VANOS FIX. Troubleshooting steps diagram!

The fix that worked for me to get rid of vanos problems in the bmw N52 engine, would work for the N54 aswell. This cage seals up a drain for the oil filter to drain the oil out when the cap is removed. If it's not there it will leak oil pressure out of there and you will have vanos problems as they wont get enough oil. The oil pressure switch is before the filter so the computer would never know the engine isnt getting enough oil. Hard driving with this condition can wear the engine oil overtime.

[@Zthegod91]

After replacing both VVT Solenoids and a camshaft sensor this video helped me realize what my issue is. I wish I would've seen this sooner. Thanks!!

[@autohut3720]

Welcome, glad to have helped👍

[@Arditalbania1]

Me too😅👍

[@Exposing.y0u]

Bro this video is underrated!! Great video because I had the same problem and yes you are absolutely correct. The cage plays a big role in the oil filter housing. Always check.

[@moakhiy3745]

Bro, I just did a whole engine rebuild and new everything. Was surprised seeing low oil pressure and got so mad. Once I saw ur video and rem i didnt have that pin on the new engine….my heart is at rest. God bless you and continue killing it champ❤️

[@tedjohnson64]

Brilliant analysis! Fascinating and quite thorough. Especially liked all of the colored annotated diagrams, and your observation that the oil pressure sensor was in the wrong location to detect this problem.

[@samuelvalente889]

Great video, saved my ass. I changed my oil last week and accidentally threw out the centerpiece. Five days later I got engine oil pressure errors. Every other video I found was about catastrophic engine failure, I thought my car was dead...and I still owe money on it. I bought a new oil filter housing cap from the dealership and the car is good. Thanks for the information.

[@autohut3720]

Samuel Valente Very glad it helped. That could have turned a lot more expensive!

[@samuelvalente889]

@@autohut3720 My biggest fear was owing 10k on a dead car. But thank God you posted that video, I was laughing my ass off because I dodged a Howitzer. Thanks again.

[@anilec333]

I bought new genuine Bmw oil filter cap! God bless me! Hope my pressure light disappear!

[@zfloz9895]

You are right, I hade problems om my m54b30i with those 2 o rings, and my engine was rattle when fist started, and one valve lifter was making noise. After I have put new o-rings in there , everything became normal and no more noises, even the engine began to pull better. I did not get any vanos code all do, but I felt the car was not pulling well enough. Cheers for figure that out to !

[@HandyP]

Man, i wish i found your video earlier. I took apart my cylinder head, fudged up my intake camshaft mounting holes, busted off some mounting pieces of the exhaust cams, and spent a lot of fu’ing money. I’m gonna check this when i get home and see if you’re right!

[@johnnyeid8780]

I spent 2 hours searching for this specific video thanks u!

[@OrswaiN]

Damn!!! You deserve like 1mil subs❤ Explained very well and amazing with references on the Photo's! Keep going! I'm subbed😊

[@baasityusuf4778]

Thanks man, I really your support sharing this video... Infact this has really helped me as i have changed the Sensor twice in a week with no head up.

[@stevenmeyer4320]

Thank You Good Troubling shooting and love the diagrams and your honest and unfiltered opinions.

[@titanium3series]

Dude! Thanks for your video man, I popped these codes after changing my oil. I went through and cleaned the actuators and still had same problem. Saw this video and checked my cap low and behold, the center piece is missing. Hope I did cause any damage otherwise driving it.

[@jyu5560]

this is very informative! I have the 2A82 code on my n54. I got the car used and it came with a aftermarket billet oil filter cap. bought a OE oil filter cap and see if that solves the problem. Please do more videos like this!

[@bavarianmotorsport9630]

Hey did it fix your issue? I have the same thing and I already replaced the solenoids.

[@jyu0715]

@@bavarianmotorsport9630 after replacing the filter cap i drove it for about two months until i sold that car. but yes the code never came up again.

