AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

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AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:13 pm

AVCS checks, diagnosis and considerations.
This FAQ is EJ engine specific, some aspects might be relevant to DIT engines but do review your DIT related codes in this Technical Service Bulletin (TSB): https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/ ... 0-9999.pdf

TL/DR:
If your car bucks and stumbles in first and second during take off,
and you can’t hold steady rpm in neutral at and around 2000rpm on a warm engine,
if during the test the car bogs and stumbles,
or you have misfire cel/dtc codes eg P0011 and or P0021 or misfires on bank1 or bank2 that’s not spark plug or coilpack related:

Diagnose or replace both avcs solenoids with genuine items.
But don’t fire the parts cannon before reading this faq and attempting diagnosis!
Its a 1.5 hour install.
For diagnostics ideally you’ll make a datalog with relevant parameters and share the log csv’s for analysis & comment, here’s how to: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=36932


Here’s my incrementally updated AVCS diagnosis guide: logging is the key.

Consider an AVCS check as part of any health check for your car, especially if you experience a noticeable stumble or hesitancy under acceleration.

What is AVCS?


AVCS, Active Valve Control System is Subaru’s implementation of VVT, aka Variable Valve Timing for either inlet cams only (single avcs, SAVCS) or both inlet and exhaust cams (Dual AVCS, DAVCS, also known as Quad AVCS).

The system uses signals from the cam and crankshaft position sensors, and oil pressure to control the variable cam angles.
Electronic solenoids aka OCV’s: Oil Control Solenoids, are opened and closed by the ecu to vary the amount of oil being flowed into the cam gear thus varying the VVT angles according to self calibration of the system and specific load and rpm tables in the Engine Control Unit aka ECU tune.

Basic diagnostic considerations:
The gold standard for narrowing down the failure mode if you have data logging and or VVT angle live view (eg freessm pc app) is to, during idle whilst logging, disconnect each OCV harness plug and apply 9V DC using a 9V battery with a 9V battery snap with alligator clips or speaker terminals attached to the +/- wires to the terminals in the OCV harness plug. Not the engine harness side: we want to actuate the solenoid, seperate to its usual ecu control.

This is to test if idle oil pressure, as controlled by the OCV, can advance the cam angle.

This test isolates the issue to oil pressure from heads to the cam pulley, the OCV: is it jammed open or shut, is it slow to respond in VVT angle attack, maximum advance or angle decay?
If maximum mechanical advance cannot be achieved in this test, then the fault can be faulty OCV, clogged oil lines or banjo bolt filters, blocked oil passages in the front cam caps, or jammed cam pulley.

If this test passes and a VVT angle of c50’ intake or c40’ exhaust is attained with reasonable attack and decay, then the contributing fault might be the harness or ecu.

Therefore the loom, plugs, cam and crank sensors may also be considered for inspection, see the FSM workshop manual link below for the factory procedures.
These generally involve voltage, resistance or load tests, but full instructions are in the FSM.

Does the car have oil and what is the condition of the oil and filter?
IME, the oil needs to be extremely low for avcs to stop functioning, very close to the point where the whole engine will cease to function.

Or you may have grounding issues, including engine ground, heads to body, battery ground et al, check and clean them all.
This is fairly obvious in logging as a broken up cam VVT angle signal or actual cam signal dropouts, as seen in logging AVCS VVT angles.

A dead, worn out battery is a potential cause of system-wide issues, its not simply a matter of having the correct voltage, the battery must be able to support the cranking load of starting the car, or the system load when the car is not running: if youre in doubt, take the battery to a specialist that can load test it.
Make sure to clean the battery clamps & terminals and replace the former if they no longer tighten, or are corroded.

About Check Engine Lights:
CEL/DTC codes usually indicate an issue with an affected sensor or system, to an issue upstream affecting that sensor or system, or if a group of codes, may be seen as symptomatic of an issue affecting the entire system, eg dying main battery, no oil, swarf in oil.
In the case of AVCS CELs, the description of the fault is "cam position over advanced" which some assume to mean "cam postion sensor issues".
In practice, the fault is fairly rarely cam sensor related, is easy to rule out (log cam sensors VVT angles) or in the case of swarfed and sludged sensors, suggests a much larger issue, eg extreme service abuse.

Overarching diagnostic considerations:
If, during logging, either or both AVCS VVT angles remain at zero, especially after the heads have been rebuilt, it’s possible that the tiny oil supply galleries in the front cam bearing caps (that contain the OCV manifolds aka housings) may be clogged with excessively applied sealant, obstructing oil supply.

