twh

Don't know for sure, but it may just go out by itself.

Wife's X5 had a different VANOS code. The Check Engine Light would come on every so often, then the engine would run rough and then the next time she started the car, it would be gone. When I cleaned them and later when I replaced them, the light had gone out by itself before I took them out and put them back in. Light hasn't come back since.

ianbmwe60

ok tanxs a mill I will go ahead and clean them

ianbmwe60

oh what did u clean them with and did u take the 2 of the out

twh

I took them both out.

Take the top one out first and then the bottom one. That way, you won't accidentally drop the screw into the bottom one's open hole. Install bottom on first and then top one.

I used this to clean them:
Brakleen® Brake Parts Cleaner, 19 Wt Oz - Product Information

And then dried them with some compressed air. You can just let them air dry (for like 15 minutes) as well.

ianbmwe60

perfect tanxs a mill it wont put any faults up on dash when I plug them out

ianbmwe60

if I unplug the vanos solinoids and clean them when I plug them back will fault lights cum back up on dash from unplugging them

twh

See post #11.

ianbmwe60

great tanxs a mill now my red air bag light is on and seat belt 3rd time now first time no fault and indy cleared light 2nd time it showed low voltage and battery was at 35% so I charged it and was good for 2 wks on till yesterday its back checked voltage 12.3 I removed the battery cables and charged it its now over 13v with engine of please help is this my prob

twh

How old is the battery? If it is over 3 years old, just replace it. Make sure to get the same construction of battery AGM or non-AGM. Make sure to get one that has a similar Amp Hour rating. Doesn't need to be exact, but same or more. Bad battery is known to cause all sorts of issues. And, if it is old anyway, it won't hurt to just replace it now.

BimmerFan52

In the future charge the battery using the terminals under the hood, and there is no reason to remove the battery cables from the battery. In fact each time you handle the battery cables you run the risk of damaging them (they are very expensive).

You might have made multiple short trips in the two weeks, running the battery down by expending more energy for multiple starts than you are putting back in while driving. Or the alternator might not be providing a sufficient current to hit the target system charge voltage. Or as twh says, plate sulfation may be at an advanced stage and you are due for a new battery.

Your measure of 13V indicates that a plate surface charge is present and you will either need to wait 8 hours until it dissipates, or leave the headlights on for two minutes with the engine off and then read the voltage.