Help Identifying Rocker Shafts for High Lift

[steve-elise]

Hi guys,

I have a 111R with BWR supercharger and Charlie-X tune. We dyno'd today and it only put down 160HP in 4th gear and also for all 4 runs, maxed out at around 7,000rpm.

I should preface all of this with "I am not a mechanic"

I then did an OBD scan and found 2 faults:

P0627 - Fuel Pump Control Circuit/Open
P2646 - A Rocker Arm Actuator System Performance or Stuck Off

I have checked
a) The #6 fuse that I thought may be related to this system - all okay
b) The solenoid that I believe switches the high cam - looked okay although I haven't electrically checked.
c) I believe there is a filter specifically for the high-lift cam oil channel but not sure where this is located?

The engine has also been producing a 'tinging' noise at high RPM so I started to suspect a possible rocker arm problem and I thought it would be worthwhile removing the rocker cover and checking.

I have attached some photos show my cams etc.

Can someone please help me to identify which rocker arms/shafts/bolts I should be more closely inspecting?? Where are they in these pictures?

Many Thanks from down-under
Steve

[zygotesoup]

The rockers are very difficult or impossible to fully inspect unless you remove the camshafts. You can kind of see rockers on the intake side of the pic i attached.

To me it sounds like the solenoid that controls the cam switch over, but it could be any number of things

[turbophil]

How long has the problem been there? Ever since the installation or did it just show up one day?

The hardware in the head looks fine. Rocker-shaft bolts are there and in place. They are the two 10mm bolts located on the chain side of the engine, just to the left of the cam retaining cap that spreads across both cams... You can remove them to be sure they're not sheared off. They should come to a taper and will likely have a little wear on them. As long as they're not completely gone, the engine will still engage the big cam. Excessive wear means replace them, but if they're only worn, that also means they're not your problem...

Could the tinging noise at high rpm simply be pinging?

Need more data to help diagnose... Initial reaction is pointing towards something electronic...

regards,

Phil

[steve-elise]

Thanks very much Phil,
Good to hear that the basics look okay. I have only owned the car for around 3 weeks so unfortunately don't have enough history but I believe it has been there for a while.

I will follow your guidance re the 10mm bolts and check now.

After much googling, I found this post that describes how to find and clean the oil filter for the other solenoid that I believe is involved in this process so have just completed that now.
VVT-i & VVTL-i OCV Screen Cleaning Guide - NewCelica.org Forum

I will let you know how I go and post some pics as I resolve it, for the next lucky person

Many Thanks
Steve

[steve-elise]

Phil, I removed the 2 Bolts (picture attached)
I think they look fine...

BUT.... They were very very loose - literally I touched them and could spin/rotate them by hand ???

I wonder if this was at least part of the problem and also potentially the 'tinging' noise?

Could it be?

Best Regards
Steve

[turbophil]

Originally Posted by steve-elise

Phil, I removed the 2 Bolts (picture attached)
I think they look fine...

BUT.... They were very very loose - literally I touched them and could spin/rotate them by hand ???

I wonder if this was at least part of the problem and also potentially the 'tinging' noise?

Could it be?

Best Regards
Steve

Hi,
Nope. Not the tinging... They're fine. reinstall and tq to 100 in/lbs or so...

The filter isn't likely the problem either... They get dirty, sure, but not typically enough to cause these sorts of issues... I'm guessing that the tining is pinging... I would check the connections very carefully going to your lift and phaser sollenoids. remove, wiggle, etc...

Again, has the problem been there since you owned it or did it just pop up? Almost sounds like a pin was bent when the ECU was installed or something crazy like that... You do not have a "normal" problem here as far as I can tell (pretty minimal information to run with though)...

Best,

Phil

[steve-elise]

Thanks Phil,
A the beginning of the week, I did remove the 240R ECU that was in the car and replace with the original ECU tuned by Charlie-X. The tinging (possibly pinging) noise was there before the ECU change though and performance wise, it hasn't gone backwards since the ECU change, just been smoother so unless a pin was bent before my change (possible I guess) I think it is something else.

Will keep checking methodically as you suggest.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions

Best Regards
Steve

[steve-elise]

Minor update.
Put everything back together carefully (no bits left over - always a good thing), cleared all trouble-codes and went for a drive.

Warmed it up slowly and once warm, opened it up a couple of times to the shift light.

The bum dyno says it feels better but not very scientific so I will try and get another dyno soon.

I scanned the OBD on returning home and No DTCs hopefully it will stay that way

The 'tinging' is still there but I'm starting to think the 2 things may be unrelated ie could just be some stones caught in the engine bay somewhere and rattling at high rpm.

I will update this thread once I have more conclusive info

Cheers
Steve

[charliex]

Was the OBD II light on when you intially reinstalled the ECU? those codes are not unusual for a bench flash.. So they might be total red herrings.

160HP sounds like a VVTLi problem.

I'm still amazed the 240R ecu worked though

[steve-elise]

Hi Charlie,
The OBD light never came on at all. It was just when I plugged the scanner in that those 2 codes showed up.

I've just re-emailed the Dyno sheets to you as they must have got caught in spam filter etc but have attached to this post as well. I would be interesting to see what you think about
a) The power curve
b) The AFRs
c) The boost - really weird as it showed 10.5PSI which as far as I know is very high for BWR should be around 8-8.5? Also inconsistent with power output

Best Regards
Steve

[charliex]

If you're making boost, you make power, if you make boost with high AFR's you make metal soup. I can't see how its possible to make 160HP with 10 PSI so somethings not reading right, plus the cam switch is in the wrong place.

i did reply to a couple of your emails today, but i am on vacation today, so i'll be in and out.