If either of your AVCS VVT angles are fixed at or above zero, and the gears were recently installed, suspect they may have been damaged due to incorrect internal cleaning of refurbished gears or simply incorrectly reinstalled.

In the former instance the refurbished cam gears should be able to be activated with shop air from a blower nozzle prior to installation.
In the latter case the specific reinstallation procedures must be used when offering up the gears: pins aligned with holes on the camshaft, do up the cam bolts by hand, use the specific tool to hold the cam gear when torquing the bolts, do not hold the camshaft itself.

Obviously, AVCS cam bolts must be used with the axial oil drain hole for each AVCS cam gear. Non AVCS cam gears do not have this hole.

Oddball diagnostic considerations:
Also theres 4 total types of union screw bolts, aka banjo bolts: two differently sized holes to presumably restrict oil flow, and bolts with or without filters, meaning the consideration is to not mix up the location regardless of whether removing filter or not.

Occasionally built up swarf or sludge on the cam sensors has been seen to cause AVCS issues.
Again, this is fairly obvious in logging as a broken up cam VVT angle signal or actual cam signal dropouts.

However, eg the cam position sensors are relatively difficult to access and more commonly the issue is caused by AVCS OCV or cam gear issues.
Here’s how I accessed my cam position sensors, to replace the o-ring seals: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=36503

As regards GR STi, there was an OCV part number update around 2010, but regardless of your car always make sure your OCV part numbers match your heads, ECU, model etc, eg via a VIN parts search.

General diagnosis:
The following is generally for cam positions over CEL’s (check engine lights) aka DTC’s (diagnostic trouble codes) P0011 &/or P0021.

Log AVCS VVT left and right angles with Btssm or Romraider or a shop scanner thats compatible with SSM at 1700-2000rpm in neutral and in gear on the freeway, look for VVT angle delta, oscillation, lag or inactivity.

If you only have a generic workshop scanner, look for these parameters and use them in live view.

No logging tools, car bucks and stumbles: BLIND TESTING

If you don’t have SSM logging, one failing AVCS OCV can sometimes be diagnosed by idling a car in neutral til warm, then vary the rpms very slowly between idle and around 2000rpm, pausing and holding certain revs for a minute or so. Then 1800 to 2200rpm for a minute or two. You're trying to provoke a sync issue. You're trying to trigger the fault mode on one AVCS bank, causing a stumble or inability to hold the desired rpm.
I have tested this on my single AVCS GT-B, not sure if it works for dual AVCS issues.
As for the single AVCS test, without a related DTC (diagnostic trouble code) you won't know which bank is affected, just that you have confirmed an AVCS sync issue.

My theory is that slight differences in the left and right AVCS oil feed pressures, combined with the self calibrating nature of the AVCS system cause one side, usually the LHS, to become overdriven and eventually fail.

Cleaning AVCS solenoids: You can try soaking the avcs ocv’s in solvent whilst activating them with a 9volt battery. See replies to this post: a member managed to un crimp the solenoid, cleaned out the sludge and re-crimped it! HERE

AVCS failure stages:
The beginnings of AVCS OCV failure is seen as left to right angle lag.

The intermediate stage is one side wildly oscillating whilst the other side operates correctly.

The terminal stage is one side becomes inactive at which point the AVCS system deactivates completely.

All stages can be encountered independently and without triggering a cel.
Meaning taking a look at AVCS operation should be considered a part of regular maintenance and health checks.

If either issue is revealed, swap AVCS oil control solenoid side to side to see if the issue follows the affected solenoid.
If so, replace both OCV solenoids.

This is a blind test to check if the issue is OCV related, or AVCS oil supply or cam gear related.

If the issue doesn’t follow, check the OCV oil supply banjo bolts for blocked screens. The filters can be very deep in the banjo bolt hole and or broken up.

Filters in the turbo & avcs oil feed union screw banjo bolts:

Use a sharp toothpick to fish them out. The specific banjo bolts that contain filters have a raised nipple on the bolt head. The filters can be deep inside the head, try fishing it out with a toothpick (push in, pull out) or, if the filter is broken up, use straight fine tweezers, or create a vacuum venturi by blowing compressed air across the bolt hole.

The difficult banjo bolts to access on a complete engine is the one behind the LHS timing cover.
Online guides have shown that extracting this banjo bolt is possible if the nipple on the bolt end is filed down and the cam cover is gently pryed with a bar, otherwise its easy with the timing gear off for service.

