Valvecover Problem

**DDixon1000** · 11-18-2018, 04:29 PM

So, now that I've sat down to read the forum, I realize I've done what many other folks have, replaced the valve cover on my wife's 128i without bothering to understand the valvetronic motor. After replacing the valve cover, checking all the lines, wires, and hoses, I cranked the engine and the car started but puttered really bad. After a few more tries it now does nothing.

There are a few issues I have to address.

1. I think my battery might be close to dead as when I turn the key I get flashing lights on the dash and the headlights go out, and the motor doesn't turn over. I have attached a battery charger.

2. I took out a plug and it was wet, black, and smelled like gas, so I think I may have ruined the plugs.

3. (this is where I think it all started) I did not reset the valvetronic motor endpoints before I tried to start the car. Being a Chevy guy I didn't bother to even research the thing, I just bolted it on and tried to start the car. I understand there are two ways to reset the end points:

1 being turn the key on and let it sit without starting it (tried that, just heard a click)
2 use a diagnostic tool to reset the end points.

I don't have a diagnostic tool, but am willing to buy one. Is it possible to salvage the mess I made if I get a diagnostic tool that can reset the motor? Could I have done some type of permanent damage? I turned the worm gear with the hex key and it moves freely, so I don't think its bound up.

If I can salvage this, is there a "cheaper" diagnostic tool like the foxwell that can reset the motor?
Thanks guys, from now on I stick to Chevy motors lol

**bmwdirtracer** · 11-18-2018, 04:55 PM

Welcome to the forum, DDixon.

You're okay, take a deep breath. All that "resetting the valvetronic motor" is good stuff....Yes, that's what you're supposed to do. But I usually forget. I bolt it on, and I start the car, and everything is just fine.

So, on to whatever's keeping the car from starting.

1) Did you push the coil plugs firmly into the coils when you rotated the clips? The clips do not positively pull the plugs into place - you need to help.

2) Did you attach the coil grounds (8mm nuts), and tighten them?

3) Did you use some sort of sealant to hold the gaskets in place on a CLEAN valvecover, before you manipulated it back into place? If not, the gasket likely caught on all the valve gear, and gave you a huge intake / CCV system leak. Use a mirror on a stick to carefully inspect every inch of the gasket.

4) Did you happen to catch the O2 sensor wires under the back of the valvecover? If so, same thing as #3, above, except maybe you also cut the O2 sensor wires.

5) Were the plugs and coils swimming in oil? Good time to replace the plugs, by the way.

You wouldn't have "ruined the plugs", but you might have flooded the engine, which would have washed away compression, if any of the above are true. You can alleviate this pretty quickly by pulling the fuel pump fuse, and/or pulling the spark plugs, then cranking the starter (with a good battery) for 10 seconds at a time, 3 times. Then put the plugs back in (drop a half teaspoon of oil in each cylinder too, if you want to quickly restore compression), put in the fuel pump fuse, make sure the coil plgs are forced into each coil, and start it.

Oh, you hooked up the big plastic pipe at the back of the valvecover? Oh, and next time, don't mess with the allen head screw that moves the valvetronic gear. I've never touched it, not ever.

**DDixon1000** · 11-18-2018, 05:39 PM

Thanks for the good advice. I was looking at buying a Foxwell Nt510 scanner as I was told it can reset the end points, it sounds like you don't think that's all necessary?

I checked the coil plugs, they are firmly pushed in and locked into place

Coil grounds (2) are attached and ratcheted on firmly to middle valve cover studs.

I used the 1 minute black rtv to hold the gasket in the valve cover grove, I will check in the daylight tomorrow around the perimeter to see if there looks like any gaps.

the crankcase breather hose is firmly on and snapped into the back of the valve cover.

I don't see any pinched wires, will take another look in the daylight

Going to let battery charge overnight.

I will pull the plugs, they are pretty wet at the gap, should I just dry them off with compressed air, they were the iridium tips.

There was no oil on top of the plugs or in the coils themselves (gasket must have sealted right around plugs?).

Originally Posted by bmwdirtracer

Welcome to the forum, DDixon.

You're okay, take a deep breath. All that "resetting the valvetronic motor" is good stuff....Yes, that's what you're supposed to do. But I usually forget. I bolt it on, and I start the car, and everything is just fine.

So, on to whatever's keeping the car from starting.

1) Did you push the coil plugs firmly into the coils when you rotated the clips? The clips do not positively pull the plugs into place - you need to help.

2) Did you attach the coil grounds (8mm nuts), and tighten them?

3) Did you use some sort of sealant to hold the gaskets in place on a CLEAN valvecover, before you manipulated it back into place? If not, the gasket likely caught on all the valve gear, and gave you a huge intake / CCV system leak. Use a mirror on a stick to carefully inspect every inch of the gasket.

