My Turn, Probable TCG Failure 2000 540iT (Long Post)

[msvphoto]

The 540tu timing video I made was posted here, not sure about any others mvphoto was referring too.

Yes, Jim's two timing videos were the ones I was referring to. I am also using the G.A.S. instructions on their website as well as read a bunch of older threads. All have helped me greatly.

I still have a ways to go. Got the crank main seal in and cleaned some parts last night. Still have some more parts cleaning, including a nasty intake manifold and upper timing covers. Thought about having a machine shop clean parts but the quotes were insane. (Automotive labor costs are insane in Santa Cruz, CA.) Valve covers due back from powder coating on Friday. Then the final reassembly begins. With a little luck I should be done Saturday or Sunday. Will gather a few more pics for this thread soon also. Could almost buy another 540i with this parts bill so obviously a little nervous, but confident. I keep telling my wife and friends it is like cooking a bunch of hundred dollar steaks and I hope the cook is perfect!

[JimLev]

CRC MAF is a good cleaner, I know it's not a cheap however it is fast. Brake cleaner is good too.
I hear ya on those $100 steaks, my Hotrod is in that rabbit hole too.....

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[MotorMouth93]

I took my upper and lower timing covers to one of those DIY car washes and used their pressure washer to clean all the gunk off. It worked great and cost $2-3. Just make sure to take a piece of wood or something to set the covers on concrete will mess up the sealing surfaces.

Also, make sure to get that spot where the head, head gasket, block, lower timing cover, and upper timing cover come together really clean. If you have oil and gunk in there the timing covers won't seal. I used brake cleaner and a tooth brush to get most of it clean, then acetone on a paper towel pushed into the crack with a fingernail to wipe it until it came back clean every time.

[msvphoto]

I took my upper and lower timing covers to one of those DIY car washes and used their pressure washer to clean all the gunk off. It worked great and cost $2-3. Just make sure to take a piece of wood or something to set the covers on concrete will mess up the sealing surfaces.

Also, make sure to get that spot where the head, head gasket, block, lower timing cover, and upper timing cover come together really clean. If you have oil and gunk in there the timing covers won't seal. I used brake cleaner and a tooth brush to get most of it clean, then acetone on a paper towel pushed into the crack with a fingernail to wipe it until it came back clean every time.

I used to use the coin op car washes here as well. Now they are crazy expensive ($5 for just a few minutes) and there are signs everywhere saying no engine cleaning because of environmental regulations. In areas less costly and regulated they are great!

Thank you for the tip on the head gasket area. I _think_ I got that area clean enough before installing the lower timing cover but will double check it with more acetone and paper shop towels (thank goodness for Costco for paper shop towels and gloves).

I have been using mostly foaming gunk followed with brake cleaner using plastic and brass brushes for the nasty stuff. Rags and acetone for the final cleaning on gasket surfaces. Local machine shop quoted me $90 just to wash the three timing covers which is insane. In hindsight probably steam cleaning and/or pressure washing the engine bay before I began might have been a good idea.

[mattmar1]

CRC MAF is a good cleaner, I know it's not a cheap however it is fast. Brake cleaner is good too.
I hear ya on those $100 steaks, my Hotrod is in that rabbit hole too.....

image.jpeg

lmao on the pic

[scubajim20]

lmao on the pic

agreed!

[msvphoto]

Are we there yet? The short answer, despite my best efforts, is no. Getting there. Here's what the engine bay looks like as of last night when I was about to collapse:

20190630_182711.jpg

Worked a few hours on the car Thursday and Friday last week followed by two marathon wrenching sessions, health be damned, Saturday and Sunday. Labor hours tally is now at 55 hours and I am very close to that anxiously awaited first start. (There was a whole bunch of "while I'm there" and cleaning.) Parts tally makes me a little sick to my stomach. (The "while I'm there" stuff haunts again.) Yesterday's biggest disappointment was discovering the vacuum hose to the brake booster is such a crumbling mess that it will not reconnect to the "Sucking Jet Pump" so yet another part order (no local dealer). I am confident in the timing work I did a little over a week ago, but with the amount of labor hours and effort since then my anxiety has been building up and I need to hear it come to life in the worst way. As of last night I only have plugs, coils, coolant overflow, fan shroud, fan, and fluid fill remaining so maybe tonight will be the big moment. I'm planning to plug off the vacuum port on the suction thingiemajob to the brake booster for the initial start (obviously won't be driving anywhere).

