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M3AN

e36 M3 Evo VANOS Home Job

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It builds up really quixk

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Post video of first crank - no edits!

I'll take the video, whether I post it may depend on how successful I am lol.

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Happy to announce that I just got back from a short test drive, everything seems fine, first crank video (with minor fright) to follow this evening.

Quietest I've ever heard the engine run, hot or cold and my idle has dropped back to 650 rather than 800 which is encouraging.

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did you rev it all the way and does the Vanos ECU change the cam timing at the right times?

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did you rev it all the way and does the Vanos ECU change the cam timing at the right times?

Have not revved it all the way yet, most people say to keep it below about 3500 for the first 500 km's... I'll try and rack that up in the coming days then give it a real blast. This VANOS is infinitely variable so I'm not sure if I'd expect to feel it "kick in" like a V-TEC engine though would I? I never really did before.

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So here are the promised videos... I need to apologise for the size, I just left my camera on defaults and it took full HD video... note that the recorded sound is very "tinny" whereas in real life it sounds much less horrible (deeper).

Initial crank (350 MB): QuickTime MOV - you'll hear the horrible startup noise (which as per nastnas' post didn't last long) and you'll also see why I shut it down pretty quickly!

 

The smoke was caused by degreaser/brake cleaner on the exhaust manifold. I didn't think it would get so hot so fast! Either way it scared the sh*t out of me!

Mild rev (85 MB): QuickTime MOV - this is just a sample of me giving it a little rev (up to 3000), the sound recording from my pocket cam isn't great but at least it didn't sound like it was going to explode.

Edited by M3AN

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Sweet - no adult nappies required! Maybe just a little squeaky moment at the start :lol:

Then the sudden clench at the sight of smoke :P

Awesome - glad it's turned out well.

I've had that sinking "getting in over my head" feeling before, and the releif when you get out the other side is so immense!

Well done B)

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Sweet - no adult nappies required! Maybe just a little squeaky moment at the start :lol:

Then the sudden clench at the sight of smoke :P

Awesome - glad it's turned out well.

I've had that sinking "getting in over my head" feeling before, and the releif when you get out the other side is so immense!

Well done B)

Your post hits the nail on the head perfectly. Exactly how I felt along the way.

Cheers too. :)

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Good work son! Glad you made it through the other side successfully!

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Awesome work bro :) good on you for persisting - i'm looking forward to hearing what kind of difference you might notice.

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Good stuff! Look forward to seeing the car again!

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Cheers folks. :)

100km Update

Well I'm very, very happy I've done this and there are no obvious leaks or crazy noises after 100km which is good. I am keeping an eye on the discussion in Mark's thread here about the alignment of the shafts before I get too excited. Either way if I am off it's only by a fraction and something I can deal with a little later. NB: Mark (SweetM3) just came around and heard the engine running, he reckons there's nothing wrong with how it sounds. I suspect I'm being paranoid.

The Good

  • Peace of mind now that I've done it. Assuming I've built it correctly the VANOS is now bulletproof. Viton and Teflon seals, S62 diaphragms and S54 oil pump retaining bits. Since my solenoids are also sealed in they're unlikely to move/leak either.
  • Here's what came out of my VANOS (some of the 'bad' ones were cut for removal) so the job needed to be done:

VANOS%20Old%20Parts.JPG

  • It runs very, very quite now, especially when warm, There's no ticking or rattling at all and it's almost scary because you can hear all of the other sounds the engine is making. I didn't think it would make such a difference to the noise.
  • In my limited testing so far everything is running smooth (*see below).
  • I enjoyed most of the experience, learned a lot and met some great people.
  • Mark spotted my weak oil pump retaining ring and I got upgraded parts for that too, something to look out for on early S50B32 engines.

The Bad

  • It took a LOT longer than expected because of the saga recorded in this thread.
  • The rattle kit procedure makes the job about 1000% more complicated. I'm glad I did it but you need to factor in the exponential increase in complexity.
  • * I'm constantly doubting whether I got it all lined up and correct and I probably worry too much about things I needn't to. I am interested in the discussion in Mark's thread and hope I don't need to do any more work on it.