4) Did you happen to catch the O2 sensor wires under the back of the valvecover? If so, same thing as #3, above, except maybe you also cut the O2 sensor wires.

5) Were the plugs and coils swimming in oil? Good time to replace the plugs, by the way.

You wouldn't have "ruined the plugs", but you might have flooded the engine, which would have washed away compression, if any of the above are true. You can alleviate this pretty quickly by pulling the fuel pump fuse, and/or pulling the spark plugs, then cranking the starter (with a good battery) for 10 seconds at a time, 3 times. Then put the plugs back in (drop a half teaspoon of oil in each cylinder too, if you want to quickly restore compression), put in the fuel pump fuse, make sure the coil plgs are forced into each coil, and start it.

Oh, you hooked up the big plastic pipe at the back of the valvecover? Oh, and next time, don't mess with the allen head screw that moves the valvetronic gear. I've never touched it, not ever.

**bmwdirtracer** · 11-18-2018, 06:40 PM

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a GREAT idea that you get a Foxwell. Every Bimmer owner should have a good way to talk to his car.

If you have compressed air, by all means, pull the plugs out and dry them....and blow hard into the cylinders, too, to dry them out before reinstalling the plugs. Then, after a good battery charge, it's likely the car will start right up. Fingers crossed

**DDixon1000** · 11-18-2018, 08:49 PM

I hope so, I just keep thinking back to when it did first turn over, it was stumbling pretty hard, I will report back tomorrow.

**DDixon1000** · 11-18-2018, 09:13 PM

I went ahead and bought new plugs. So one last question. Should I do anything with this valvetronic motor before I try starting the car? Obviously the worm gear is out of synch as I turned it. So, do I need to do the key in the ignition foot off the brake sequence? If so, what's the proper way for that?

**White94RX** · 11-19-2018, 11:36 AM

You don't have to do anything to the valvetronic motor. Not when you take it off, not when you install it. I've done literally hundreds, and not one time ever did I do anything but remove and reinstall.

**DDixon1000** · 11-19-2018, 09:53 PM

Update, I checked the valve cover perimeter and I don't visibly see any gaps, I checked all hoses again, they are on, checked all grounds and wires, they are on. The battery still isn't fully charged, but I cranked the engine (with plugs out), and fuel pump fuse pulled to ensure I had rotation, and I do. I took out all the old plugs and all of them were wet on the ends, all smelled like gas (so I am thinking I have fuel). In my mind, since I have rotation and fuel, I'm just missing spark. None of the plug holes above the plug had oil in them, so I am assuming the gasket around the plug holes must have sealed correctly. I'm thinking the block flooded as you stated before, so I bought some oil to drop a teaspoon into cylinders. I am going to do this tomorrow as I ran out of light again. One thing I did notice, when I turn the key to position two with my foot off the brake I just hear a click, I don't hear the valvetronic motor finding its points. Shouldn't I hear a distinct whirl? I also bought one of those mini car jumpers (1000 amps looks like a cell phone) to jump the battery tomorrow if its not charged. I am thinking maybe with 1000 amps on the battery, new plugs, and compression from the oil it might all come together as you said.

**DDixon1000** · 11-19-2018, 09:55 PM

White thanks, with you and dirtracer saying that it gives me more peace of mind. I was worried I perm damaged the engine when I tried to crank it but hadn't set the end points.

**DDixon1000** · 11-20-2018, 04:00 PM

Checked the gasket it’s sealed all the way around, put new iridium plugs in, dropped teaspoon of oil in, made sure everything is connected, checked perimeter of valve cover and ensured no pinched wires. Charged battery and it spun and spun, almost
Fired up, then nothing. No codes being thrown, I’m at a loss

**DDixon1000** · 11-20-2018, 06:42 PM

Well IT WORKED!.... Kinda. I took the plugs out again, cleaned them off, car fired up and ran fine above 1000 rpm, but refused to idle. Then I started to hear a faint whistle, sounds like I have an air leak? Also noticed there seemed to be some oil coming from the oil filter cap.

**bmwdirtracer** · 11-20-2018, 07:45 PM

Yes it seems you've got an intake leak. (The valvecover and hoses count)

When you were removing the plastic pipe at the back (which I STILL find very difficult) did you hear a "crack" sound? When you were bolting down the valvecover, did you tighten any bolt all the way before all the bolts were threaded and snugged up? They need to be tightened together, slowly and evenly, from the center outwards.

You're going to need to find the leak. A smoke machine will find it in five minutes, but without this, it may be difficult or even impossible. If, however, there is oil coming from the oil filter (or oil filler?) cap, then you've likely found your leak.

