Scum class 318 + Mtech + vortech v2 + unicorns - vortech + Turrrrbo

[pandaboo911]

FWIW I've never been able to duplicate the image in the Bentley manual or TIS for the cam timing. I've always been off just a bit. I think there's some way to rotate it and check that you have full travel. It's fairly obvious when you don't. Have you tried the compressed air method to check travel? Or swapped in a known good solenoid?

Do you follow the Dr Vanos guide for the exhaust sprocket? Their procedure uses the arrow on the sprocket to get the initial position, threaded holes on the very left end of the slot.
I did verify full travel using the sprocket tool and made sure to catch the first tooth on the intake cam. I haven't checked with compressed air yet since I don't have the necessary adapter fitting, but I will try that next. I suspected the solenoid was an issue, so I got a used one from ebay, but I don't know if either of them are good. I've read they can look fine on a bench test, but fail to actuate the vanos spool valve when installed.

Do you happen to know where to get the banjo / milton quick connect fitting?
Edit: I found the fitting. it's BMW Ref# 113450, Vanos air connection fitting

Also the engine idle does not change when the vanos connector is disconnected. Seems like either something is funky with the m52 wiring harness adapter or the solenoid isn't actually working.

Not sure I have ever heard of it happening to m52's but my LS motor dealt with oil pressure issues and it was because I had a tiny nick in the oil pickup tube o ring might be something to check/replace

I'm thinking the same thing. I remember banging around on the dipstick tube when I last installed the oil pan so the gasket may have lifted or the pickup cracked.

[Northern]

still chasing this vanos issue. I'm getting a CEL and code for vanos mechanically stuck.

Check your cam sensor wiring under the boot at the connector. It'll throw this code if the insulation rots off and they ground out. The ECU gets gibberish for a cam signal and thinks the cam isn't advancing

[pandaboo911]

Check your cam sensor wiring under the boot at the connector. It'll throw this code if the insulation rots off and they ground out. The ECU gets gibberish for a cam signal and thinks the cam isn't advancing

I replaced the cam sensor with a genuine bmw sensor, cost me like $130 lol. Still getting the same thing.

[Northern]

Do you have a copy of INPA or any logger that spits out cam angle? You could 100% rule out a bad new sensor or upstream wiring issue that way.

[pandaboo911]

Do you have a copy of INPA or any logger that spits out cam angle? You could 100% rule out a bad new sensor or upstream wiring issue that way.

Yeah I have INPA and the last time I looked at it the cam angle was all wonky. It was going all over the place at idle. I'm not sure what angle or number to look for at idle though. Any idea what the expected behavior should be? Should the cam angle be stable at idle?
I recall it went to around 10 degrees on throttle but at idle would occasionally jump to 60 something and misfire.

I'll take another look once I get the new turbo oil drain and PCV system sorted out.

[Northern]

IIRC it should be around 20 with vanos off, 45 with vanos on. I think the numbers change a few degrees depending on which cam/engine variant, but the important thing is that the cam angle is steady at one value when vanos is off, and then ~25deg advanced when vanos is on.

[pandaboo911]

IIRC it should be around 20 with vanos off, 45 with vanos on. I think the numbers change a few degrees depending on which cam/engine variant, but the important thing is that the cam angle is steady at one value when vanos is off, and then ~25deg advanced when vanos is on.

Car is idling around 10-12 degrees advanced, but it jumps up when it misfires to 14-15. Sometimes hovers around 17 randomly for a minute before coming down to 10-12.
It rises to ~40 under throttle at low rpm, then back down to 10 under boost, which seems to be as expected.

The CEL for mechanically jammed hasn't come back, so that's good. There's still the constant misfire at idle though. The misfire goes away when the car is idling rich, which happens sometimes when stopping at a red light after driving. AFRs hover around 12-13 until coming back up to 14.5 and the misfire returns.

