Quote:
Originally Posted by Molez93
At the risk of revealing my ignorance, if this were an emerging VANOS failure wouldn't I have at least one of the common codes or some performance (including noise) change? If I didn't see the fluid/gunk, I would have zero reason to think anything was in need of attention.
|
I would not say you have an emerging VANOS failure. At least nothing that you'd need to really worry about in the nearest future.
It's more like slow O-ring (between VANOS solenoid and the VANOS block itself) deterioration over time. I think those O-rings are made of the same quality rubber as the one in CPV (BUNA?) so it hardens and compresses over time due to high temperature.
Oil pressure is extremely high in those channels so oil starts "steaming" through and condensates on parts nearby. But VANOS still has enough room to adjust for pressure loss so you don't see any difference in driving dynamics and no code is thrown either.
I was in the same situation 20kmiles ago (at 48kmiles) and eventually rebuilt VANOS with the Beisan's kit. When I started driving the car for the first time after rebuild it really felt like double "sport mode" - throttle response became extremely aggressive and fun
Then I ran VANOS adaptation procedure a week later and it returned to normal but I immediately regretted it
PS: it still can be the chain tensioner gasket. Or even the front main seal (hopefully not!). So I'd check the area around with a mirror - especially near the VANOS solenoid block. Then wipe it clean as much as you can and check again in 200-500 miles.