**DDixon1000** · 11-20-2018, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by bmwdirtracer

Yes it seems you've got an intake leak. (The valvecover and hoses count)

When you were removing the plastic pipe at the back (which I STILL find very difficult) did you hear a "crack" sound? When you were bolting down the valvecover, did you tighten any bolt all the way before all the bolts were threaded and snugged up? They need to be tightened together, slowly and evenly, from the center outwards.

You're going to need to find the leak. A smoke machine will find it in five minutes, but without this, it may be difficult or even impossible. If, however, there is oil coming from the oil filter (or oil filler?) cap, then you've likely found your leak.

I threaded all the bolts down by hand until they were snug, but not tight, then I tourqued them with the tourqe wrench from the inside out. The oil is coming from the filter cap, not the filler cap on top of the valve cover. Should I buy a new gasket and start over?

**bmwdirtracer** · 11-20-2018, 10:20 PM

No. You need to find out where the leak is coming from. Don't fix what's not broken. What if it's the CCV pipe at the back of the manifold? What if the oil filter cap is cracked, or the o-ring is squished? Diagnose first; then repair. Find a BMW/ Euro shop with a smoke machine.

**DDixon1000** · 11-21-2018, 02:10 PM

I found the leak. I used the starting fluid method. It is the valve cover bolt directly under the wire bridge that goes over the cover. The tourque was off just a hair, so I have tourqued it, the whistle is gone, but I'm still idling rough, but not as rough. The only code I'm getting is misfire codes.

**DDixon1000** · 11-21-2018, 04:33 PM

Well shoot, spent the last two hours trying to get that bolt to stop leaking and managed to strip the head lol, geez. Can I somehow use one of the bolts from the old cover? It appears they are stuck in the cover somehow. Anyway, I'm thinking the gasket is jacked up under this screw. I tourqued everything to 7ftpds and still leaking, unless my rough idle is coming from something else. I'm thinking pull it off, start over with new gasket. I think I can do this in a day now that I know how everything on this BMW is interacting. I need to step away for a day. Wifes pissed lol. Guess I know why techs get 70+ an hour.

**bmwdirtracer** · 11-21-2018, 08:07 PM

No technician has ever received $70 an hour, or anywhere close.

If you stripped the threads in the head, you can't fix that by replacing the bolt; you need to heli-coil the head.

Here is the correct torque figure:
https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...th-lid/5bjR3oo

You can't use starter fluid to find leaks in the valvecover, because the CCV system is far too removed from the actual intake for this to be viable. You need a smoke test.

**DDixon1000** · 11-23-2018, 09:59 AM

WOW! That could be my problem then, I tourqued everything to 7ftpds, it looks like it should really be at 5ftpds.

**White94RX** · 11-23-2018, 12:52 PM

That's not your issue. A few foot/lbs too tight, or too loose won't cause your problem. And since you stripped out the hole in the head, now you've got bigger issues. You really need to take it to a professional at this point.

**DDixon1000** · 11-23-2018, 06:13 PM

I didn't strip out the hole, the head of the bolt rounded off, the threads in the hole are fine as far as I know.

**White94RX** · 11-24-2018, 11:37 AM

Either way, it still sounds like you are in over your head.

**DDixon1000** · 11-24-2018, 06:27 PM

So, I switched my shop vac to blow out instead of suck (put hose on exhaust port) . I shoved it up the tailpipe and taped it on forcing air into the engine. I sprayed the engine with soapy water and wahla, I was in a bubble machine! Apparently I installed the valve cover fine, but I broke the big crank case hose in the back, so I removed the manifold and replaced it. Apparently when I screwed the manifold back down I pinched the injector wire in the very back, on the last bolt. I was fortunate enough that it didn't destroy the wires, but it created a huge air leak. I went ahead and got some new manifold gaskets, replaced them, bolted the manifold back down, and wrapped up the wire in electrical tape. My idle is now steady around 1000 rpm when I start it, then drops to about 700 and holds steady. I drove it all over today and no idle issues. Looks like I might have found my problem. Thank you guys for your help, without you I would still be jacking with the valvetronic motor. One last question, is it normal for the valvetronic body to get hot while driving?

**shadowpuck** · 11-24-2018, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by bmwdirtracer

Yes it seems you've got an intake leak. (The valvecover and hoses count)

When you were removing the plastic pipe at the back (which I STILL find very difficult) did you hear a "crack" sound? When you were bolting down the valvecover, did you tighten any bolt all the way before all the bolts were threaded and snugged up? They need to be tightened together, slowly and evenly, from the center outwards.

You're going to need to find the leak. A smoke machine will find it in five minutes, but without this, it may be difficult or even impossible. If, however, there is oil coming from the oil filter (or oil filler?) cap, then you've likely found your leak.

voila....!

glad you were able to get it fixed.....