[@petrvoldan2869]

Hi there, thanks for sharing great info. I bought recently BMW with n52 with 172k km on it. The previous owner gave me bills with it as well. The last oil change was done in BMW service on 171k along with other stuff, however, the gasket on oil housing was leaking so I decided to change it myself. After removing the oil filter cup guess what NO element for the filter at all, the filter was just sitting there. In memory was stored fault code relating to vanos system. I replaced the gaskets, bought a new filter element and all seems good now, just hope that bearings and other stuff are not damaged.

[@nastytaco420]

Great explanation. Ordering the cap soon hopefully it will resolve the p0012 code which keeps coming up.

[@AlexCapi]

Great video, I recently bought my car and realised it had the plastic cage missing... I really hope it hasn't damaged my engine because of it.

[@keithyoung7381]

great video, very educational and enlightening. Keep up the good work

[@autohut3720]

Thank you 👍

[@MindHunger]

Thanks for the great video! A question - if the oil pressure sensor is before the oil filter, would a dirty oil filter cause higher oil pressure?

[@utube4greenfuture]

Very informative video, TY so much for sharing.

[@SCD-BOY]

Great explanation! I had vanos codes & a missing cage in filter. Have 1 now & oil change fingers crossed its sorted!

[@autohut3720]

Good stuff, hopefully it fully sorts out your issue👍

[@jeffreycicero6685]

Your a genius. You've employed the sciencetific method to diagnose and repair this problem correctly. If you are not a mechanical engineer, you should be. I've replaced the solenoids with gen BMW and still I get the codes. I am willing to bet that this is my problem.

[@jeffreycicero6685]

Yes that was the problem. Some oil change center left the entire cage out, o-ring and all! I replaced the housing about an hour ago, and it's definitely fixed, the CEL was coming on within 5 minutes of driving before,, now No more light. Done,done,done.

[@shaka17]

thanks thanks a lot for your video, yesterday i change the filter and i see what the piece its alone, i need one new.

[@stevedorr6227]

Excellent explanation well done

[@davidmush9999]

Agreed, an informed and well illustrated explanation! Not often you find these on youtube amongst all the "it's ya boi" car videos.

[@grampzquad]

Great Video! Thanks.

[@AbundantmoneyFlow]

wow... thank you brotha! I literally have these exact issues. appreciate it.

[@autohut3720]

Welcome, glad it helped you out👍

[@tobertb]

That insert is only needed in the N54 and N55. It's meant to divert oil to the turbos. If you have the N52 this is not required

[@zackwilson7147]

Heyy boss man where can I find this Info you were looking at on the computer (diagrams) I got a 07 328i I'm having a timing issue on cam "A" and low oil pressure (red) comes on at idle which rough and when I drive

[@lolovp1852]

Excelente bro me sirvió de mucho tu explicación

[@MrBananablitz123]

I went to a Mobil 1 oil changing place and usually I do it myself but didn’t have time, they changed my oil and filter and when I started the car it made a loud squealing noise and rough idle. They claim they did not do anything other than change the oil and filter so they performed another oil change and when I started the car again still same problems. I took it home and checked the filter and yup they forgot to put the cap back on the filter. What should I do in this situation?

[@brendacalderon9445]

So what now? I have had that replaced because valveoline service apparently took it off. or idk seems it's been doing it for a year little by little. Anyway after replacing what do you do if it's jerking.

[@juangarza5151]

I just bought a 2013 e93 with 82k miles on it. Got vamos codes a few days later. Took it back to the car lot and they installed new vanos. Codes came back the next day. Checked the basket and sure enough it was missing. Taking it to BMW next weekend to get an oil change and new basket. Hope this fixes my issues.

[@EVERYDAYLAWNCARE]

would these cause a RED light of death at stops, if the correct oil cap is not completely replaced? The great video also sir!!!!!

[@mugenmatrix18]

Question, what do I do after realizing this? I had the piece inside my cap but my o-ring was flat and broke up which allowed oil to go inside I put a new oil cap and cage and still had the code: p0012 do I have to let the oil that have been going in the there burn out? Or what I’m not sure but from the look of my cage ring that was the problem.