Plans are to start out by cranking with no fuel until oil pressure light goes out. At this point I'll clear all old stored codes via INPA. (Unless having the battery disconnected for a month does so?) Put fuel fuse back (still out from the compression test a month ago) and prime the fuel rail with a few key turns before the big event. I gather from reading many posts on this job not to expect a great sounding engine the first few minutes after the first start so I'll temper my expectations with that knowledge.

I'll echo what I have read before in various posts, this is not a job to be taken lightly. The individual steps are not particularly difficult wrenching. What is overwhelming is the number of steps and parts to keep track of. You can not be too organized. I'll share more about what I learning along the way once I hear my car running again (I hope!). I am ever grateful to Jim, RShaffner, and everyone else who chimed in on this thread and those who posted threads like this. Your help and advice is truly appreciated. I hope to report back with good news soon. If bad news, that will be on me and I'll share that as well, but obviously I am hoping for a positive outcome.

[msvphoto]

Great news! I finished what I could last night (no brake booster vacuum hose yet). I used a scrap of coolant hose with a cork in one end to block off the port from the jet pump to the brake booster so I could start the engine. The battery was lower than expected, but it did sit for two months. I had put an 8a charge on it for ~3 hours last weekend but that was only marginal, but enough. I began by cranking with no fuel fuses to get oil pumped back in everywhere. That seemed to go well. At this point I cleared out the old error codes with INPA. I installed the fuses, gave it a few key turns to prime the rail, and nervous as all get out turned the key. It took several tries before the engine coughed, sputtered, and finally came to life. Clattering and misfiring at first, but running! Within a minute or two it settled down and smoothed out. Quick look at INPA, no codes and no SES light. Kept topping up coolant and let it get good and warm. First time I gave it some throttle it bogged and when it returned to idle died. Still adapting is my guess. Started it back up and is now running very nicely (and quiet!). Shouldn't drive it with no brake boost so now I wait for the hose to arrive in my mailbox.

INPA Analog 3 screen camshaft positions are zero for bank 1 and -0.12 for bank 2 so I think I got the timing right? (No errors set yet.)

I'll continue to run it, check/top up fluid levels, and get the belly pan back on, put it back on the ground and put the QuickJack away over the next couple days. Also a much needed bath (more like clay bar and wax again) after sitting for two months under the dreaded Poplar trees. Hope to have a driving report by end of the week!

Some things I learned along the way...

Clean the engine first if it is nasty like my 175k example. Local machine shops wanted an arm and a leg for parts cleaning so I passed and DIY'ed that and it was probably a mistake. I spent a lot of hours cleaning parts.

Just bite the bullet and get the valve covers powder coated, so worth it. I overpaid (back that Santa Cruz CA economy) and was somewhat less than impressed with the results but they look soooo much better.

However long you think it will take, add time. A lot of time.

Go over you parts ordering list(s) and be sure you're getting everything you'll need. I made the mistake assuming that FCP shopping carts were accessed by login, but they are stored via cookies (or something) on individual machines. That means I was working with different draft carts on different machines. When I finally placed what I thought was my final order via my tablet, it wasn't because my final cart was on my desktop. Oops. Second order to FCP. They took forever by the way and I even paid for shipping to get stuff her faster than the free shipping. (I have been buying parts from FCP for many years but need to remember they take time being on the opposite coast). eEuroparts rocked. When I decided I needed a few more things (including a radiator) I tried them because they shipped from a San Francisco warehouse. Overnight delivery with the lowest cost shipping option, I liked that! Even after two orders with FCP and two more orders with eEuro I was still buying small things off eBay that I wound up needing along the way. Organizing your parts needs is key. I was on realoem near daily. I probably could have saved some time and grief here.

