The time has come - M62TU chain guides

[jp5Touring]

She's alive with a smooth idle! Thanks to all for the help.

I just need to address a coolant leak below the expansion tank before I can put a few miles on.

smooth idle

[ndz]

I drove around some more and the car is running fine. I haven't gone far due to a steady drip coolant leak (lower radiator temp sensor) which I'll have the part and repair this weekend.

I had a squealing belt which was the accessory belt tensioner set too loose. Got that fixed.

Next up, I think I need a front left wheel bearing. There's a faint squeak squeak squeak sound that varies with speed and comes and goes when I'm turning.

Then both of my e39's need parking brake adjustments and both also have leaking washer fluid reservoirs. Always something but at least the BIG job is out of the way.

[ndz]

The story continues....

Unrelated to chain guides, my new coolant temp sensor popped off after a week and a half and I lost a lot of coolant while parked in a lot yesterday. I was able to pop it back in and replaced with 50/50 this morning. I think the plastic side clips just weren't snapped in all the way...

Back to chain guides.... I am experiencing a slight roughness at idle. Almost so small that I wouldn't even worry about it. INPA "rough" consistently shows cylinder two slightly rougher so I'm throwing a new coil at it. As far as I know, all coils are original at 115k. Plugs are brand new NGK.

I'm also getting:
INPA error 34
Camshaft control Bank 2
Adaptation value impact not plausible current
Adaptation value impact not plausible initial

OBDII reader shows a P0021 that comes right back after clearing:
"Camshaft Pos Actuator A" "Bank 2 Timing over advance".

My first thought is mis-timing, maybe there was slack on the drivers side of the chain? I didn't do the extra step turning the extra revolutions and re-time like G.A.S. suggested for perfectionist.

More research says maybe my upper timing covers are slightly off. The double washer method didn't clamp the cover down enough so I used some broken pieces of a yard stick between the covers to tighten it down. The wood pieces worked better but I wouldn't say the upper timing covers were "exactly" flush when I mounted them. Close, but not exact.

Is it likely to be the upper cover on bank 2 misaligned or is my VANOS timing slightly off? My concern is I read that if you throw a P0021 that VANOS is disabled. Is that accurate? The car seems to have smooth power.

I'm not in an emissions state and my SEL bulb never worked so I'm not overly bothered by an errant code if it isn't important.

[JimLev]

Almost all of the guys I've helped with this same problem it was the trigger wheel not set accurate.
You should have done the manual rotation.

[ndz]

All research leads me to agree it's likely the trigger wheel. When I get time in a few weeks, I'll pull the bank 2 valve cover and check with the drill bit though the upper timing cover. This doesn't seem to be critical, although, I'd be interested in knowing if VANOS is completely disabled due to this code.

The new coil on Cylinder 2 helped the INPA "rough" readings but didn't affect the idle being slightly rough.

I am seeing a new code in INPA:

98 Tank ventilation valve Output
Signal-/Path discontinuity current,
Signal-/Path discontinuity Initial,
Fault sporadic

Research shows tank vent valve is usually a different error (68?) so I'm skeptical of just swapping for a new valve there...

[JimLev]

You'll probably find the drill bit will align with the hole.
Score the trigger wheel and the vanos so you know where you started from.
Then loosen the 22mm nut and turn the trigger wheel about 1/8" from the score mark.
That should do it.

[ndz]

Will do. Thanks JimLev. Turn the trigger wheel clockwise from the front. Correct?

[JimLev]

Will do. Thanks JimLev. Turn the trigger wheel clockwise from the front. Correct?

Oops, forgot to give you the direction.
Yes clockwise from the front.

[ndz]

Update: Replaced tank vent valve and that seems to have cleared my INPA error 98 but it didn't help my idle roughness.

Could the VANOS trigger wheel out of adjustment affect idle? I've read and heard both yes and no.....

I'd hunt for a vacuum leak next but should probably pull the bank 2 valve cover first and adjust the wheel to rule that out.

[JimLev]

When you get a vanos error the DME shuts off the vanos solenoids.
That shouldn't effect the idle.

[ndz]

You'll probably find the drill bit will align with the hole.
Score the trigger wheel and the vanos so you know where you started from.
Then loosen the 22mm nut and turn the trigger wheel about 1/8" from the score mark.
That should do it.

Drill bit was lined up, turned the wheel 1/8" and so far no codes! Thanks Jim and Danny for the tips!

There's still a very slight roughness at idle, as expected. Maybe a vacuum leak or injector but I'm not getting any codes (clues) yet...

[dannyzabolotny]

Awesome! Glad that worked out for you. Rough idle is likely due to a vacuum leak or a failing coil.