5driver]

Thanks P!

I noticed my Disa-valve ticking really bad this morning.
It was around 32 deg's F.

[Poolman]

Jsaon--after the cars warmed up--you can lay your left ear down on the box itself
if you hear it clicking--bad news--it needs to be replaced--found my best price on that part from Crown Auto in Greensboro NC--ran me about 175 bucks plus shipping which was another 10 or so--you have to order on line with these guys to get the best price--there will be a spot for you to type in the part # and make--then the part will pop up with the price.

[Poolman]

This should be the last of Battling Vacuum Leaks (at least I hope so) rants for awhile.
I replaced the suction jet pump back a few weeks ago and my gas mileage went up greatly--I thought that I had a bad pump--in fact it was the hose that hooks into the intake was the problem --This would be #2 below.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...85&hg=11&fg=45
I noticed when removing the pump that the hose felt loose when I was handling it--but I didn't replace it then. My mileage started to go back to where it used to be and the power fell of a little also. So this past weekend I took the time (wife was outta town) and removed everything down --including the throttle body--this hose goes to the right of the tb and then disappears back behind the intake. I tried to get my hand back inthere before and pull this hose off but couldn't. This time I removed the cabin air filter and cabin duct--I also unhooked the battery--then I unhooked the hot red wire going to the starter--with all that out of the way--I could reach behind there and grap the mother--bad luck--there's a OEM hose clamp on there--I then used a small awl and reached back in there--the clamp has a small opening that I could get the awl into and spread the clamp apart--then throughly brusing and spraining my hand--I was able to pull the hose off of its port.
I was happy to see the part when I pulled it out--there was a very shiney spot right on the end along with a deteriorating section where I could see air was being pulled down into the hose--in another words--a good vacuum leak--now fixed.
I have waited for sometime before writing about this one--wanted to make sure that all was well---Yahooo--car is running and pulling better than it ever has--and the mileage is better than it's ever been---I think I have covered every spot under the hood now for a vac leak --with the exception of where the purge valve hooks into the intake--I still haven't found that one--it's way back in there and I can't reach it.
That one may need to be done by removing the intake--a job I hope I never tackle.
Hope this has helped some-as all this is pertaining to the M54 engine's--some of it may help those with the 52's as well.

[porksoda]

thanks poolman for taking the time and sharing it with us... i am going to do some work tomrorow to see if i can figure out my whooshing noise... if i had to bet i would say its the o rings on the runners on the intake mani.

[Poolman]

Your welcome Porksoda--but I betcha it's the air hose that goes to the idle control valve from the throttle body thats causing the noise that you hear--thats the most common problem of all that goes wrong--and shame on me for not mentioning it before--maybe I did--maybe I didn;t--but the ribbed section of the tubing is where the biggest problem lies.

[porksoda]

Your welcome Porksoda--but I betcha it's the air hose that goes to the idle control valve from the throttle body thats causing the noise that you hear--thats the most common problem of all that goes wrong--and shame on me for not mentioning it before--maybe I did--maybe I didn;t--but the ribbed section of the tubing is where the biggest problem lies.

thanks again ill add that to my list.

I will take the engine cover off so i can get a good look. From my troubleshooting without the cover off i suspect at about 30-40% that noise comes from under there somewhere. I also hear a constant whooshing sound... shame on my indy for not finding it and i had to go there twice and they just labelled it as "normal" all bmws have an intake whoosh sound.

got a part number or pic of this said pipe?

after a search here and there... and one of my 30 or so windows open... i think you mean the pipe in the picture below? the hole from the ribbed pipe in the bottom? pipe that attaches there? Ignore the arrows and circle... i borrowed the pic from xisco44. Also seems like this pic must be from a pre lci model as i dont see the disa.



EDIT:
So i took the air intake out and after a bit of troubleshooting i find one leak at the adjuster valve ( desa valve ).

No seal available for it except for a new unit for 180. Mine seems to be fine so i bought some gasket maker and will give that a go and report back. Will take some pics as well.

I went to the local stealership and they had one desa in stock and i compared mine to theirs and mine seals are GONE the new unit had a 1mm - 2mm thickness rubber seal around it... mine was totally flat.

[Poolman]

As always, I'm looking to make sure my intake and all is air tight--thought this up the other day--and dang --worked like a charm--some of you here have the sucktion type pumps to pull your oil out from the dipstick--mine is call a suck up machine--
I took seran wrap with a rubber band--sealed the end of my tailpipe--then just past the maf on my intake track ,I sealed that side off--then I hooked my vacuum machine to one of the vac ports on the back of the intake and then a vacuum gauge to another port--I was able to pull 20 lbs of vac this way--with the engine off of course---and the vac held---it fell very very slowly--took a few miniutes for it to go down--Now this tells me my system is hold quiet well--and if it wasn't--I would have a real good chance of telling just where a vac leak was, by just listening for were the leak would be---this is like a poor mans smoke machine test--with out the smoke.
The suction machine I have has helped in so many things--even bleed my brakes with it--hook up to the bleeder and pull the fluid through--when changing out the fluid that is.

[jase007]

Poolman:

This image might help explain some things:

[gtxragtop]

The whooshing noise is often caused by a small tear in the large rubber hose that connects the air filter (after the MAF) to the throttle body and IAC. The ribbed portion of the hose going to the IAC cracks, and allows air to enter making a noise. This is a very common failure. It is easy to see the cracks by jacking up the car, getting underneath, looking up at that ribbed hose and in some cases moving it gently to see the cracks/split open wider.

[Poolman]

Jason thanks for posting that picture of the intake manifold--thats gotta help many.

[jase007]

Pool-m:

Hope it helps some.

Hard to describe these parts without a visual when you(me) are contorted and reaching under/in there to get at them.

[Poolman]

Jase007 have a Question--what are the smaller holes next to the larger intake runners that are covered by the gasket material running too in your pic of the intake?