E36 engine questions...any idea?

[p993tts]

I have a friend with a E36 that described this problem to me.

If he keeps his engine at over 4K rpm for over 5 minutes (he rallies with his M3), he starts hearing noises from his valves. The noise won't go away even if he changes gear, or restarts his car.

He can make the noise go away by driving at below 3K rpm in 3rd gear.

No performance lost and temp is normal.

Any ideas?

PS, when I drive with him on dirt, I go between 2nd and 3rd because I am not as condifent in my drifting techniques. My car does not have the problem.

[Gofast]

What kind of noise?
off the bat, I'd guess something in the vanos is just wearing out.

[p993tts]

it is a faint clicking noise. intervals of the noise increase as RPM increase.

I don't think the E36 engine has the vanos. Isn't that on the E46 only?

[TINIK]

1993+ all 6 cyl BMW have Vanos

[Gofast]

Originally posted by p993tts
it is a faint clicking noise. intervals of the noise increase as RPM increase.

Yeah, without actually seeing the car, I'd bet dollars to donuts it's the vanos unit.

[NOC]

Yep, I would also say it's the Vanos...

[bignate]

will VANOS failure throw up a fault code or check engine light?

if VANOS is working, but not correctly, as in this case, if the VANOS is the culprit, would it throw a fault code or check engine light?



nate

[p993tts]

thanks for all the input everyone. Just to answer bignate's question, no warning lights came on.

[Gofast]

Originally posted by bignate
will VANOS failure throw up a fault code or check engine light?

if VANOS is working, but not correctly, as in this case, if the VANOS is the culprit, would it throw a fault code or check engine light?



nate

No, he shouldn't get a warning light. As in this case, there might not even be a noticable performance loss. Just a bit of extra noise. Might put up a fault code, I'm not sure about that.

[p993tts]

how can that be fixed? hopefully, it is not an expensive trip to the dealer...

[Gofast]

Originally posted by p993tts
how can that be fixed? hopefully, it is not an expensive trip to the dealer...

Unfortunately, this is a relatively involved job, and one that could be pricey for a mechanic to fix. On the bright side, it's honestly probably not hurting anything as it is, so you can run with it if you can stand the annoyance.

[p993tts]

the M3 forum suggested oil viscosity and oil level...???? any truth to that?

[Gofast]

Maybe...I'm no master mechanic.
But I dunno. There might be some truth to it, but if he's running a fairly mid-weight synthetic, there should be no problems. Again, I'd guess the Vanos is just getting a bit old and starting to make some noise.

[pete]

if the oil is too thin the hydrualic valve lifters can collapse making that noise... this would be why it happens more after a while of high rpm...


nice cars btw we have a couple of carrera cups that we PCA race and some vintage 911 S's

[djkiko]

That is a amazing garage p933tts!