M62 TU timing chains and Vanos rebuild

Nice offer!

In reality, the plan would be "don't touch timing". The locking tools will help keep the tension off at least, making it less likely to slip or come off, but in the event it does come off, you need to be prepared.

I'm surprised he didn't take rockers off... The rocker cover gaskets on mine have been done twice in the last 3 years so I'm sure they'll be good for a while longer, but in reality, best just doing it properly once rather than having to repeat it.

There appeal of not touching the timing or chain is very high.

I have completed the job. It was huge wrt the number of hours, and there were some tricky bits, but nothing impossible. I ended up with some new tools in the garage. :) A big thanks to FisherX for the loaner of timing tools. They will get back to you soon.

I decided to buy the Vanos rebuild orings kit and I had to wait FIFTY-SEVEN days for them to arrive, hence the huge delay in the job finalising. Rebuilding the Vanos' was not difficult. Made me feel fuzzy too, but compressing the press was hard work, and the vice and work bench were tested. I did replace the jesus bolt, and the front main seal, it was simple to remove the old one and drift the new one in carefully without the fancy seal removal tool.

All the old gaskets were solid and brittle. No wonder there were leaks. All the connectors and tubes and hoses survived the ordeal. The oil dipstick tube in a total PITA. I could NOT get to the bottom of it to check the oil seal and clamp, and I am worried about that bit. A very very neat trick to hold the new gaskets onto the cam covers while you lower them on at the end of the whole job is to zip tie them to the cam cover (about 25 of them) - then snip them off once they are in place - thanks for that tip.

I turned over the engine 50 times via starter with fuel relay removed and the battery fully charged on the previous day. Then it started up pretty much straight away when fuel relay reinstallled. It sounded tight and amazingly quiet. I took out 8 lifters and 0 of them squeezed like I had seen in some youtube videos. I couldnt afford to replace them all, and since I had had no lifter noise previously, I left them in.

Timing the engine is not that difficult, and there is plenty of DIY videos. Neither of my Vanos's would beep the closed circuit at full retard with the DMM like the video suggest, but the Besian Systems instructions said that wouldn't always occur. I was confident that I had full CCW retard on the cam so I went ahead anyway. GAS webpage instructions were great: Instructions for the G.A.S. Master Cam Timing Tools for the BMW M62-M62tu Engine | German Auto SolutionsGerman Auto Solutions. All the coolant hoses are easy to relocate, as are timing belts.

I have smooth running, no coolant or oil leaks, with no fault codes initially, but after 10 hours I got "Lambda control adaption faults" on both banks which have not returned since cleared. I suspect fuel map is changing and I should probably clear all the adaptations with new timing belts and new vanos's.

Overall I am very happy. There was very considerable relief when she fired up and ran smooth. I spent $1420 on parts (timing chain guide kit, and vanos rebuild kit), which included ~$200 in tools. Total hours on spanners 70. Research ~22hrs. Someone with more skills or more tools could probably half that. Will be testing it by towing the camper this weekend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenhendry

Well, I pulled some big hours this week because this weekend was elsewise busy, and I wanted to see the guts before I ordered parts. ~26hrs on spanners & ~15hrs of research (forum reading & youtube [I think it's sad that the Facebook 'pages' have stolen a lot of focus from the big forums like Aurlo, FFRR, LandyZone & RR.net]). I really think I could get away with just replacing the 3 guides, but given the effort to tear down, I will def do coolant pump, gaskets, chain, tensioner, etc.

I got stuck on several points:
- trying to get the RH cam cover off past the dipstick tube - it is hard to get to the bottom to unbolt it and I was scared to bend it
- trying to get the viscous fan nut off (need 32mm tool which were out of stock locally (I used a normal 32mm spanner and a big screwdriver to hold the hub))
- trying to get the lower timing cover off (there is TWENTY-ONE bolts on that thing (5 top, 5 left, 5 right hand side), and I could NOT find the last one)

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Congratulations... what a massive effort! Having to wait that long for the seals is crazy!! I bet it's quiet now!

Great effort Glen [thumbsupbig]

Laurie

I wonder if I should do this. It seems a relatively easy job.

EDIT: I just had a look at my L322. It looks a mongrel of a job. Even with a mirror, I'm not sure I found the tensioner! [bigsad]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktEctXhtufs

At 20:00 in this video one can see the timing chain tensioner being removed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGmni3iTkhk