The Ugly

  • Damn chain tensioner! :)
  • Lining up the exhaust cam sprocket and hub with the cam sensor impeller was a royal pain in the arse. I must have been doing it wrong because it took hours and I couldn't find anybody else who had experienced the same drama. Because resetting this requires the removal of the chain from the intake sprocket and therefore the tensioner and other stuff it's quite the procedure to adjust, reinstall everything and measure... only to find you need to disassemble everything because it's 1mm out... ? Only required if you're doing the rattle procedure.
  • Damn chain tensioner! :)
Edited by M3AN

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500/700 km Update

I headed to Taupo last week (SH2, 27, 1) and racked up the final break-in miles. I hit 500 km's heading back north at the Orakei Korako turn off. From there I was heading to Hamilton for a night before cruising up to Auckland (SH1 all the way, yuck!).

As advised I kept the revs low (ish) for the first 500 and everything seemed okay. I regularly checked for oil leaks or signs of concern but there were none. After clicking over 500 I made sure I used every opportunity to run it hard and it performed flawlessly*. I've now done over 700 km's since restoring the VANOS, including some very spirited driving and it's all good*.

 

* I still do have a fractionally rough idle and minor hesitation occasionally under mild acceleration but this was a pre-existing condition that I hope is a vacuum leak (to be tested tomorrow).

 

 

I'm heading up to the Bay of Islands for a dive or two (or more) this weekend (well Thursday through Tuesday :)) and am going to replace the oil and filter before that with the Castrol 10/60 that seems to be in vogue. It will be interesting to see if that makes any difference.

 

I am still very happy with how quite the engine runs, all those rattles and ticks are gone very shortly after the engine starts to warm up. Got to be a good sign right?

Taupo01.JPG

Edited by M3AN

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Good to hear it had made a difference and a worth while effort. Does it's pickup feel any different through the rev range? Mines quite flat until about 3k then takes off and wondering if this is a vanos issue or just cause of the cams and me being used to the 328s low rpm pickup.

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Good to hear it had made a difference and a worth while effort. Does it's pickup feel any different through the rev range? Mines quite flat until about 3k then takes off and wondering if this is a vanos issue or just cause of the cams and me being used to the 328s low rpm pickup.

Honestly I can't feel any difference in power delivery. I wanted to feel some extra ponies but can't claim to.

I'll get it on a dyno once I've sorted the hesitation and compare to Mark's (SweetM3) results in his thread. That will be a good baseline.

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Ahh right. Need to do a pre and post vanos fix dyno run on mine too. Least that way I can hope to see a difference

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Nice work man ... While my motor is still only about 40,000ks I did buy a repair kit and will look into this in a another year or so no doubt.

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Josh/Everyone

If your solenoids aren't glued in like Dave's, change to high tensile exhaust/inlet solenoid covers bolts,

for less than $10.00 that's what I paid at the Bolt Shop Archers Rd and a 10min job.

Read my thread if I had been on the track or Motorway when mine sheared it would/could have cost me my engine

ps Dave I think you should still do yours

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Josh/Everyone

If your solenoids aren't glued in like Dave's, change to high tensile exhaust/inlet solenoid covers bolts,

for less than $10.00 that's what I paid at the Bolt Shop Archers Rd and a 10min job.

Read my thread if I had been on the track or Motorway when mine sheared it would/could have cost me my engine

ps Dave I think you should still do yours

You're certainly correct for the others and probably also correct for me too Mark!

Plus the new bolts are shiny... :) I just can't remember all of the sizes and only want to swap mine out one-by-one so I need somebody else to buy them and tell me what to get... :)

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OK just realized I haven't thrown out my old ones.

My digital vernier caliper is broken so tomorrow I'll take a drive up to the Bolt Shop and get the sizes and thread type then post.

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OK just realized I haven't thrown out my old ones.

My digital vernier caliper is broken so tomorrow I'll take a drive up to the Bolt Shop and get the sizes and thread type then post.

Nice one.

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OK guys

14 X M5

3 X M6

plus washers,

there is a shortage of the M5's with a 10-12 wk delivery time :(

post-2197-0-47624000-1393456983_thumb.jp

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Josh/Everyone

If your solenoids aren't glued in like Dave's, change to high tensile exhaust/inlet solenoid covers bolts,

for less than $10.00 that's what I paid at the Bolt Shop Archers Rd and a 10min job.

Read my thread if I had been on the track or Motorway when mine sheared it would/could have cost me my engine

ps Dave I think you should still do yours

Cool will look into it. Thanks for the heads up.

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