E39 1997 ticking (not valves)

[Jelle]

Hi all,

I am new here and desperate! I have a 1997 E39 523i 2.5 which I do believe is on it's last legs but I'm hoping to stretch it a bit further before I can get the E60 I really want. Some days a go the top water hose got too close to the power steering fluid tank and a hole was burned. Water got everywhere in the engine bay. Cleaned it up and got it running (this thing is a pain to get heating working in), only a few days later another waterhose broke, this time under the induction. I got it replaced and the cooling system is now running just fine.

However I noticed I lost a lot of power, especially when under 2500rpm. I need to give it full throttle to follow traffic, even in first. When it hits around 5200rpm the engine starts to stall, if I'm in 5th going 200km/h I cannot get over that speed at all, it feels like rpm limiter just more violent, it can only go over 5200rpm if it's going downhill, I don't know if the ignition turns off or what happens. When giving it full throttle at under 2500rpm the whole car feels like it gets 500kg heavier, and you can feel it's not running clean, it's like it only ignites every second time on each cylinder, it is very hard to explain.
From 3500 to 5000rpm everything seems to be normal, a little slow but the engine is going clean, and maybe I'm too paranoid and the power might be alright as well.
When having the car in neutral (manual gear) and getting to engine to rpm limiter it doesn't quite get there. It will get stuck at just over 6000rpm and sound like a 2-stroke engine getting way too much fuel.

Also, as the title says, I have a ticking noise, but it is not coming from the valves, it is coming from under the induction somewhere, it can sound like valve ticking, but it is very clearly not coming from the valves, but on the induction side, and under the manifold.
I am very sure that this ticking noise is what's cause the power problem, as the power problem and ticking noise both started at the same time, when the second waterhose broke, which is also the hose under the manifold. Again I had water everywhere so maybe some water got in where it shouldn't have.

I have a Delphi tester, it usually tells me if it's crackshaft sensor (I change it every 6 months, biiiig problem) but the tester says nothing is wrong with the engine, only the airbag (I said it's on it's last stretch).

Does anyone here know what this might be? I'd really like it fixed as the engine is using way more fuel than needed, as I am using full throttle very often just to follow traffic, getting more expensive than it needs to be.

Thank you for reading!

[tommramon]

Hi all,

I am new here and desperate! I have a 1997 E39 523i 2.5 which I do believe is on it's last legs but I'm hoping to stretch it a bit further before I can get the E60 I really want. Some days a go the top water hose got too close to the power steering fluid tank and a hole was burned. Water got everywhere in the engine bay. Cleaned it up and got it running (this thing is a pain to get heating working in), only a few days later another waterhose broke, this time under the induction. I got it replaced and the cooling system is now running just fine.

However I noticed I lost a lot of power, especially when under 2500rpm. I need to give it full throttle to follow traffic, even in first. When it hits around 5200rpm the engine starts to stall, if I'm in 5th going 200km/h I cannot get over that speed at all, it feels like rpm limiter just more violent, it can only go over 5200rpm if it's going downhill, I don't know if the ignition turns off or what happens. When giving it full throttle at under 2500rpm the whole car feels like it gets 500kg heavier, and you can feel it's not running clean, it's like it only ignites every second time on each cylinder, it is very hard to explain.
From 3500 to 5000rpm everything seems to be normal, a little slow but the engine is going clean, and maybe I'm too paranoid and the power might be alright as well.
When having the car in neutral (manual gear) and getting to engine to rpm limiter it doesn't quite get there. It will get stuck at just over 6000rpm and sound like a 2-stroke engine getting way too much fuel.

Also, as the title says, I have a ticking noise, but it is not coming from the valves, it is coming from under the induction somewhere, it can sound like valve ticking, but it is very clearly not coming from the valves, but on the induction side, and under the manifold.
I am very sure that this ticking noise is what's cause the power problem, as the power problem and ticking noise both started at the same time, when the second waterhose broke, which is also the hose under the manifold. Again I had water everywhere so maybe some water got in where it shouldn't have.

I have a Delphi tester, it usually tells me if it's crackshaft sensor (I change it every 6 months, biiiig problem) but the tester says nothing is wrong with the engine, only the airbag (I said it's on it's last stretch).

Does anyone here know what this might be? I'd really like it fixed as the engine is using way more fuel than needed, as I am using full throttle very often just to follow traffic, getting more expensive than it needs to be.

Thank you for reading!

The first thing I would try is to disconnect the MAF and see see if the stalling still occurs, if it runs without stalling then I would clean the MAF with an aerosol solvent like brake cleaner or "special " MAF cleaner, I use brake cleaner every year or so. I have replaced my crankshaft sensor once in 6 years, you may have a faulty code reader I would think. GLWTP.

[Jelle]

So my computer broke down, and my laptop, and my phone, so I needed to fix some things before I was able to look at the car again. I have a backup car that ran fine.

But I felt like I should be coming back to say what the actual problem was, because I just got it fixed.

After a while my delphi tester told me VANOS; Mechanical fault and speeder potentiometer. I was scared I had to replace the engine when VANOS didn't work, but I took it calm, I got a new camshaft sensor, and suddenly no ticking, engine runs smooth, easy to start, and it runs good all the way up to the rev limiter. The speeder fault also didn't return after that.
It's weird how a little sensor can throw off a potentiometer fault but hey, it's fixed now with a new sensor.

So in case someone finds this and needs it, that could be worth a try.

[MarcoZandrini]

Never clean the MAF with any th it CRC MAF Cleaner. Period.