[@federicotorresbordils7624]

On time 7:57 where does the filtered orange oil channel go ? Because the blue one go to the engine and vanos isn't it ? Thank's in advance BimmerN53

[@johnf8040]

This Video is about to save me big time, after 8 months of no results!!.. but i have a question: for the 2012 BMW 750LI F02 (N63 Engine) where can i buy that part, because i believe it's part of the upper oil filter housing and NOT part of the lower filter housing itself. Mine is missing. PLEASE HELP!!! where can i buy it and/or what is the part number?

[@sabz_bhp]

Does the n55 also have this

[@cipriandoxu4382]

Very interesting 😮,i hava a knok and p0012 and the knok a believe is in the oil filter cap

[@vinotec4136]

Nice video I think I am having oil pressure problems with my n42 318i e46 could you get me a diagram for my engine

[@fuddicut]

Great video, I have just noticed and what that perticular part is missing. Can you please let me now know the name of that part so I can order one. Thank you.

[@autohut3720]

Desi Gunda hey the part goes by just oil filter cap mostly everywhere. You’re gonna have to buy the entire thing as they don’t just sell the basket by itself. If you can, get a nice brand to avoid any figment or longevity issues.

[@chucke3305]

Been struggling after changing valve cover and oil kept getting p0013. Turns out the filter might be to long. no code without filter.

[@agp415]

bro awesome video

[@drexellake4051]

Mostly true, but the small hole in the center being sealed up is not only to allow oil to drain back down when you remove the cap and filter. Note the small hole through the bottom of the shaft near the small o-ring(two o-rings on E46 model). That small hole is to be used as a bypass in case the filter gets clogged. The oil will go to the top of the housing at the top of the snap in cage and return down the shaft to the sump to you still have oil flow. Albeit not filtered oil. But non filtered oil is better than no oil.

[@autohut3720]

Joseph Gadberry I’ll have to look into it I have an oil filter housing sitting around at home I’ll look at later. I believe at least on n52 it is a drain but it might indeed serve as some type of bypass. The way I think about it is oil pressure would maybe push the basket up if the filter is clogged and allow oil to pass under the oil filter to the crankcase inlet without being filtered while still having the center drain hole sealed by one of the two o rings in the basket if the basket had the two o ring design. The bottom one would act as the sealer o ring while the basket moves up in the cap and the upper one isn’t doing it. But the n52 only has one o ring so not entire sure this is how it works on this engine in comparison to the e46

[@gilbertmartinez4127]

Hey William, I have a couple of questions. Should the cap and basket be one piece? And could the compression spring in the basket wear out and cause a problem? Thanks

[@autohut3720]

Gilbert Martinez I’ve never seen an issue with the compression spring. The cap and basket are kind of clipped together you could say. So when you take them off it should be kind of one piece together. What have you checked so far and what year is the car? I believe late model year n52s had some vanos actuator problems with bolts breaking.

[@gilbertmartinez4127]

Good morning. Thank you for responding. The car is a 2007 530i. Prior to watching your video I got a P0015 error code. I replaced both camshaft sensors, tested and cleaned both vanos solenoids, changed the oil filter and “O” ring. After watching your video I removed the oil filter cap and noticed that the basket and filter both stay in the filter housing. I removed the basket and tried clipping it to the cap and it doesn’t stay. Any thoughts? Thanks again

[@autohut3720]

Gilbert Martinez That doesn’t make sense to me unless the chips in the cap itself were broken. The basket kind of goes clipped in there and latches. Either way I think if it were to be nicely seated in the cap aswell as in the drain orifice in the filter housing you shouldn’t have oil loss to the oil pan. Are there any other codes tab P0015? I mean Bmw specific codes you can get through an obd2 Bluetooth scanner with an app or INPA

[@gilbertmartinez4127]