Maybe it's just a side effect of having a headgasket spacer? Jordan from RK tunes told me to open up the spark plug gap

So far I've replaced spark plugs, spark plug boots, coil packs, cam sensor, vanos solenoid, new o2 sensor, and re-timed the engine. :(

[pandaboo911]

I did another track day at thunderhill west and managed a 1:27.That's on 4 year old Hankook RS3s so there's definitely more in it, I think it could manage a 1:21 and 1:22 with the right setup changes.

I'm pleased to say this time it went much more smoothly. The coolant temps stayed right at 200-210 and oil temps 220-240. Last time out cooland would creep up to 240-250 after 2-3 laps and oil was solid at 260. Coolant temps measured at the head. Must've been the timing.Towards the end of the day boost was creeping up to 11-12 instead of the 8psi it was supposed to be set to. Seems like there's something broken with the boost controller.

I definitely need to add more front camber and do something about the understeer. Also the car has bad oversteer on corner entry, and the brakes are bad all around. The jetta brake booster doesn't provide nearly enough assist, Im having to really put weight into the pedal to get the car to slow down, even with Hawk HT-10 pads, which are pretty aggressive pads.

I'm pretty bad about updating this thread even though there's a lot going on. I blame the tapatalk app being trash now and this dumb forum update.

Here's some pics of new axle going in. Still need to do the other side, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.



New vs old



It was a bitch to get out the old one. It had totally seized and a 5lb sledge didn't even touch it. Ended up using a big 3 jaw puller to press it out.







Had a small fire under the turbo. I installed some DEI fire sleeve around the turbo drain to keep it from melting again. Unfortunately the tape it comes with is flammable, so that burned off quick. Luckily I had a fire extinguisher handy.



You can see the paint has been thoroughly roasted.



Here's a short track session. Not going for laptimes here, just having fun.

[pandaboo911]

So last trackday my turbo melted a bunch of stuff in the engine bay again.

✔ Valve cover melted
✔ Ignition harness melted
✔ Strut tower melted
✔ Wastegate pressure lines melted



I replaced all that shit, and covered most of it with heat wrap or heat shielding like dis



and dis



then I did a thing





I replaced the crappy camber plates and rear strut mounts.

I decided on GC front and rear because they seemed to have the best design. Vorshlag looked like a good design as well but the weight of the car was supported by the spherical bearing.
The GC plates have a needle bearing and the weight of the car is supported by the aluminum plate, not the spherical bearing, which I though was better. The rear strut mounts were a bit dissapointing tho.

I have extended rear strut mounts on my miata as well and they add a lot of rear bump travel. These GC mounts don't allow the shock to travel inside the mount, and the bump stops dont fit properly, so instead of gaining 2 inches of bump travel I gained maybe 1cm. at the cost of 2 inches of droop.

The main reason I wanted extended rear mounts was so I wouldn't need suspension limit straps.


Anyway pics



nifty conical bearing surface on the GC plates allowing the plates to pivot relative to the shock shaft.



They also added an o-ring in there to keep shit out of the needle bearing. My old IE plates didn't have this and the needle bearings were absolutely fucked from water and dirt ingress. A bit off that the front plate is so well executed but the rear is useless.



old plates on the right. They had no bearing, so springs were binding up causing steering to pull to either side. If anyone wants these for their shitty drift car hit me up. $20 takes em






I've been real bored during this COVID-19 shit. Don't really have anything to do for work.
I took a seat out of my e30 and built an office chair out of it to lounge around at home.



Don't have pics of the process but its just a basic frame made up of 1" square tube stock and some thick 90 degree angled steel.
I got the seat base from an old broken chair.



It sits a little too high so rev2 will do away with the 1" tube stock and I'll try to find a shorter seat base.


I also started building a diff. I scored a z3 motorsport diff at the junkyard some time ago and it's been sitting around. I took it apart and replaced the cluthces. It's got 4 clutches and 4 dog ear plates stock!

It's also has assymetrical ramps. 40% acceleration and 25% deceleration.





The clutches that came out were in pretty good shape, so I'll take 3 of them and throw them in my 635 diff.