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread. ... 22758.html

Bear in mind that the bank1 union screw that feeds the turbo & avcs is located on the rear of the bank1 engine block on prefl GT, aka rev A-C and that the position of the same avcs/turbo oil supply union screw is on top of the bank1 block, in front of the turbo compressor inlet, below the inlet pipe for rev D-F postfl.

Very rarely, an AVCS cam gear may be jammed with debris, or via incorrect installation, usually in this instance it will be locked at a particular angle as revealed by logging. This is known as FOD (foreign object damage).

Go for the easiest tests (logging) first, if all results are negative, eg you have AVCS inactivity which does NOT follow the OCV side to side swap, pull the crank and cam sensors to check for contamination by metal particles on the cam sensor face or check for oil supply issues at the banjo bolt filters. Generally, the banjo bolts that contain filters are the bolts with a raised nipple on the head.


The FIx
My solution for a failed OCV is to start with installing two new AVCS solenoids and then to periodically swap them side to side (eg at 50k mi) or when significant angle lag becomes noticeable in logging.

The AVCS solenoids are relatively inexpensive and can be installed in well under two hours with fairly basic tools.

The avcs issue seems less prevalent in prefl libs, perhaps this is due to the turbo & avcs oil feed being located on the right rear head, and the exhaust avcs solenoids being fed directly from the heads via the avcs ocv manifolds, however:

Dual AVCS
For dual AVCS prefl 2.0t, check if the exhaust AVCS solenoid O-rings (#1 in 5 in the diagram below) or the exhaust AVCS oil control solenoid manifold gaskets (#17 below) or the exhaust cam position sensors are leaking, the loom can suck oil all the way back to the ecu plug, causing multiple issues.
Avcs solenoid & cam position sensor loom plug oil contamination:

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=36481


Misfires
Misfire CELs can be related to AVCS.

Generally misfire CELs are calculated by the ECU and primarily generated from anomalies between spark timing events versus crank speed and afr input.

Log per cylinder misfires or per cylinder roughness.

If misfiring, check spark plug condition and swap around coil packs on the affected cylinder to check if the fault is cylinder or coil pack related, or coil pack loom plug related (usually broken plug clip). This is a blind test for coilpacks.

Generally a single cylinder misfire = coilpack or sparkplug issue.
The barb that holds the coilpack loom plug on is known to fail allowing the plug to back out causing continuity issues and misfires.

Blind test the suspect coilpack in another cylinder to see if the issue follows, and check the loom plug barb is intact on the coilpack. Replace or use a ziptie to hold the plug on the coilpack.

Bank 1 or 2 misfires: diagnose avcs

All cylinder misfires: loose crank pulley.

Get an LV Learning View) whilst you’re at it.
LV will reveal inlet leaks, IAM (low IAM = failsafe mode).
Regularly health check your car, including reading the spark plugs, and doing inlet pressure tests.

Its always a good idea to consult your cars FSM workshop manual to check the actual diagnostic procedures.

I’m always updating the info here as I do more research. Some items I need to clear up below.
Can skipped or stretched timing cause an AVCS CEL or issue?
What are the causes of gradual VVT angle lag, that eventually leads to one bank failing completely?

Let me know if you have any information to add!

Link to FSM workshop manual & parts info:

FAQ: Subaru FSM Service Manual Parts Procedures Diagnostics • club.liberty.asn.au

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34980

Some recent reference material taken from this post on FB Subaru Mechanics group:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/163728227 ... ef=m_notif

FA 2.0 BRZ gt86 avcs vvt ecu faq here:

https://www.armstrongfamilyblog.com/arm ... tion-p0018

Dual avcs exhaust solenoid, gaskets and manifold (scroll pic down if you can't see the business end(:
30E969D6-5D06-428F-BF3D-EC127582641E.jpeg
30E969D6-5D06-428F-BF3D-EC127582641E.jpeg (93.28 KiB) Viewed 12053 times
Last edited by bigBADbenny on Fri Oct 27, 2023 5:46 am, edited 14 times in total.
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 pm

Recent updates!
Still to add:
H6 alvs & avcs.
FA avcs/ecu issue.
Snapped cam cap bolts.
Cam journal clearances.
Effect of vacuum leaks in heads affecting avcs oil drain/scavenge.
Use of an external oil supply & opr/s to feed ocv’s.
Links to related FAQs and DIYs.
Eg plug & loom oil contamination.
Cam position sensor R&R.
R&R guides for OCV’s and banjo bolts.
Seperate posts for some of the avcs faq info, eg misfires.

