E70 N62 Rocker Arm Fallen
 

Been chasing a hesitation problem for the past 6 months. Multiple CAN faults and cel are present. Stealership replaced negative battery cable and ibs but no difference. Searched all over for a short but couldn't find any. Replaced alternator, pointless. Checked Vanos, all working. Replaced driver side Valvetronic actuator due to fluctuating ohms value on multimeter, wasn't the problem. Finally, what I hoped not to perform, replace eccentric shaft sensors. So today I removed the driver side valve cover and removed eccentric sensor. Nothing unusual, connector and beneath the square metal plate was free of oil. However, I discovered a fallen rocker arm. Now I'm quite confident that all along, this was the culprit! Now, how bad of a job would it be to reinstall the rocker piece?

Rocker arm (example part# 11337530979) or intermediate lever (example part# 11378645501)?

If it's the first, I would guess super easy if you have the right tool to compress the spring valve spring. Probably nearly impossible if you don't since you can't get it back on without releasing the tension. You can rent the AGA set for ~$200, maybe get a break from someone if they know you're not going to replace the seals an only need it for 10 minutes worth of work.

If it's the lever, you just need something to pry the retainer spring up enough to slip it back on and some gentle/careful hands.

The second part# is the piece that fell off.
Toothbrush, you rock man!

Actually, its the first part number 11337530979.

Well, that's a downer. Maybe somebody here knows of a way to set the rocker arm back on without an expensive tool set.

I would venture to say you should check around for damage to the rocker and the camshaft. I'm assuming it was partially attached, maybe still on the lifter (part #11337516948, called 'Alignment element' in RealOEM).
If it was just bouncing around completely free, then check everything very carefully.

This is the part that was bouncing around. Is this for sure not the part that could be easily put back into place by prying the retainer spring?

Yep, you can't just slip that one back on. That's definitely the the rocker arm/roller drag lever.

In the picture, the lower part with the opening is where the rocker sits on top of the lifter. You can see the little clip like pieces that help it sort of snap/clamp onto the top of the lifter. That part is easy to do with only your hands/fingers.

The upper part in the picture is where the rocker arm sits on top of the valve stem/valve spring. This is the part you can't put into place without compressing the valve spring. You need a tool for that, and some way to keep the valve stem from dropping into the cylinder (e.g. air compressor, rope, etc) while it's TDC.
Maybe call an indy and see how much they would charge just for that? May be cheap enough to have it towed, put the rocker back on, tow it back and then you button it all up - assuming you could find somebody to agree (shop liability/warranty policies may cause them to say no).

Thank you toothbrush, you know exactly what I'm looking for. I've seen a youtube video on replacing the stem seals, which doesn't seem too difficult of a job. I do plan on fixing this on my on own, by replacing the spring and the lifter only. And yes, what I don't understand is the part where I may need to compress the cylinder. Is this really necessary? I was thinking only to compress the spring, remove the valve keepers, and swap out the spring. Not that easy right? Guess I don't know enough about engines. But push comes to shove, I wouldn't mind adding a small air compressor to my collection of tools.

One more question toothbrush, from your experience, do you think that a fallen rocker arm is the result of a hesitation problem on my truck? I've checked pretty much everything, replaced negative cable and ibs, alternator, couldn't find a short anywhere, four working vanos solenoids, replaced driver side vvt actuator due to fluctuating ohm values on the multimeter (same side fallen rocker piece discovery), but not the problem either. Then after deciding to replace the eccentric sensors was when I discovered the fallen rocker arm. The eccentric sensor looks fine too, no oil on the connector. Sorry, I know I'm repeating this over again. So I'm thinking, it's got to be this fallen rocker piece because the faults from carly indicate a PT CAN and VVT CAN fault present. Clearing the faults will eliminate the problem but only for a short drive.

How does this just fall off ??

So e31bev = e70jane?

I have seen ONE other example of someone misapplying the valve stem retainer clip and having similar issues.

But parts just 'falling off' inside and engine??? Would really want to understand how.

+1 I know when I had an issue, it was definitely me that was the cause.

Not sure what you mean by compress the cylinder or why you need to replace the spring and lifter. Is there other missing or broken parts?

In order to put the rocker arm back on you would need to:

1. Ensure that cylinder is top dead center (TDC)
2. Keep that cylinder at TDC using air or rope or the method of your choosing
2a. Now that the valve stem can't fall down into the cylinder
3. Compress the Valve Spring down using something like AGA's N62 valve stem seal tool kit, just enough to give you room for step 4
4. Using only your hand/s, place Rocker Arm back on the lifter and valve stem correctly
5. Decompress the Valve Spring
6. Drink beer

This assumes nothing else is wrong with that engine and the parts involved are all in good shape.

I'm certainly no expert, but I would guess it's certainly related. Whatever caused the rocker arm to come off in the first place is probably the cause. ;)

Been doing some research and I now have a better understanding. Instead of the rope method that you've mentioned in order to keep the valve from dropping into the oil pan, you could also apply air pressure to the cylinder to keep the valve up and closed. In any case, I think I've discovered how the rocker arm fell off. It's because the hydraulic lifter is frozen or stuck. I can't even pull it out with my fingers. Therefore, this may have caused to rocker to dislocate itself and tossed out of it's seat. On the other hand, the valve spring seems fine as I don't notice any play or even a snapped coil or anything unusual. Although I do hear of springs weakening overtime, I'm going to bet against that due to such low mileage on the motor. So I will only replace the lifter and call it a day. Only thing I'm trying to figure out now is whether I need the cylinder at tdc to fit the rocker back into place. It looks like compressing the spring should give me enough clearance.



Thanks again everybody.

The lifter should slip right out with very little effort. If it's truly stuck, that could indicate other problems.

Perhaps others with more expertise can chime in with additional steps I'm sure you need to take.

Might be really helpful to know...

Was this X5 sitting somewhere for a loooonnng time without being driven?
What's the current condition of the oil?
What's the exact type of oil in it now?
What's the oil level?
How often has it been changed in distance (KM/Miles) and time (months)?
When it was running, did it make any loud ticking noise?

With a flat head screwdriver the lifter actually came out pretty easy. I ordered another OEM lifter for $15 so I'll replace it anyway. Now I'm going to again remove the valve spring to see if its broken and will go from there.