207 Vanos Solenoid Leaking Oil

[scoey1001]

Hi all,

Have a 2008 207 1.4 vti (EP3 Prince engine that's also in some Mini's and has notorious timing issues).

Car was cranking but not starting, tried jump start, beep test to make sure it was reading the key (it is) and getting fuel to the engine (yes). So i got the AA out and he said i had flooded the engine trying to get it going, he managed to get it going by removing the fuel pump fuse and jumping it, burnt off excess fuel etc. and it threw it 3 codes relating to both inlet and exhaust camshaft sensors. We couldn't understand how both would fail suddenly so after a bit of investigation checking sensors i found that oil had leaked into the connector part of the vanos solenoid.

Theory is that the solenoid failed and has then in turn let oil into the connector part, hence ECU not getting the correct signals re: timing which in turn has caused engine not to fire and thrown the camshaft sensor faults.

Another thing to note is the car has been using lots of oil in the last year 1tr every 500 miles which is twice what it should be on this engine. This i have never been able to get to the bottom of.

Is there anyone with knowledge of this engine who can comment on whether the above suspicion is likely to be correct (solenoid failure causing non start) or could there be an underlying problem which has caused it to fail. Btw it has had a new timing chain, dephaser pulleys and solenoid approx 20k miles ago so fairly recent.

Edited by scoey1001 on Monday 11th February 10:32

Edited by scoey1001 on Monday 11th February 10:48

[E-bmw]

Under normal circumstances oil is actually quite a good insulator so not sure how that would cause the issue.

[GreenV8S]

E-bmw said:

Under normal circumstances oil is actually quite a good insulator so not sure how that would cause the issue.

Maybe causing poor electrical connection?

[E-bmw]

GreenV8S said:

E-bmw said:

Under normal circumstances oil is actually quite a good insulator so not sure how that would cause the issue.

Maybe causing poor electrical connection?

Except the electrical connection will be a sprung pin/socket inside a plug & completely unaffected by being coated in oil.

[GreenV8S]

E-bmw said:

Except the electrical connection will be a sprung pin/socket inside a plug & completely unaffected by being coated in oil.

Didn't the OP say oil had leaked into the connector part of the vanos solenoid?

[E-bmw]

Yes he did but think about the boggo plug/socket arrangement in fine detail.

You have a pin & socket of some type that creates its electrical connection by contact under pressure by a metal spring.

Now put it in oil, it will have no effect as it can't get in between the contact point.

[E-bmw]

Yes he did but think about the boggo plug/socket arrangement in fine detail.

You have a pin & socket of some type that creates its electrical connection by contact under pressure by a metal spring.

Now put it in oil, it will have no effect as it can't get in between the contact point.

[scoey1001]

Thanks for the input. Been a strange one this, since AA man got the car re started, apart from yesterday morning when i had an erratic idle, the car has been fine and the codes miraculously cleared themselves.

As i'd already bought a new solenoid i thought best to fit it today, which i did and now the anti pollution has returned but again car is idling and running fine (suspect this is just where the old solenoid was taken out and the code just needs clearing). So still at a bit of a loss as to why the car wouldn't start initially and the lumpy idle occurrences. Will just have to monitor and hope it was a freak occurrence, although this is probably very naive!

[E-bmw]

scoey1001 said:

Theory is that the solenoid failed and has then in turn let oil into the connector part, hence ECU not getting the correct signals re: timing which in turn has caused engine not to fire and thrown the camshaft sensor faults.

I have just re-read your OP & realised that I don't think the solenoid connector passes any signal back anyway, I think it is just a 2 wire plug to energise the solenoid.

[scoey1001]

E-bmw said:

I have just re-read your OP & realised that I don't think the solenoid connector passes any signal back anyway, I think it is just a 2 wire plug to energise the solenoid.

Thanks for the info. Although i take it there is still the possibility of the solenoid failing (hence leaking oil through) which in turn causes timing issues (as solenoid controls the timing?) which could then manifest in both camshaft errors/car refusing to start? or am i barking up the wrong tree..

[scoey1001]

This was the AA report

'Patrol found the following fault code/s:System : Engine control 1 - 5F8 / Motronic MEV 17.4 Status :P0013 - Exhaust camshaft timing. Error Message : Open circuit/short circuit. Error sporadic. Status :P2090 - Exhaust camshaft timing. Error Message : Signal high. Error sporadic. Status :P2088 - Inlet camshaft timing. Error Message : Signal low. Error sporadic. Status :P0270 - Injection valve (cylinder 4). Error Message : Open circuit/no signal. Error static. Status :P0264 - Injection valve (cylinder 2). Error Message : Open circuit/no signal. Error static. Status :P0261 - Injection valve (cylinder 1). Error Message : Open circuit/no signal. Error static. Status :P0267 - Injection valve (cylinder 3). Error Message : Open circuit/no signal. Error static. Status :P0598 - Electrical thermostat. Error Message : Signal low. Error sporadic.

Suspect timing solenoid failed as bypassing oil into plug on in it causing flooding on cold start. Removed 30amp fuse to stop fuel pump as flooded this why injector codes in ecu memory'

[GreenV8S]

E-bmw said:

Now put it in oil, it will have no effect as it can't get in between the contact point.

Seems to me that there's an opportunity for oil to be drawn into the gap, especially if the contacts are subject to vibration and temperature changes. I wouldn't expect it to go open circuit, but I could imagine it causing a degraded connection similar to contact corrosion.

[E-bmw]

GreenV8S said:

E-bmw said:

Now put it in oil, it will have no effect as it can't get in between the contact point.

Seems to me that there's an opportunity for oil to be drawn into the gap, especially if the contacts are subject to vibration and temperature changes. I wouldn't expect it to go open circuit, but I could imagine it causing a degraded connection similar to contact corrosion.

Can't see it myself.

Yes it can get in, but I can see no way that it would get in between 2 spring loaded points of contact that are already in contact with each other before the oil gets into the socket/plug.

The contacts would have to be prised apart and kept away from each other to allow the oil to get in the way of the electrical contact.