Do not trust generic o-rings for correct sizing. I found most of the o-rings I purchased were spot on. The one set that cost me time was for the "voltage regulator" (plastic coolant thermostat on top of the trans cooler). I had a new voltage regulator but those o-rings were left off my cart. Bought a pair off eBay. Fought like crazy to install the plastic gizmo but it would not go on. Checked realoem and found the o-ring was supposed to be 2.5mm thick and the ones I received were 3mm. Just enough over to not fit! Cost me an hour of grief. Ordered BMW OEM for an outrageous price, but they fit perfectly. Most of the rest of the o-rings (mostly from FCP) were fine.

G.A.S. tools rock! Very confidence inspiring. Their online instructions are very good also.

Vanosman was awesome to work with and I would happily let him do the vanos rebuild again. My garage has minimal space and the garage queen is close to my work bench. The thought of that 360 turn and shrapnel if something breaks and flies was not a place I wanted to go. Parking is tight. That was money well spent and he was lightning fast.

Permatex 85420 rocks. Never used it before. Really good product and hopefully will help kwell the leaks I was experiencing.

Upper timing covers are a pain to get flat with the heads. I used some SS shims between the valve covers and tops of the UTCs in addition to the double washer trick. Seemed to work.

The time it took to put things together after setting timing was rough. The longer it took the more nervous I got. Be _very_ sure you are confident in your timing before moving on. I was, but I found myself second guessing myself and anxiety ramped up as the hours passed waiting to see and hear results. I am at 57 hours and still not driving the car (but it runs!).

The while you're there stuff is a killer. My car was a one owner car from Pebble Beach. Dealer maintenance mostly with a couple of high end Monterey Peninsula Indy shops. Well maintained, but not enthusiast maintained. A lot of while you're there stuff. Parts bill was well over $2k and labor hours insane. If the job was just guides and vanos probably half the time and money, but it needed everything I did and I hope to be rewarded for the effort and investment.

Big puffs of smoke on startup may not be the CCV. In my case it was a disintegrated plastic hose at the top of the oil separator, the CCV diaphragm appeared okay (replaced anyway with BMW OEM while the IM was apart). Glad I didn't try changing it with the IM in place. (IM removal and reinstallation was pretty easy actually.)

Electrical boxes were not a problem. Use of the correct pick tool for the injector clips was the key. BMW's design with different plugs made the electrical portion a breeze.

I can not over-emphasize the need for 3/4" drive for Jesus enough. With the right tool it came right out, and torquing and angle turning the new one back in was easy as well. 1/2" drive is a fail here. I was skeptical, now I know better.

I'll add more things that could help those on this venture in the future as I think of them. Thanks again to JimLev and RShaffner, and to everyone who contributed to this thread as well as those who posted their experiences in threads I searched out and read. Could not have done it without you all!

[scubajim20]

Great read, great info as I slowly move closer to tackling the job myself.

[MotorMouth93]

Are we there yet? The short answer, despite my best efforts, is no. Getting there. Here's what the engine bay looks like as of last night when I was about to collapse:

20190630_182711.jpg

What's going on with that valve cover bolt right under the positive battery post, looks like it's not tight.

[msvphoto]

What's going on with that valve cover bolt right under the positive battery post, looks like it's not tight.

Great eyes and monitor! That is already on my punch list to revisit.

