Vanos Overhaul!

[mtrhed]

Just dropped the car off with "Kaiv" for a full Beisan treatment. Seals kit, Rattle kit along with S62 spring disks, and Beisan oil pump disk. New cam sprocket bolts, upper timing chain guide and a valve adjustment to top it off! Car just hit 105K and the 3k rattle was definitely getting a bit louder and I think I was losing a bit of low end torque. Very excited to have the Vanos "locked down" and not have to worry about it for a long while hopefully. As long as my Blackstone reports don't show any bearing metals I think I'll be OK! I'll report back post surgery performance......


Well, "Kaiv" didn't waist any time tearing into it! Found that Vnos unit had been leaking a bit(common he say's and unnoticeable from above). Also found upper timing chain guide still in one piece but pretty worn.







He also pulled, cleaned, and inspected the chain tensioner.



Pump disk looks to be in OK shape.



Beisan disk installed.



Nice and clean!



Seals coming out.



Vanos pistons out and ready for new seals.





Love the play-by-play with pics! So far no bad news. Knock on wood!

Vanos splined shafts disassembled for Rattle kit overhaul.











New cam bolts for both sprockets. Locktite!





S62 tension springs. Supposedly more robust.



New crush washers for everyone!



Uhhh..Ummmmm....Hows this go again?



Wow! All done with Vanos!



On to valve adjustment...



Reset Vanos adaptations



And.....that's all folks! I guess he finished up last night!!! I'll go pick the car up today, in San Diego, have a couple fish tacos, and hit the twisties on the way home!

[Nate4641]

Add image tags to the links so we can see them on here.

Sounds pretty good. Was this an expensive treatment?

[mtrhed]

Approx $500 or so in parts and "Kaivs" very reasonable labor charge(have to PM him for pricing). Kaiv is a gift to SoCals S54 powered cars! Well worth it to me for piece of mind.

[Finnegan]

Wow! Impressive! That ought to make a difference! :LOL:

I've said it before, but Kaiv has to have more top-end experience with the S54 than just about anyone. Constantly gets great reviews as well.

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Wow! Impressive! That ought to make a difference! :LOL:

I've said it before, but Kaiv has to have more top-end experience with the S54 than just about anyone. Constantly gets great reviews as well.

Hi Ron!

I hope it makes a noticeable difference! From what I've read most Vanos noise should be gone and I can concentrate on the rest of the song. Vanos should be more responsive as well. And yes, "Kaiv" has to be one of the top hands with this motor, valve train especially. It's like watching a surgeon at work!

[StickMon]

Nice work. That should last you another 100k.
I'm at 104K, and I just bought the timing chain guide, tensioner, seals, etc.
Plan to DIY along with a Dr. Vanos rebuilt soon.
It's gonna cost me a lot more than the Beisan kit, but less fuss, and I need a new pump disk, and I'd like a new solenoid pack and valve block.

Is that wear on the timing chain guide where it rests on the tensioner?

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Nice work. That should last you another 100k.
I'm at 104K, and I just bought the timing chain guide, tensioner, seals, etc.
Plan to DIY along with a Dr. Vanos rebuilt soon.
It's gonna cost me a lot more than the Beisan kit, but less fuss, and I need a new pump disk, and I'd like a new solenoid pack and valve block.

Is that wear on the timing chain guide where it rests on the tensioner?

Hi Stickmon!

Yep, I hope it lasts for a good while longer and performs better! I had planned on attempting to DIY this but "Kaiv" made me an offer I couldn't refuse the last time he was doing a valve adjustment on my car.

As far as the chain guide goes, that wear is from the tensioner and from the research I've done, usually where they break.

[XMetal]

Love the "play-by-play" pictures and Kevin's washing machine work bench We're lucky to have access to such resource...makes the joy of owning an S54 less "painful"!

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Love the "play-by-play" pictures and Kevin's washing machine work bench We're lucky to have access to such resource...makes the joy of owning an S54 less "painful"!

