Cracked Vanos Hub Cover

[Etansinsta]

Figured I would draw some attention to this issue as a preventative measure.

Recently the car requested an additional litre of oil and after adding some I decided to have a look into the motor through the fill cap. I immediately noticed a cracked plastic piece on the intake vanos hub/gear. If you want to check this yourself, you may have to turn the car on an off a few times for the vanos hub to spin fully to inspect the entirety of the plastic cover.

Essentially what happens is the plastic covers for the vanos hubs can come apart, whether it’s age or mileage related I’m not sure, and the plastic will be shredded by the vanos gears and returned to the oil pan.

Naturally, as the plastic pieces accumulate in the oil pan, the oil pickup begins to clog and starve the motor.

For those unfamiliar, there is an intake and exhaust/outlet vanos on each side of the motor. To inspect the drivers side bank, the valve cover must come off.

Based on my research, the covers are removable, but it is not advisable to drive without them as they aid in retaining the springs on the front of the vanos hubs.

There are a handful of threads on this forum that deal with this issue.

The covers are not available separately and the entire hub must be replaced once the cover shows signs of cracking or other damage. The parts are roughly $1000 USD each and the dealer charges 13 hours to install all 4.

With that being said, the 2 people I’ve talked to have indicated that the exhaust/outlet vanos hubs do not seem to suffer the same failure as the intake side, and as such, only 2 typically need to be replaced.

Some of the information provided by deansbimmer suggests used units only be sourced if you can confirm that the motor they are removed from did not incur a bearing failure, as the metal can enter the vanos hubs.

I’m sure I am forgetting some things but will update this accordingly.

The first photo is my personal vehicle, the second and third were sourced from a Facebook group.

[Green-Eggs]

Dinan will make replacements plates out of steel. Bert had them do it on his Flat Plane Crank motor. Call them, and call it a day.

[BPMSport]

Wow that looks terrible. I have a couple of these gears on my desk as paperweights, with the plastic covers. The covers seem cheap and flimsy.

[Etansinsta]

Originally Posted by Green-Eggs

Dinan will make replacements plates out of steel. Bert had them do it on his Flat Plane Crank motor. Call them, and call it a day.

interesting he kept the vanos as it was flat plane

For the time being im replacing them with low mileage units taken off of a stroker build, but interesting suggestion for future thought.

[Etansinsta]

Originally Posted by BPMSport

Wow that looks terrible. I have a couple of these gears on my desk as paperweights, with the plastic covers. The covers seem cheap and flimsy.

Want to sell them?

[Ajolives]

Good stuff. On a whim I went to check out mine and it looks like I'm part of the cool club.

[Green-Eggs]

Originally Posted by Etansinsta

interesting he kept the vanos as it was flat plane

For the time being im replacing them with low mileage units taken off of a stroker build, but interesting suggestion for future thought.

A lot of measurements must be taken on 292 cams in general, and the flat plane cams specifically because they have more lift than normal 292 cams. Once the measurements are done at the various opening and closing angles, then you know how much range you can allow in your VANOS. If you're range limited, then block-off's can be put in place to limit the range. I don't know if that had to be done, or not, on the flat plane engine. But yes, the flat plane engine will have VANOS.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Good stuff. On a whim I went to check out mine and it looks like I'm part of the cool club.

I'm gonna start reading up on this tonight to see if an avid DIY-er can tackle this. Going to cough up the $30 for the online TIS and download what I can. May even make sure my torque wrenches are still calibrated, get the necessary tools to remove, etc. This is in the deep end of my skill level but I figure it can't be too bad in my driveway if I take my time.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Etansinsta

Figured I would draw some attention to this issue as a preventative measure.

Recently the car requested an additional litre of oil and after adding some I decided to have a look into the motor through the fill cap. I immediately noticed a cracked plastic piece on the intake vanos hub/gear.

Essentially what happens is the plastic covers for the vanos hubs can come apart, whether it’s age or mileage related I’m not sure, and the plastic will be shredded by the vanos gears and returned to the oil pan.

Naturally, as the plastic pieces accumulate in the oil pan, the oil pickup begins to clog and starve the motor.

For those unfamiliar, there is an intake and exhaust/outlet vanos on each side of the motor. To inspect the drivers side bank, the valve cover must come off.

Based on my research, the covers are removable, but it is not advisable to drive without them as they aid in retaining the springs on the front of the vanos hubs.

There are a handful of threads on this forum that deal with this issue.

The covers are not available separately and the entire hub must be replaced once the cover shows signs of cracking or other damage. The parts are roughly $1000 USD each and the dealer charges 13 hours to install all 4.

With that being said, the 2 people I’ve talked to have indicated that the exhaust/outlet vanos hubs do not seem to suffer the same failure as the intake side, and as such, only 2 typically need to be replaced.

Some of the information provided by deansbimmer suggests used units only be sourced if you can confirm that the motor they are removed from did not incur a bearing failure, as the metal can enter the vanos hubs.

I’m sure I am forgetting some things but will update this accordingly.

The first photo is my personal vehicle, the second and third were sourced from a Facebook group.

Thanks a million for the post btw! Mine definitely would have went unnoticed without it!!

[Etansinsta]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Thanks a million for the post btw! Mine definitely would have went unnoticed without it!!

Happy to have potentially saved someone from a very costly repair!