The UTC threads on that side were apparently buggered by previous "techs" doing valve cover gasket replacements and two of the original bolts couldn't grab good threads. I didn't catch it until the UTC and valve cover were reinstalled. That is an non-original longer bolt that bottomed out before fully compressing the rubber washer (but at least it grabbed some threads). I could add to the ugliness with some additional washers or a use slightly shorter bolt. I might wind up doing helicoils or timeserts if it becomes a leaking issue. I did look up some threads on this and apparently stripped UTC threads is a common thing and some said they didn't experience any leaks so I am going to wait and see. I used Permatex 85420 all the way around the VC gasket so maybe it won't leak, but I suspect I need to deal with it. I would much prefer the OE fastener there from a cosmetic standpoint. Not my normal standards of work and that unfortunately obvious front and center location was where the only thread glitch of the entire project happened to pop up.

Suggestions for thread repair through the VC hole? For now I just want to get this car driving again after being down two months and see how it goes.

[MotorMouth93]

Helicoil is probably your only option without removing the valve cover, I don't think the timesert tools would fit down the hole. Edit: After looking at the photos of an M6 timesert kit it looks like it would be close, I can't say for sure if it would fit or not.

If I didn't throw it away already, I might still have an extra driver side UTC if you want it for the cost of shipping. Huge pain to replace though...

[dannyzabolotny]

I can confirm that an M6 Helicoil tool does indeed fit through the valve cover. I did exactly that on my 2004 Range Rover (same M62tu as our cars), with the valve cover in place. In my opinion it makes way more sense to do that than to pull the valve cover and replace an otherwise perfectly good upper timing cover. The other nice thing is that there's no real risk of getting metal shards into the engine by doing it with the valve cover already in place. Just take your time and be careful to keep things nice and straight and you'll have those threads fixed in no time!

[msvphoto]

Thank you for the confirmation Danny. I had thought that might work as well, good to know. That should be super-easy. Meanwhile, I did find a more appropriate fastener last night and improved things on bank 2 so maybe okay short term.

20190702_200509.jpg

The OCD side of me will helicoil the hole(s) and revert to the factory shoulder bolts soon in any case. I am glad to hear it can be done with the VC in place, I really didn't want to pull the cover to fix this and I agree, keeping drill shrapnel out of the engine is a good thing too.

So close! The vacuum hose is supposed to arrive today so I am looking forwards to a July 4th joy ride!

[msvphoto]

Job done. So far so good. Driven about 250 miles so far. Not sure of the cost total (somewhere North of $2k) as I still have to tally it up. Labor total was 60 hours, but that does not include YouTube and forum study time, etc, just wrenching.

Things that could have saved me time include:

Being more organized with tools. My roll cab and top box are in the garage and the work area was outside the garage about 30 feet away from the garage door. I generally tossed what I thought I would need into a tote and as a result spent a lot of time rummaging through said tote.

Cleaning the engine bay ahead of pulling things apart and/or finding low cost (good luck in Santa Cruz, CA) places to have parts cleaned.

It all adds up and saving 10% even would equate to six hours saved.

Results so far are very satisfying. No more belch of smoke at startup. No more pools of oil requiring a drip pan. Quiet. Smooth. Maybe a little more powerful.

Still need to replace the Aux fan, steering link and tie rod ends, and outside temp display light bulb but the grand old wagon is back on the road!

I truly appreciate all the help from all of you here, thank you so much. The experience was mostly positive. I feel I really know my way around that engine bay a lot better than before. For those on the fence, if you are capable, confident, and have the time this job is totally doable.

[Chedley]

Congrats,...good job !! I assume you do not have a mis-timing code 11 or 21, yet.

For a postmortem: What was the hardest part of the job ? And what would you do differently if you were to redo it on a another car ??

[JimLev]

We've been on vacation for the last 2 weeks with no cell or wifi, good to hear you got it done and with no codes.
You will now be the designated timing code error go to guy!

[msvphoto]

We've been on vacation for the last 2 weeks with no cell or wifi, good to hear you got it done and with no codes.
You will now be the designated timing code error go to guy!

A dubious honor that I am not sure I am worthy of. Could be too soon to tell, or I could just be very lucky.