William, thanks to your diagrams I was able to figure out the problem today. Prior to your video I had replaced the camshaft sensors, cleaned and tested the vanos solenoids with no luck. After watching your video I check the cap and everything seemed in order. But it got me thinking about what you said, that lead me to the vanos oil filters which were completely blocked. So I soaked them in a cleaner, scrubbed them down and reinstalled them. The car no longer has a rough idle, throttle response is on point and best of all no codes after 50 miles. Couldn’t have done it without your post. Keep them coming. Thanks again👍🏼

[@autohut3720]

Gilbert Martinez phew that’s great! Yes the system is not as complicated once you look at it from far away as more of a diagram than anything. Those filters can get clogged specially with extended oil change intervals by the previous owners and you’d never know. Hopefully the car stays running good I think that was it👍 glad to help

[@Gu3ssWhoki113dU1]

I am missing that part on my cap maybe that’s why I still get a Vanos code for the intake side. Even when I changed out the Vanos solenoids.

[@jmunnadaboss]

Same lmao😂

[@stumpmtsr]

Great video.

[@autohut3720]

Thank you👍

[@gilgonzalez5902]

My car has this vanos code (N52 engine) i opened up my oil filter cap and the basket is in there but it is very loose. You mentioned it can cause problems if its missing but if the basket is loose couls it also cause issues? I just ordered a new cap and oil filter anyway... hope it fixes my rough/surging idle!

[@billyowusu48]

@@autohut3720 im having the same issue on my n54 2a87. Is the oil filter basket supposed to move? Mine moves up and down .Thanks

[@johnpaulc1629]

you ever figure this out?

[@johnpaulc1629]

@@billyowusu48 you ever figure it out?

[@billyowusu48]

johnpaul c Thankfully, I don’t get the codes again, but I still have slight idle from time to time. This was before i replaced the oil filter basket. Still the same result. Performance is still there thankfully...

[@gilgonzalez5902]

johnpaul c mine had the oil cap on the engine loose. Throwing all those codes over the cap not being fully tightened. Easiest fix ever!

[@yordanocastaneda2229]

Cuando haces la versión en español 🤨

[@gilbertmartinez4127]

Very informative video. I’ve been having the same code popping up in my car. I already changed both camshaft position sensors and cleaned both vanos solenoids. I’m extremely frustrated at this point and have my fingers crossed that by simply changing the oil filter cap might fix my problem. Thanks for the info.

[@alvinlarue7588]

Hey did this fix the issue for you?

[@Juicelawd762]

Did it ?

[@nimanazeri1742]

Hi, after I change oil I end up with Vanos problem. I change the both Vanos but still error there. Is that possible because of the this filter or oil itself? Buy the way when engine is cold everything works perfect. After a 15.20 minutes engine start to hesitation and sometimes engine light is on. Any idea?

[@dusanveselinovic7514]

Did you solve the problem, because i have the same problem?

[@OzFeralFlattener]

Great video man. Ive been having vanos codes for a couple of months now. Replaced the solenoids and cleaned the check filter but still got codes. Found some articles about the oil filter basket but couldnt check cause i didnt have the right tools to undo the cap. Ordered a new cap with basket and new filter and a tool to remove the cap. It came today and straight away i went and checked. Sure enough, no fucking basket! So pissed at the previous owner. Told me he did the oil change himself. AND hes a mechanic by trade! Some people shouldnt own nice cars. Now im wondering how much damage has been done to the engine running it without a basket. So pissed right now. At least now i can get the new filter and basket in once they turn up and pray it fixes all my issues.

[@OzFeralFlattener]

@@autohut3720 So a quick update. After putting in the new basket, filter and full oil change, my car ran good for about 20kms then i got vanos codes and a cylinder 2 misfire code again. Seemed to get even worse over the next few drives. Swapped my plugs and coils, no change. Swapped out my new vanos intake solenoid for one of the old ones i took out and it seemed to fix my vanos codes. Go figure. Still kept getting misfire on #2 cylinder though. Did some more research and found my afr and fuel trims were way out of sync. Reset the adaptations through my jb4 and so far no codes at all after a couple of drives. Will need to keep testing it but for now it seems all codes have gone and the car feels much better. Maybe you could do a video about resetting adaptations, throttle, afr, trims, timing etc. Could be handy for those getting misfires, poor idle, lack of power etc. Dont think its something many folks consider when troubleshooting.