I think the DIY is tedious, and you need the cam lock tool and s65 timing tool. Based on the costs of that alone in CAD$, it makes more sense for me to pay a shop!

Please keep us posted if you attempt the DIY!

[Vuu]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

I'm gonna start reading up on this tonight to see if an avid DIY-er can tackle this. Going to cough up the $30 for the online TIS and download what I can. May even make sure my torque wrenches are still calibrated, get the necessary tools to remove, etc. This is in the deep end of my skill level but I figure it can't be too bad in my driveway if I take my time.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Keep us updated. If you don't have to drive the car, then you have plenty of time to take it slow. I'm sure There's nothing too crazy about DIY'ing yourself.

Just make sure there's no reverse torques on any of the hardware.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Etansinsta

Happy to have potentially saved someone from a very costly repair!

I think the DIY is tedious, and you need the cam lock tool and s65 timing tool. Based on the costs of that alone in CAD$, it makes more sense for me to pay a shop!

Please keep us posted if you attempt the DIY!

I called my Indy and a couple other shops for quotes. Gonna do some light reading in the TIS tonight. My decision will be based off their quotes and the cost of doing it myself. NGL, I am a bit apprehensive but I bought this car to work on as a hobby so I asked for this, lol.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Vuu

Keep us updated. If you don't have to drive the car, then you have plenty of time to take it slow. I'm sure There's nothing too crazy about DIY'ing yourself.

Just make sure there's no reverse torques on any of the hardware.

I'm working from home til September so I got all of August. Thing is I don't know how long this has been broke; I've read that people say this is related to the startup clanking, which I've had for roughly 1 1/2 years now…so we'll see. I think Deansbimmer said the clanking had nothing to do with it and it's normal but I gotta go through the thread again. I will definitely be checking it after every. single. drive.

[Etansinsta]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

I'm working from home til September so I got all of August. Thing is I don't know how long this has been broke; I've read that people say this is related to the startup clanking, which I've had for roughly 1 1/2 years now…so we'll see. I think Deansbimmer said the clanking had nothing to do with it and it's normal but I gotta go through the thread again. I will definitely be checking it after every. single. drive.

I actually have elected to park the car until its dealt with. clogging the pickup doesnt seem like something im interested in experiencing lol

on the otherhand, i reckon if you drive it carefully, the crack will not get much bigger.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Etansinsta

I actually have elected to park the car until its dealt with. clogging the pickup doesnt seem like something im interested in experiencing lol

on the otherhand, i reckon if you drive it carefully, the crack will not get much bigger.

Oh yeah only when I have to. No more joy rides unfortunately; and that needle will be nowhere near redline til this is fixed. Grandpa driving mode activated.

You have a plan of attack yet?

[Etansinsta]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Oh yeah only when I have to. No more joy rides unfortunately; and that needle will be nowhere near redline til this is fixed. Grandpa driving mode activated.

You have a plan of attack yet?

I found a low mileage set - 40k kms - from a guy in lebanon that builds stroker motors, which he explained they remove the VANOS to do so so im not worried about bearing debris possibly being in the gears like a failed motor might have.

When they get here, the local shop has advised it will be 4.5 hours to replace the one cracked one.

Will also be having them replace the valve cover gasket on the drivers side at least, just so we can have a peek in bank 1 at the VANOS hub.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Etansinsta

I found a low mileage set - 40k kms - from a guy in lebanon that builds stroker motors, which he explained they remove the VANOS to do so so im not worried about bearing debris possibly being in the gears like a failed motor might have.

When they get here, the local shop has advised it will be 4.5 hours to replace the one cracked one.

Will also be having them replace the valve cover gasket on the drivers side at least, just so we can have a peek in bank 1 at the VANOS hub.

Oh nice, that's a bit reassuring knowing they were taken off for performance reasons. I'm still on the fence about getting a used piece, but something like that would put me at ease. Labor doesn't sound bad either.

If I go that route, mind if I PM you for the info of where you got your used gears?

[Etansinsta]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Oh nice, that's a bit reassuring knowing they were taken off for performance reasons. I'm still on the fence about getting a used piece, but something like that would put me at ease. Labor doesn't sound bad either.

If I go that route, mind if I PM you for the info of where you got your used gears?

100% shoot me a message.

I know mporium on eBay is clearing out a few sets. Presumably the man ado int against used ones from blown motors wouldn’t be selling gears from blown motors.

Worth reaching out to them at least to see what they have to say!

[jvictormp]

Is it possible to check oil pickup when changing oil, using a boroscope?

[remi34000]

I experienced the problem on my old engine. As I replaced my cover gaskets, I noticed that one of the plastic covers had turned slightly and had popped out of its slot. So I replaced the actuator. Do not drag the consequences can be serious

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by jvictormp

Is it possible to check oil pickup when changing oil, using a boroscope?

Thought about doing the same thing. If I end up doing it myself, which I'm leaning towards, I'll change the oil and do exactly that to make sure I'm not starving my engine.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Etansinsta

100% shoot me a message.

I know mporium on eBay is clearing out a few sets. Presumably the man ado int against used ones from blown motors wouldn’t be selling gears from blown motors.

Worth reaching out to them at least to see what they have to say!

Awesome, thanks!! Totally will shoot you a PM. Gonna reach out to a couple vendors today.