[msvphoto]

Congrats,...good job !! I assume you do not have a mis-timing code 11 or 21, yet.

For a postmortem: What was the hardest part of the job ? And what would you do differently if you were to redo it on a another car ??

No mis-timing codes yet, but probably too soon to say for sure at only around 250 miles driven since completion.

Hardest part was mostly mental anxiety that increased exponentially with the amount of hours needed to reach joy after setting up the timing. Jesus bolt was the only heavy wrenching. I did need to go buy a new torque wrench (always happy to find excuses to buy new tools) because my go to 3/8" drive torque wrench only torques CW and the cam bolts are all CCW to tighten. As many others have said, degree of difficulty is pretty low. It is the sheer amount of steps and time that is grueling. Attention to detail and trying to be as mistake free as humanly possible is not as easy as it may seem.

Next time? Better organization of tools. Better pre-planning with parts ordering (FCP took over 2 weeks and I needed to make several more parts orders along the way). Clean as much as possible ahead of time. Make nice with the powder coat shop to have them dunk the timing covers when they do the valve covers (just clean the timing covers, not powder coat).

QuickJack was wonderful since I do not have access to a lift.

[Chedley]

Thanks for the info.
I'll keep this thread in my bookmarks for the time when I'll have to do the guides (I just clocked 185K miles, with the original guides).

[JimLev]

(I just clocked 185K miles, with the original guides).

Tic tic tic.......boom.
If your going to keep the 540 you might want to do the guides when you have the time, not when they crap out and you don't have the time. Just a thought.

[Chedley]

Well, not to hijack this thread, but...….tic tic tic..? Alright.

However, the Boom can be significantly delayed by installing a longer spring and replacing the timing chain tensioner. You know, my 50 cents solution...!!
Also, there will be plenty of advance warnings before the actual Boom occurs: bits of broken guides plastic in the oil pan, more pronounced and longer clacking noise on cold startups,...Besides, I understand when the Boom occurs, you can just drive the car or have it towed back to your garage.

So yes I am definitely keeping the 540, but I am really not much concerned about an imminent Boom, yet

[scubajim20]

No mis-timing codes yet, but probably too soon to say for sure at only around 250 miles driven since completion.

Hardest part was mostly mental anxiety that increased exponentially with the amount of hours needed to reach joy after setting up the timing. Jesus bolt was the only heavy wrenching. I did need to go buy a new torque wrench (always happy to find excuses to buy new tools) because my go to 3/8" drive torque wrench only torques CW and the cam bolts are all CCW to tighten. As many others have said, degree of difficulty is pretty low. It is the sheer amount of steps and time that is grueling. Attention to detail and trying to be as mistake free as humanly possible is not as easy as it may seem.

Next time? Better organization of tools. Better pre-planning with parts ordering (FCP took over 2 weeks and I needed to make several more parts orders along the way). Clean as much as possible ahead of time. Make nice with the powder coat shop to have them dunk the timing covers when they do the valve covers (just clean the timing covers, not powder coat).

QuickJack was wonderful since I do not have access to a lift.

Did you replace all the timing chains as well? I have read a lot of threads and it doesn't appear to be necessary. Always looking for more stats.

[msvphoto]

Did you replace all the timing chains as well? I have read a lot of threads and it doesn't appear to be necessary. Always looking for more stats.

Only the big one. I had concerns because it had worn a small path in the aluminum on the U Guide (no plastic left on the U Guide whatsoever). Probably wasn't really necessary, but wasn't that expensive compared to the overall expense (which I still haven't tallied up but somewhere between $2200 and $2500 total I think).

[msvphoto]

Well, not to hijack this thread, but...….tic tic tic..? Alright.

However, the Boom can be significantly delayed by installing a longer spring and replacing the timing chain tensioner. You know, my 50 cents solution...!!
Also, there will be plenty of advance warnings before the actual Boom occurs: bits of broken guides plastic in the oil pan, more pronounced and longer clacking noise on cold startups,...Besides, I understand when the Boom occurs, you can just drive the car or have it towed back to your garage.

