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Thread: VANOS rebuild?

  1. #1
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    VANOS rebuild?

    Hey everyone, my 540i project car is finally running find with no timing issues or leaks! However that's where the good news ends.

    I pulled the codes with PA Soft and have [165] Activation, inlet VANOS bank 1 and [141] Activation, electric fan. My car is an automatic so it doesn't have the electric fan. I'm mainly concerned about the vanos code. I can't find anyone with the same codes as me, however, the car is stalling at low rpms, making a loud screeching noise when I rev it, and making the rattling noise typicaly associated with bad vanos.

    I'd rather not rebuild the vanos, considering that I've already timed the engine twice. I've read about the solenoid going bad. How could I check?

    Any and all advice is appreciated. I'm a bit in over my head on this car haha. Thanks!

  2. #2
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    My car is an automatic so it doesn't have the electric fan. What?

    Check in with beisansystems.com


    Ed in San Jose '97 540i 6 speed aspensilber over aubergine leather. Build date 3/97. Golden Gate Chapter BMW CCA Nr 62319.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by edjack View Post
    My car is an automatic so it doesn't have the electric fan. What?
    I thought manual cars had an electric fan. That's the case with the e46 at least. Otherwise, I don't know what that code means. I followed beisansystems procedure to time the car but I don't want to rebuild the vanos if I don't have to.

  4. #4
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    No E39 540i has an electric fan unless it was converted with aftermarket parts, both autos and manuals came with the fan attached to the water pump.

    Also...why would you go through the effort to time the engine without doing the VANOS? The Beisan kit is pretty cheap and VANOS seals WILL fail sooner or later.

  5. #5
    JimLev's Avatar
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    All E39's came with a mechanical clutch fan on the waterpump and an electric Aux fan on front of the radiator.
    Your FC 165 is for the bank 1 vanos solenoid. See what it's resistance reads, should be around 11 ohms.
    FC 141, could be a bad Aux fan.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by JimLev View Post
    See what it's resistance reads, should be around 11 ohms.
    It read 10.3. Is that low enough to warrant a replacement? Thank you guys a ton for the help!

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    That's fine. I just checked 2 or my spare solenoids, that both read 10 ohms. The difference between your meter and my meter would account for that small difference.
    If you remove the solenoid and drain the oil out if it you'll hear it click when you apply 12 volts to it.

  8. #8
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    So vanos rebuild then? I should've just done it all at once. Live and learn I guess.

  9. #9
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    The solenoid could still be bad, maybe clogged up? Might want to swap left and right solenoids to see if the problem follows the solenoid.
    Behind the solenoid is a check valve that keeps the oil from draining out of the solenoid and oil passages in that general area. Of all the engines I've had my hands in I've only come across one that had clogged check valves. They can be easily cleaned and reused.
    If you've got 100K+ on the car and intend on keeping it for a while you should do the vanos seals. You will need a good size vise, 100+ Lb torque wrench, breaker bar with pipe extension, the press tool, and the pick set.

  10. #10
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    Also the obvious - purely just check the wires / connector on the solenoid... If the VANOS hub is super bad I suppose it could throw the 'activation' code but I'd chase the easier/obvouis stuff first including Jim's suggest to swap L/R...
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    Welp, it took 3 weeks for the vanos solenoid socket to arrive and upon switching the left and right ones... no change. Still code 165. I don't have the tool to remove the check valves but I blew compressed air at it (no clue if that would even work). I'm reading almost 12v at the connector. Do I replace the check valves? I have no idea what else it could be.

  12. #12
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    The check valve is directly behind the vanos solenoid. It has threads cut into the ID.
    An M10 X 1.0 X 100mm long bolt will thread into it to pull it out.
    If you have something close to that size it will work too.
    An o-ring on the CV is the only thing that holds it in place.

  13. #13
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    Alright I'll take the check valve out tomorrow. If that doesn't work, do you have any other suggestions?

  14. #14
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    One of the wires in the vanos solenoid connector should have 12 volts when the key is in position 2.
    The other wire goes to the middle connector (IIRC) on the DME, I'll look it up tomorrow.
    You might want to check for continuity and 12 volts.
    Last edited by JimLev; 12-12-2018 at 10:17 PM.

  15. #15
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    Make sure that's a fine-thread bolt you use to pull the check valve. Most of the metric bolts on the car and at the hardware store will be coarse thread and they ain't gonna work. As Jim says, it presses in, then after that is held in when the solenoid space-ray-gun end is bolted down on top of it.