Roger that! Kaiv is the man! Great guy to deal with!

Just picked up the car and took the back roads home to Temecula. Vanos is all but silent. Car is MUCH smoother through all rpms(partly valve adjustment). Definitely regained some low end torque. Found myself one gear higher through familiar roads than of late. Supposedly gets better after a few hundred miles, per Beisan Systems notes, as the seals are broken in. All in all much more responsive.

Money well spent(not all that much). Very Happy with another great transaction with "Kaiv"

[tikamak]

I have done the same to my vanos, except i used the Dr. Vanos kit with the C300 hub which is way more expensive but does exactly the same thing, we have no Kaiv over here and i have no time, so ...

I have purchased the noise reduction kit as well

[Vanne]

Man, wish we had someone over here we could trust like that... :-(.

Looks bloody good mate :-)

[IN10SS]

Nice to hear of your great results. Or great to hear a little less noise. I'm dying get this done on my car. Does Kaiv have a twin somewhere in NC?

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by tikamak

I have done the same to my vanos, except i used the Dr. Vanos kit with the C300 hub which is way more expensive but does exactly the same thing, we have no Kaiv over here and i have no time, so ...

I have purchased the noise reduction kit as well

Nice! It's a good feeling having it taken care of. I almost went with the c300 hub but am hoping the modified oil pump disk is enough.

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by IN10SS

Nice to hear of your great results. Or great to hear a little less noise. I'm dying get this done on my car. Does Kaiv have a twin somewhere in NC?

Why thank you! Definitely worth it, especially at my higher mileage. Beisan Systems is located in Raleigh. They may have a recommendation? You never know!

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Man, wish we had someone over here we could trust like that... :-(.

Looks bloody good mate :-)

Yep he's a great guy and an invaluable resource! We definitely appreciate him! He does like to travel.....

[elerner61]

Can someone explain why replacing just the oil pump disk is reduces the risk of failure similar but not as effective as replacing the hub it would seem (e.g. with a C300). The tabs failing on the stock hub seems to point directly to a hub issue. I'd love to save money next year (and not replace my hub at my Inspection II)

[XMetal]

The problem appears to be too much slacks in the disk's hole that mates up to the hub tabs, causing the tabs to "hammer" at the disk. The Beisan pump disk simply have a set of re-drilled smaller holes that have less slacks, and therefore, less movement for the hub tabs...so less likely to fail due to the "hammering" force. That is the theory.

[Beedub]

id would use the modded hubs with those welded on tabs, those things look seriously beefy, i seem to remember it being mega bucks however.

[mgwatson48]

I wonder if there's any sort of balancing issues with those beefier hubs? You would think that adding a chunk of welded on material to a rotating mass would make some sort of difference, no?

[silverfishZ4M]

that timing chain guide scares me!

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by silverfishZ4M

that timing chain guide scares me!

Me too! I wasn't really all that worried about the Vanos(although I knew it could be made more quite and more reliable) but definitely worried about the chain guide. There's no getting around it wearing as the miles add up and if it breaks can cause some serious issues.

[mtrhed]

Originally Posted by elerner61

Can someone explain why replacing just the oil pump disk is reduces the risk of failure similar but not as effective as replacing the hub it would seem (e.g. with a C300). The tabs failing on the stock hub seems to point directly to a hub issue. I'd love to save money next year (and not replace my hub at my Inspection II)

I went on the assumption that my stock hub was still intact and that my stock pump disk wasn't all beat up from the hub. The Beisan pump disk is $300 with $150 of that being core charge. The c300 hub is $850!!! In my case my stock parts looked good with only minimal evidence of "hammering" damage from the hub tabs. I am totally convinced that it is the slop from the pump disk holes being too large that results in the hub tabs failing and am fairly confident that the stock hub and Beisan pump disk with the smaller holes will hold up better. I think either route(improved pump disk or hub) will hold up better in the long run than stock.