Got anything to add? Help me organise the info in the FAQ?
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby Jesse » Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:55 am

This is a awesome write up, but im having a issue with my 2013 wrx that seem to fall between the lines i have a p0021 code on my accessport it says avcs intake left is working for the first 10-20 mins of driving then it stops and stays at 0 or 1. And thoughts?
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:01 pm

As described above in the faq.
You have initial sync but the system is unable to maintain it, gives up entirely so the engine isn’t hideously out of whack.

You can log avcs vvt angles plus tuning parameters on an open/closed loop drive with freeway cruise, post a link and I’ll graph it for you.

At this point you may want to swap solenoid sides to see if the issue follows or not (blind test for solenoid vs bank issues).
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby cowwws » Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:39 pm

Thanks again Benny for another great write up - I finally got around to removing and cleaning out my exhaust AVCS's and removing those pesky little filters. I had previously replaced the top AVCS but it turns out the exhaust ones were the real trouble makers.

No more annoying stumbling around 2300 rpm - happy days!
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby NinetySix » Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:30 pm

I figure this is the most ideal spot for this, but feel free to tell me to start my own new thread.

I think the notion of AVCS/AVLS solenoids being throw away & replace items might need a rethink, as I've managed to make a significant improvement on the large L/R advance angle delta I was experiencing with my EZ30. From what I can tell, it should be largely applicable to other Subaru motors with ACVS/AVLS, and likely other makes that use Denso solenoids.

It's not hard to disassemble them, getting them back together requires a little more effort though. First step is to make some alignment marks between the aluminium valve body (the bit that you can't really see when it's mounted in the engine) and the steel coil case so that it goes back together much the way it used to be. Apologies if I've got the part names completely wrong.

Then it's simply a matter of prying/picking open the crimped steel coil case where it has been stamped or crimped onto the aluminium valve, I used an assortment of flat blade screwdrivers, long nose vice grips and a punch.

Then the whole lot will come apart, and hopefully you'll see the same kind of muck inside that I did in mine. Brake cleaner and clean rags will make a world of difference. I dropped all the parts into my cheap little 120w ultrasonic bath for about 30 minutes at 60 degrees in water with a squirt of dish soap, not essential, but handy to have. one of my solenoids was actually a little rusty, and the ultrasonic basically took most of the paint/coating off the steel, so I hit it with some zinc spray (seems to cope with the temps, and hasn't rusted a couple months on).

I replaced the old O-rings with new Viton O-rings from a set I picked up at supercheap for $9, near enough to a perfect fit.

once dried and reassembled, I used a G-clamp to clamp the assembly down to a sturdy welding table, taking care get everything lined up as it previously was, and everything as centred as I could get it, with enough clamping force to compress the O-rings until the base of the aluminium valve was sitting firmly against the rimmed edge inside the steel coil cover.

I then used a combination of vice grips to carefully pinch the steel back into the crimped position it used to be in, then carefully went around the circumference with a decently heavy hammer and a steel punch with a flat tip. once it was looking about right, I switched to a pointy punch for the notches in the aluminium that prevent the assembly from rotating.

Sure didn't come out real pretty, but the log samples below should speak for themselves.

before:
AVCS bad.png
AVCS bad.png (198.66 KiB) Viewed 9720 times


after:
AVCS good.png
AVCS good.png (181.17 KiB) Viewed 9720 times


Probably not quite as good as brand spankers solenoids, but certainly good enough for a 17 year old car. I'm pretty sure that the large delta between the two banks was causing my IAM to drop, though I can't seem to find the logs that caught it in the act. It never triggered any codes, but for sure, better is better. Not that big of a job, little to no cost, and vastly superior to replacing the solenoids with anything other than Denso/OEM items. Yeah, I cheaped out and bought some aliexpress solenoids, and all I can say about that is, don't! They never even made it onto the car, never seen something so shoddy.... they basically fell apart while inspecting them, which gave me the idea of pulling the OEM solenoids apart to be fair.... funny, I had never seen a plastic rod substituted for the typically iron core of a solenoid until then :lol:

I didn't actually take any photos when I did the AVCS solenoids for some reason, probably because I expected it to fail and have to buy new ones :lol: But I later did the same for my AVLS solenoids, and they are essentially exactly the same thing, just a little shorter, for the H6 anyway. See a few pics here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KHcRPQLMbhcqULAt5 and note that I had the coil in the wrong way around in the photos :roll:

the most obvious difference before vs after performing this job but before refitting them to the engine, was that they now had a nice rattle when shaken vigorously. The iron core inside the solenoid bouncing against the spring, which previously was clogged up slightly with crusty gunk.


