Beamed

Been feeling really good about my 2005 I545 since I've been able to tackle a few of the scarier maintenance jobs. About 3-4 months ago I replaced the dreaded alternator bracket seal along with the two upper timing chain cover gaskets after I discovered an oil puddle in the garage underneath where the alternator was located. Since I had most of the front engine off, I went ahead and replaced the original thermostat and water pump at 125k miles. Even replaced the solenoid gaskets. Put everything back together only to find oil drops underneath passenger side of car. You guessed it, valve cover leak.

Ordered the valve cover gasket kits and spark plug tubes for both sides. Unplugged this and unbolted that while taking pictures at every step. Started on passenger-side first. After following the great advice given by others on the board, I was able to remove the passenger valve cover almost without a hitch. Unfortunately, I managed to break both of the clips on the eccentric shaft sensor that locks the plug in. Removed all of the old grommets and gasket. Applied the sealant as recommended and proceeded to bolt the valve cover down once the sealant dried. Thinking that I had fully tightened the bottom 4 bolts and formed a nice seal, I started putting everything back on. Moved over to tackle the driver side valve cover gasket. I won't lie, the driver side nearly brought me to tears and asking God, why me? I did everything possible to get that valve cover out, but to no avail. So after unhooking fuel line and bending the oil dipstick out of the way, I still had to make an..um modification. Valve cover removed and new gasket and sparkplug tubes installed. Tighten everything down and that's when I realized that I didn't tighten the passenger side valve cover all the way down. There was a gap where the sparkplug tubes were supposed to fit right up against the top valve cover. Tighten the passenger side bolts all the way down and checked for leaks after start-up. Drip-drip went the passenger-side.

Pulled P-valve cover off and cleaned off the old sealant and bolted it back up. Waited the allotted time for the sealant to cure and started the car up. Didn't see the oil drip, but saw white smoke indicating oil burn off. Ran my fingers along the bottom of the valve cover and more oil started spilling out. Turns out that I pinched a portion of the gasket and it was hanging out from underneath the valve cover. Pulled p-valve cover for a 3rd time cleaned everything and inspected the gasket for warp and damage. Looked ok, so put everything back together. No leak and the white smoke that I saw came from earlier run-off that burned off. Reinitialized the valvetronics, checked and double-checked connections. Started car up and the car shuddered like it wanted to die. THe CEL came on for Increased Emissions with the picture of the engine. The car fired the following multiple codes:

P0011 - "A" Camshaft position - timing over advanced (Bank 1)
P0014 - "B" Camshaft position - timing over advanced (Bank 1)
P0300 - Multiple cylinder misfire
P0301 - Cylinder 1 misfire
P0303 - Cylinder 3 misfire
P0304 - Cylinder 4 misfire

I checked for vacuum leaks, but found none. All connections were plugged in. I've been pouring over tons of links trying to determine the problem. I even swapped the camshaft position sensors from passenger-side to driver-side to rule out a faulty camshaft sensors. Now, I do recall that there was a hairline crack at the corner of one of the eccentric shaft sensor bolts, but I didn't get a code for a faulty eccentric shaft sensor.

Would that small crack in the eccentric shaft sensor cause the rough idle and cut-offs when I try to move the car?

I didn't check the coils since I figured they were fine before I replaced the valve cover gaskets.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

shalyndavis23

someone has to know???

almandee26

Coil # 1 , 3 , and 4 are no good . And you should check the meter flow senser for me that's what it sound that's not working . I have the same car my friend

Beamed

Recently pulled vanos solenoid on the passenger-side and air-sprayed and cleaned them in Brake cleaner. Noticed that the smaller inner gasket on the solenoids were both ripped apart. Odd, since both gaskets were replaced a few months ago when I replaced the upper-timing cover gaskets. I located the old smaller gaskets and put them back on. Started the car and immediately noticed the idling on the car leveled out like it did before I replaced the valve cover gasket. Previously following the VCG replacement, the car would shudder on start-up and the tachometer would start dancing before leveling out. Tried to take off and the car sputtered and moved extremely slow like it wanted to die. I pressed down on the gas pedal and the car eventually moved forward as normal, but then I got the CEL and the diagram of the engine with an Increased Emission warning telling me to drive car moderately.

Pulled the codes and got the same P0011, P0014, and multiple cylinder misfire on ALL 4 cylinders 1 thru 4. Previously, the misfires were on 1, 3, and 4.

subieworx

You ever find a solution to this problem? I am experiencing the exact same thing after replacing valve cover gaskets.

H F

Did you make sure that the cam sensor snapped in all the way ? Also if the valvetronic sensor is cracked it is possible oil is getting thru the crack, causing the bank 1 error . Its 400 bucks for a new one. One more thing is you don't need any sealant on the valve cover gaskets .

DavidF

HF, you do need sealant at the semi circles in the back of the head and at the timing cover to head joint. I am guessing that is what the OP was talking about.

OP: Remove and reinstall those coils that are causing the mis-fire codes. Happened to me and a bit of contact cleaner on everything solved the problem eventually.

One thing that you must be careful about when reinstalling the valve cover is to ensure the bottom edge of the valve cover engages the sealing flange of the cylinder head. You will not plastic guides/keepers that keep the valve cover from "sliding" down the head. If you don't get these guides/flanges aligned/engaged properly, you will have all kinds of problems and risk breaking the valve cover. Use a mirror to ensure the VC seal is in position properly and the valve cover is compressing the seal fully.

Not sure what is going on with your sensors.

subieworx

I had problems with those guides for sure. Created quite the gap at the bottom of the valve cover, but got that figured out.

I've gone back and check all sensor connections and everything looks good. It was mentioned that it is possible to have switched the plugs for the solenoids in the upper timing cover at the front, but mine are correct. I ordered new cams sensors and am going to try that to see if it helps.

H F

Sealant is one of those things I was like should I or shouldn't I .. So I went over to the dealer and talked with a couple of the techs there ,, and asked them what kind of sealant they used .. They recommended that I not use any sealant and that they don't use any sealant on valve cover gaskets . So that was my decision maker and rolled with it ..

Those plastic guides on the bottom of the cover ,, half of them were broken on my covers . and the pieces were laying inside the heads . So I just removed them completely , and didn't have any issues.. Actually it made it easier to get the cover back on ..

The mirror idea is a great suggestion.. I used one as well and it came in really handy especially the back side making sure the half circles were in perfect and to check the gasket on the whole perimeter ... I think its a must have tool ..

H F

I think should also replace the valvetrionic sensor too , since its cracked . If its not the issue now ,, it can be at a later date if oil leaks thru into the circuits inside the sensor ..