So yes I am definitely keeping the 540, but I am really not much concerned about an imminent Boom, yet

No, I suggest you heed JimLev's advice. My experience was more like an earthquake than a hurricane or tornado.

I thought there would be some warning as well. I was at just over 175k miles and had bought the car around 161k in late 2016. The car was a clean original one owner example that a friend's small dealership had. He gave me a screaming deal because it was leaking oil and had some deferred maintenance and he had done as much as he was willing to prep for sale. I installed a new timing chain tensioner pretty much right away after buying the car with the (false in hindsight) hope it would prolong the inevitable. Maybe it did, but I doubt it. I didn't have any symptoms, just thought it might be a good idea after reading some threads here.

I sorta knew the big one was coming so I stalled a bit on some things like valve cover and upper timing cover gaskets, etc. knowing sooner or later I would probably be faced with doing it all at once.

Early May it let go suddenly, no warning whatsoever. Drove to work that morning, a leisurely 7 mile drive that includes West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, no problems. Totally normal. Parked at work running fine. Got in the car at the end of the day and started it. Greeted with a SES light. Hmm...a little unusual, I'll just scan it when I get home...I thought. Running slightly rough and lumpy, but not horrible. Started driving home. The noises began to get worse on that 7 mile drive. By the time I got home it was full blown fail. Sounded terrible, misfiring like crazy, game over.

The timing sucked. Our daughter was getting married in 2 weeks in Portland, OR (thankfully we were flying and didn't have a road trip planned). We already have one too many car payments (I normally buy older cars and keep them running myself) for my wife's 2015 eGolf (thank goodness for it by the way!). Physically I was not, am not, doing great (spine issues). We desperately needed the car because it is the "range extender" for the eGolf. My "cockroach" Audi 4000 quattro is hardly ready for prime time road tripping (though it did get us to the airport for the wedding and became my daily while the 540iT was under the knife). The "garage queen" Audi Ur Quattro is even more worthless currently for prime time road tripping (and is now my current nightmare because it is not passing CA smog so I am enjoying some old school troubleshooting on an archaic CIS turbo engine). So, I was faced with the decision of do I sell the 540iT as-is and sell my Ur Quattro to raise funds to buy a car to replace the 540iT, or fix it. I decided to not even think about it until we got home from Portland in the third week of May. We had enough savings to cover parts cost with money that was earmarked to get a roller furling for our sailboat and I had my wife's blessing and encouragement to keep the wagon and fix it (it was her car first for a year before we bought the eGolf). So, we decided I would go for it and here we are today.

As the miles after resurrection increase and the memory of those countless hours fade a week later I am glad I did this job for a lot of reasons. Last night I looked for errors and all the analog value screens with INPA. Aside from the intermittent Aux Fan (which has been an issue for a while now) no errors. Analog values and roughness numbers were all perfect. The engine has adapted nicely and is running smoother and quieter than ever, like a new engine. I hadn't taken on any big repair jobs for a while and was not confident I could handle it physically. I was confident mentally as I had studied the job at length and have been working on cars for 40+ years, but wasn't sure about the physical side. Everything has worked out well so far and I have to admit the outcome was not only rewarding with the results (so far) it gave me renewed hope that I'll be able to keep working on my cars for a while yet to come. This project was more than just fixing a car, it sort of gave me a personal boost as well.

All that said, don't wait. Plan it ahead of time. The job can easily take 40-60 hours if there are a lot of "while you're there" things. I may be old and physically not what I once was, but I am not a slow mechanic. I normally am able to beat book time on cars I am comfortable working on (Audis for example which I have been working on for over 30 years now). Could I have trimmed this job from the 60 hours it took down to closer to 40 or 50 when I was younger? Sure. But, 40 or 50 hours is still a _huge_ project if you are working full time. Do it on your terms, don't let the car dictate when you take this on.