Cheers
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby nvmylh » Thu Jul 08, 2021 9:36 am

Good work! Something I will definitely try oneday.

I have been wondering how much the timing change tensioners are contributing to my avcs angle differences. My "VVT int R (deg)" is always much slower than the left. I have changed the solenoids left to right and it made no difference. I know the tensioners need doing as I can hear the slapping when starting and cold..
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:23 am

NinetySix, that’s awesome stuff!
I have a half dozen or so old solenoids to experiment with :good: !
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:25 am

nvmylh wrote:Good work! Something I will definitely try oneday.

I have been wondering how much the timing change tensioners are contributing to my avcs angle differences. My "VVT int R (deg)" is always much slower than the left. I have changed the solenoids left to right and it made no difference. I know the tensioners need doing as I can hear the slapping when starting and cold..



If the angle delta does not change with side to side swap, the lag issue may be sooted filters…
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby NinetySix » Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:21 am

Cheers 8)

I should add, sure I used a clamp and hammer & punch to resemble the solenoids, you could also use a vice, or better yet a hydraulic press, or even better an arbor press with a suitable die, if you have one.

And just one more follow up, the "before" log above was taken before I had touched any part of the AVCS system, and before I "reconditioned" the solenoids, I had removed the filters from the banjos and also pulled the cam gears/phasers apart when I had the timing case open to change the chain tensioners. I think the solenoids probably had the biggest effect, or at least got the whole system to be "good enough" to not cause any IAM dropping issues any more.

The phasers aren't terribly well documented on the internet, but there's some info and pics out there, and there's nothing really unique about the H6 3.0R phasers compared to any of the H4 pics I could find.

I was half expecting to see some chewed up "apex seals" for lack of a better term, but they really looked fine to me. Not sure if you can even order replacements, but I was planning to lap them if required, but they looked pretty fresh to me. The 5-point torx security screws holding the phasers together have me a few headaches tho :lol:

I got some pics while it was apart I'll dig them up and post a link when I get a chance.


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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:28 pm

Please do!
Company23 sell the pent lobe tool for servicing.

So your solenoids, would you say they collect sludge, eg any buildup?
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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby NinetySix » Tue Jul 13, 2021 12:13 am

Found one: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SXPPWdwiq1Jfjm9Y7

It's a shame Google photos doesn't do hotlinking, and that the upload limit here is 250kB :?

I got away using vice grips on the heads of the penta-prick screws on the LHS phaser, but due to the offset between the two timing chains, the RHS phaser is much deeper on an EZ30, preventing the viceys from getting a good grip. That's when I lost my cool, and tacked a m8x50mm hex head bolt on to each of them with the tig, they come out real easy then :twisted: possibly a "don't try this at home" solution, but I got away with it :lol: obviously they experience a reasonable amount of heat when fitted to a running engine, and anything bolted to a large lump of aluminium is actually quite difficult to get much heat into... Tho I had it clamped to a dirty great lump of copper busbar to be extra safe.

As for the muck inside the solenoids, I'm not entirely sure what it was, though the car had recently been brought back to life after the obligatory double head gasket-otomy, and water in the oil and bubbles in the radiator may well have contributed.

I did manage to flush a fair bit of it out without opening them, by squirting brake cleaner in the oil hole closest to the o-ring, while manually cycling the valve mechanism with a paddle pop stick. They rattled better but one required a much harder shake than the other, safe to say that the problems only truely went away after "reconditioning" the solenoids.


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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Wed Oct 06, 2021 10:03 am

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Re: AVCS Checks and Diagnostics

Postby bigBADbenny » Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:42 am

I just did the left and right bank intake avcs filter delete on my 2.5t.

Avcs was functional but quite laggy, now its working properly, I have less knock learning.

It appears that an avcs system under duress from restricted oil supply makes the system work harder to retain sync and this creates mechanical noise that registers as knock.

I think the filters are a good idea, mainly when breaking in an engine that has had machining work, where swarf may be present.

Obviously swarf can damage the solenoids and cam gears.

If you’re deleting or replacing your avcs filters, they’re generally always found at the block oil gallery supply end of the oil pipe.

The main exception being eg exhaust avcs where the filter is in the avcs ocv manifold on the head.

I’ll get back with some before and after filter delete logs and LV’s…
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