Replacing VANOS solenoid valves woke up my N62!

[andrewwynn]

Vanos controls the difference between intake and exhaust camshafts. The exhaust camshafts are locked in phase with the crank shaft but the intake camshafts will vary to change how long they are open and when they open. On the N62 in addition there is an additional set of hardware that amazingly also changes how FAR they open!

The solinoids control the vanos and if it's sticky it will most certainly affect throttle performance at any position. It's about 30 hours less work to change the solinoids vs refresh the vanos seals so very good news for you.

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Vanos controls the difference between intake and exhaust camshafts. The exhaust camshafts are locked in phase with the crank shaft but the intake camshafts will vary to change how long they are open and when they open. On the N62 in addition there is an additional set of hardware that amazingly also changes how FAR they open!

The solinoids control the vanos and if it's sticky it will most certainly affect throttle performance at any position. It's about 30 hours less work to change the solinoids vs refresh the vanos seals so very good news for you.

On my M54 with Double VANOS, the exhaust camshaft does get adjusted relative to the crankshaft. It was the single VANOS that only adjusted the intake camshaft. And with double VANOS, it can be continously adjusted. Pretty cool. Amazing, actually.

I just rebuilt (seals and rattle rings) the double VANOS on my '01 3.0i. I did not touch the solenoids, not even to replace the o-rings that were supplied in the Victor Reinz head gasket kit, figuring they were easily accessible if they were to ever cause a problem, and I thought there was a chance I might actually create a leak by touching it.

As you say, though, replacing the internal VANOS seals and rattle rings is usually a much deeper dive. But in my case, it was easy since I had the head off already.

[fishhouse4]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

The solinoids control the vanos and if it's sticky it will most certainly affect throttle performance at any position. It's about 30 hours less work to change the solinoids vs refresh the vanos seals so very good news for you.

School me...how does the solenoid work exactly? Guessing it gets input from the wiring harness on the front (the part that sticks out)...but oil runs through the other end that is inside? For what purpose...like what does the solenoid do specifically to make all this fancy VVT function.

[dadysev]

Originally Posted by fishhouse4

School me...how does the solenoid work exactly? Guessing it gets input from the wiring harness on the front (the part that sticks out)...but oil runs through the other end that is inside? For what purpose...like what does the solenoid do specifically to make all this fancy VVT function.

I'll try to attach the N62 Pdf.
Basically the the Vanos solenoids open up in a chamber in the head, one for exhaust, and one for intake, based on when the DME (engine computer) need to the timing of the cams to advance or retard for more power and smoother operation through the whole power band (in a nutshell). lol

Now if the seals are bad or leaking the full oil pressure will not make it up to the vanos cam units to advance or retard the timing, resulting in power loss, and other things.

Here's a good PDF that explains the operations :

http://www.internetsomething.com/lpg...2%20Engine.pdf