Well, replaced the knackered starter motor yesterday and today, I sorted the vanos and fitted the rattle kit. Feel absolutely knackered but pleased it is finally done. Took me 7 hours. I hit a snag which was a water hose that was blocking the vanos unit from coming out. Had to disconnect it to make room as well as loosen the cross member. Billy no mates so I had to lever the cross member and wriggle the vanos out on my own- not recommended. Anyway all done and all I need to do tomorrow is take the air out of my cooling system because I disconnected a water hose. Idle is much better, drives nicely but will stick to advice to be gentle for about 500 miles. On the last point, is it really that long? Last job to do this year is to replace my shocks, I have them already so just need to find the time.
Starter motor and vanos jobbie
- Thread starter Jamturbo
- Start date
Well done completing all that singlehandedly :happyclap: I probably drove the first 200 miles fairly carefully after I'd done my Vanos rebuild but have done approximately 2000 miles in total now of which the last 500 miles was a very 'brisk' weekend on a forum weekend in the Scottish Borders. It's well and truly bedded in now and has transformed the car totally. Wish I'd done it almost 6 years ago when I bought the car ! 
fernando306
Member
Congratulations my friend! I am really eager to do the VANOS, but I am really afraid to be unable to get the vanos out. There isn't much space between the vanos and the body of the car, so how the heck did you get that out without moving the engine? Can you please give me more details on that? Thank you sir.
Attleborough, Norfolk
Well done [ref]Jamturbo[/ref], and glad you didn't hit any issues like I had.
For [ref]fernando306[/ref], you can loosen the top crossmember bolts and lever it back slightly to wriggle it out.
But I did mine on my own and I discovered that, if you unbolt the right-hand side engine mount (the nut at the bottom, which you can reach through the suspension) then you can jack the engine up about 40-50mm which lifts the vanos enough to come out much more easily.
I did it this way because I was changing the water pump too, but I honestly think if I did another vanos, without a helper, I would jack the engine again.
I would also suggest checking the condition of the drive belts at the same time.
For what they cost, it's worth changing them while you're in there unless they look ok.
For [ref]fernando306[/ref], you can loosen the top crossmember bolts and lever it back slightly to wriggle it out.
But I did mine on my own and I discovered that, if you unbolt the right-hand side engine mount (the nut at the bottom, which you can reach through the suspension) then you can jack the engine up about 40-50mm which lifts the vanos enough to come out much more easily.
I did it this way because I was changing the water pump too, but I honestly think if I did another vanos, without a helper, I would jack the engine again.
I would also suggest checking the condition of the drive belts at the same time.
For what they cost, it's worth changing them while you're in there unless they look ok.
fernando306
Member
That sounds great enuff_zed, thank you. The first thing I'll do is jack the engine up, before I dare trying to remove the vanos. If it all goes well, then I'll pop the vanos out and to the jobbie.
I loosened the cross member, 3 bolts each side. I used a length of wood to bend back the cross member and I just about did it. I still don't know how I managed it. It is quite tough to flex that lump of metal and all advice to get a friend to help is highly merited. It was very frustrating to see that with design hindsight, a bit more room would have made a world of difference. I don't know if all the zeds are like this but there was a rigid water pipe in the way that was also blocking the vanos removal. In the end I disconnected it and naturally lost a lot of coolant. That said, it was a small price just to get the vanos out. I used the full X8R kit to sort the piston rattle and believe me, when they were first exposed, they wobbled very freely. I have just reached 50k miles on a 2005 car so I was fairly certain that the seals needed attention. Good luck with changing yours, you won't look back.
fernando306
Member
enuff_zed said:
My friend, today I changed my struts (that were GARBAGE), and looked into it.
How did you jack the engine up with the subframe reinforcement plate in the way? Did you remove it to clear access to the bottom of the engine? Where did you place the jack, on the oil pan?
The ONLY thing that scares me about the vanos job is that
fernando306 said:enuff_zed said:
My friend, today I changed my struts (that were GARBAGE), and looked into it.
How did you jack the engine up with the subframe reinforcement plate in the way? Did you remove it to clear access to the bottom of the engine? Where did you place the jack, on the oil pan?
The ONLY thing that scares me about the vanos job is that
Hi, I took the plastic tray off below the engine. I honestly cannot remember exactly which part of the engine I put the jack under, but I checked it was a solid bit and used a piece of wood to spread the load. It really does only have to lift a small distance.
If you are concerned you can simply lower the jack again while you refurbish the Vanos, then jack it up again to refit it.
fernando306
Member
Thank you sir!
I'm still not clear, however. With this reinforcement plate in the way, we could only hope to jack it from the small window that gives access to the oil pan bolt. Has anyone here ever removed this thing?
I'm still not clear, however. With this reinforcement plate in the way, we could only hope to jack it from the small window that gives access to the oil pan bolt. Has anyone here ever removed this thing?
You don't need to remove that bit. With the splash guard removed from under the front, you can get the jack under the front end of the engine, just behind the bottom pulley. This will be better as you are then tipping the front of the engine up and actually need less total movement.
fernando306
Member
Gotcha! I'll have another look, see if I can figure it out 
fernando306
Member
Guys, I did it too.
The other curved ball that I didn't see coming, was that I had to freaking drain the coolant to disconnect the lower radiator hose, in order to get the vanos out. Super frustrating. But the job is done. The head gasket was ridiculously hardned, by the way.
The other curved ball that I didn't see coming, was that I had to freaking drain the coolant to disconnect the lower radiator hose, in order to get the vanos out. Super frustrating. But the job is done. The head gasket was ridiculously hardned, by the way.
fernando306 said:Guys, I did it too.
The other curved ball that I didn't see coming, was that I had to freaking drain the coolant to disconnect the lower radiator hose, in order to get the vanos out. Super frustrating. But the job is done. The head gasket was ridiculously hardned, by the way.
Excellent news. Glad you got it sorted.
So satisfying to do these things yourself isn't it.
fernando306
Member
enuff_zed said:fernando306 said:Guys, I did it too.
The other curved ball that I didn't see coming, was that I had to freaking drain the coolant to disconnect the lower radiator hose, in order to get the vanos out. Super frustrating. But the job is done. The head gasket was ridiculously hardned, by the way.
Excellent news. Glad you got it sorted.
So satisfying to do these things yourself isn't it.
That's half of the reason for doing it, to scratch that itch and then beat on my chest LOL.