    Agree w/ Jim 100% about basic electrical troubleshooting. Look for juice at the connector. Then trace the other connector back to the DME and check continuity and resistance.

    Did we ever ask about oil or coolant contamination on the DME connectors? That's a thing. Although the VANOS isn't normally the first pin of failure, pin failure can be somewhat random depending on the entropy of how the contamination progressed.
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  16. #16
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    Thanks a ton guys. I'll be pulling the check valve after work today. I read 12v at the connector with the key in position 2 but I haven't checked at the DME yet.

  17. #17
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    Check the DME connector before bothering w/ the check valve. That said, the DME is usually real good at having different codes for electrical problems vs 'not seeing plausible actuation' problems and it sounds like that's an actuation code...
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  18. #18
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    The vanos solenoid wiring connects to the middle connector on the DME, called Module 3.
    Bank 1 wire is blue and goes to pin 29.
    Bank 2 wire is green and goes to pin 16.
    The DME uses PWM on the above wires to ground them thru a driver transistor which controls the oil flow to the vanos unit. If you had a small 12v light bulb in parallel with the solenoid you could see it's intensity changing. A scope would be better.
    12 volts comes from F2 (30A) that is in the back side of the DME box.

    See post 143 for a pic of the connector with the pins labeled. Disregard the cam sensor pinout, that was for Kouks.
    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...11-code/page15
    Last edited by JimLev; 12-13-2018 at 11:17 AM.

  19. #19
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    So I tested all the fuses in the fuse block and they're all good. I removed the DME relay and tested for continuity on the connector. There was continuity but I wasn't able to get a continuous beep, only intermittent beeping. I'm not sure if that's a problem or not.

    I really have no experience with car electronics and all I have is a multimeter so I may end up just taking it somewhere if it needs a new DME. You'd think though that if the DME was bad I'd see more than just the codes for the vanos solenoid and electric fan.

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    Did you resolve the issue? Im having the same code

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by NolanR View Post
    Hey everyone, my 540i project car is finally running find with no timing issues or leaks! However that's where the good news ends.

    I pulled the codes with PA Soft and have [165] Activation, inlet VANOS bank 1 and [141] Activation, electric fan. My car is an automatic so it doesn't have the electric fan. I'm mainly concerned about the vanos code. I can't find anyone with the same codes as me, however, the car is stalling at low rpms, making a loud screeching noise when I rev it, and making the rattling noise typicaly associated with bad vanos.

    I'd rather not rebuild the vanos, considering that I've already timed the engine twice. I've read about the solenoid going bad. How could I check?

    Any and all advice is appreciated. I'm a bit in over my head on this car haha. Thanks!
    Hi! I just finished dealing with bad VANOS is an M52TUB28.

    Good news is, super easy to diagnose. All you need to do is disconnect the VANOS. Start the car up, and viola! The engine runs like brand new.. Or it doesn't, which indicates you need to keep looking elsewhere (ICV, MAF, pressure, etc)

    Once you have confirmed that it is indeed the VANOS, I would highly recommend getting a rebuilt VANOS from DrVanos at https://drvanos.com/

    They're rebuilt with stronger component, stock solenoids and seals are only good for like 80k I've heard, which is a little pathetic. Or if you are savvy, you can just rebuild your own.

    Let me know if you have any questions. Really annoying symptoms, but leads to a very satisfying fix. My e39 runs like brand new now

  22. #22
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    ^_90% of the labor is in removing the and installing the vanos back on the engine.
    Replacing the o-rings can be done in 30 minutes. BeisanSystems sells them ($60) and has all the DIY info on his website.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by NolanR View Post
    So I tested all the fuses in the fuse block and they're all good. I removed the DME relay and tested for continuity on the connector. There was continuity but I wasn't able to get a continuous beep, only intermittent beeping. I'm not sure if that's a problem or not.

    I really have no experience with car electronics and all I have is a multimeter so I may end up just taking it somewhere if it needs a new DME. You'd think though that if the DME was bad I'd see more than just the codes for the vanos solenoid and electric fan.

    Did you found out what it was?
    I’m having exactly the same issue and after about 5 months of troubleshooting, replacing oil distribution pieces for vanos, rebuilding the vanos, retiming the engine im starting to be abit exhausted haha.

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