New update on progress, interesting stuff to report on the engine...

My biggest concern was the engine Vanos Code 34 and misfire, which has gotten progressively worse to the point the car feels like it's in limp mode. I took the top end of bank 2 apart to check timing and adjust. I got in there with my timing tools and found that the cams were perfectly aligned at #1 TDC, but the timing wheel trigger was off by a couple degrees. I loosened the VANOS nut and bolt just to make sure that I had turned the vanos counterclockwise as far as possible, and found that it moved just a degree or so as well. So I did the continuity test successfully (which had failed during original assembly - I assumed due to tight new VANOS seals), so that was reassuring. I then used my timing tool to set the trigger wheel and reinstalled the upper timing cover.

Interestingly, the alignment hole in the trigger was still a couple degrees retarded from the 5mm hole in the timing cover, placing the wheel in the same place as before. I took a risk and lined up the wheel with the hole in the cover and put everything back together. At the end of the day this tells me that my timing tool was defective! (bought on eBay- OEM style replicas from China)

The car started and ran smooth with no check engine light until I drove it. Before, the VANOS code would come on every time within 10 seconds of startup as the ECU went through it's initial VANOS tests. So, I was pretty discouraged as I pulled out of the driveway and the light came on after 50 feet. I reset the light and cleared the DME adaptations, tried again. The light came on again after 50 feet! Reset again, thinking it was bleeding the air out of the system or something. The light has stayed out now after a neighborhood drive (even when misfiring), so I'm crossing my fingers!






I also installed a new coolant reservoir just to be on the safe side. I think I'm going to replace all the hoses and sensors as well. I want to start fresh.


Now... I don't think the Vanos code and the misfire are related though. It only misfires when its warmed up a bit... I hooked up my Scanner and looked at the live data graphs, and noticed that now the cam sensors are both reading 0* cam angle (usually varies within .3* of each other or so), but the bank 2 cam will still show sporadic angles far away from what the bank 1 cam is doing- which is solid as an oak. All I can figure is that the #2 cam is being adjusted to try and smooth the idle on that bank, so until I fix the misfire I need to chill out on the worry.

I looked again at live data, this time at cylinder "smooth running value" for all 8 cylinders. Every cylinder but #7 had relatively consistent 0.0 values, where #7 was around 6.5-7.0 pretty consistently, showing that there was a misfire isolated in that cylinder. I checked fuel pressure at the rail, which was at 50 psi, checked the MAF, no air or vacuum leaks either... Pulled the plugs which all looked good and consistent, but I swapped coil 7 to #6, and noticed that the misfire followed to the 6th cylinder according to live data. I moved it again to #5, and it followed again, so I've ordered new coils for the 2nd bank. Interestingly, the PO had installed new coils into bank 1 already... Now we wait..


I moved on to the driveshaft task, which I had ordered previously. I got one of the 1/2" longer shafts off of the seller in Russia. It's a quality piece it seems, and was a bargain compare to others. It wasn't terribly difficult to install. I blew out the rust cloud from the transfer case splines lightly lubed them, and slid (read: beat) the new shaft in as far back as it would go, which was all I could do to get it to clear the front diff. After that it was easy...





Look at the carnage. Maybe not as bad as some on the forums, but it would "DING" like a bell pretty bad every time I put the car in gear. Not anymore! Nice and tight...




NEXT.... The PO hadn't fixed any of the windows when their regulators broke, even worse, when they failed he just went in with tape and a 2x4 to hold up the windows. He broke all the tabs on the door card, tore out the insulation, lost most of the glass hardware and basically was a bull in a china shop. I ordered up all I needed to restore the door to like new. I repaired the door card and installed new clips in it, along with new regulator clips, glass hardware, and insulation. Good as new finally!

These were broken.... Got new ones.








And lastly for the day.... I ordered and installed some new Thule roof bars so I can use the roof when needed. These Thule Aero-Blades are fantastic BTW...