[@OzFeralFlattener]

@@autohut3720 yeah, 335i. Took it for a run today and the misfire is back. Fuel trims seem to go crazy when it happens. I have a feeling its either my cats, o2 sensors or both. I can smell sulphur when i go wide open throttle which is a symptom of failing cats. Ive got new catless downpipes and new o2 sensors coming so hopefully it might get me on the right track. Man i tell you, this car is just endless headaches.

[@OzFeralFlattener]

@@autohut3720 Well you were right! Cats and sensors were actually fine but the new downpipes are a nice upgrade anyway. Pulled out the injector in cylinder 2 that was misfiring and found no crush ring and a carbon caked tip. Gave it a good clean, new o-ring, new crush ring and she's running perfectly again. No stuttering idle, no misfires, smooth power right out to 7k rpm. Happy days!!

[@TishaHayes]

@@OzFeralFlattener Don't you hate it when you end up with a used car that was maintained by a shadetree (incompetent) mechanic? I see some youtube videos and some of the things they do.. Pieces missing, things modded that they have no understanding of. I restore antique radios and hate it when someone has been in there with a soldering iron before me. A few times I just resorted to tearing it completely down to individual parts, retesting each part and making an essentially new radio, without their modifications.

[@Wowwow-wl3kx]

I have same issue. Looks like great explanatios. But i dont understand well...😂

[@sergiodiaz3904]

Oye chiko ima check my oil filter because my engine feel like im deiving cold start all day main

[@Nitesh.94]

Will this cause a rough idle ?

[@autohut3720]

For my car it didn’t but I think It could as its vanos related. Worth checking

[@billyowusu48]

im having this problem too. I replaced the green gasket on the cap but still have the problem...

[@billyowusu48]

BMW Outlet Thankfully I haven’t had the code again but I occasionally have rough idle from time to time. I’m replacing the whole cap to see what happens. I pray this works!

[@theewong27]

@@billyowusu48 did it work for you?

[@billyowusu48]

@@theewong27 replacing the cap didn’t work. Thankfully though, the car does idle well now. An old battery can cause this issue. I’m running a new battery now.

[@TishaHayes]

Wow, that is a bad design; They should of been reading the pressure on the discharge side of the oil filter, that way you would know if you are running in bypass (clogged filter, bypass to the center element). In that plastic stalk that is in the middle of the oil filter is a pressure relief valve (probably a spring loaded ball valve, don't know, haven't taken one apart). Ideally, they would additionally use a "differential pressure gauge" to show you the drop across the filter. Then, if it exceeds a preset it would throw an engine code (filter is clogged or dirty, replace).Once the differential gets high enough that little check valve opens you end up going in to bypass and getting in to trouble like you explained. Another way they could do it is to add a check valve on the bypass line (#3) and if that check valve indicates flow, to throw a code. At this point you are past the point of where a differential pressure gauge would just show a degradation of the filter, when you are in bypass the filter has pretty much been blocked off.

[@autohut3720]

I thought they could have gotten away with just a sensor before the filter and after it which would show the drop in pressure if something were to happen but I think they didn’t have in mind that someone would forget to put the basket back in the filter cap. I don’t think it’s particularly a bad design just something that has to be known about. I think even if the filter were to get clogged, the bypass pressure of it would be higher than normal oil pressure which would lead to a code setting off by the only oil pressure sensor the housing has so not everything is lost.

[@drexellake4051]

The small hole on the shaft is also a bypass. You are correct. Not sure if it's spring loaded or free flowing though. But I'm going to find out.

[@imthatdude9896]

I blew my engine up because when i changed my oil it broke i didnt kniw how important this was now im getting code p1030

[@imthatdude9896]

BMW Outlet I’m not sure if it’s blown but my mechanic can’t turn it on still

[@boondock6055]

Awesome video thankyou this may solve my issue