if that were in front of me i would suspect a couple of things off the bat 1, vanos sprocket faulty and free wheeling so when at around 3-4k its opens up the oil control solenoid if vanos free wheels it wont control the over lap on inlet and exhaust camshafts ,, or maybe the solenoid valve faulty ,, only use genuine ones,
number 2 would be the diverter valve on compressor side of turbo that also must be a genuine pier burg brand if replace it,
need to read the inlet vanos prescribed and actual positions when car is running at those revs see what you got they should be steady and no random drops off to zero etc can be a sign

 

if that were in front of me i would suspect a couple of things off the bat 1, vanos sprocket faulty and free wheeling so when at around 3-4k its opens up the oil control solenoid if vanos free wheels it wont control the over lap on inlet and exhaust camshafts ,, or maybe the solenoid valve faulty ,, only use genuine ones,
number 2 would be the diverter valve on compressor side of turbo that also must be a genuine pier burg brand if replace it,
need to read the inlet vanos prescribed and actual positions when car is running at those revs see what you got they should be steady and no random drops off to zero etc can be a sign

Thanks for the reply For piece of mind today, the chain and vanos sprocket has been replaced, The Solenoid seems to have seen better days and has had a clean, but will be replacing that with one of the newer genuine units.
Diverter valve is a brand new pier burg unit and also have a piston model to test with it in the event that the new solenoid doesn't fix it.
Strangely enough when testing the car today after the vanos replacement and solenoid clean, the doesn't bog down anywhere nearly as bad as it did before, but the traction control flashes up for a moment in a second gear pul before the quick dip in power.
I'll take it out a bit later on and check the actual/specified position and record the logging on it to see if there is any difference.
Many Thanks.

 

i would change that oil control solonoid , also would check your oil pressure and oil level and crappy oil can cause same thing effects how the vanos times the motor even oil level ie must be on maxx all the time,

 

also the inlet camshaft can wear where the oil control rings sit tell tail sign is remove the engine cap if feel a ridge when the rings sit on end cap with your nail then that will most likely be the problem very very common on over 80k motors and more so on any run low on oil at any point of its life

 

should look like below after a scotch brite pad ,

 

Hi Mike,
New Oil control solenoid was fitted today, will now have a small stutter and misfire then continue to pull through absolutely fine after, at 3750 Rpm there appears to be a ~10 degree variance between specified and actual degrees on the cam shaft,

Pulled the plugs after taking it out, something says to me that AFR is right but it's pulling the timing once it gets on boost.
I'm not sure if it's pinking ever so slightly.
it's truely perplexing as it wont register any codes over that the 2884

 

p2884 boost deviation code, need to smoke test the system inlet boost side and vac lines, the 10 degrees of timing would make me think as I said above vanos not holding timing by bleeding off oil pressure and the over lap between the exhaust and inlet valves being to much do to inlet camshaft not holding the timing point , have live data ran the vanos timing while engine is being driven above 4k so if prescribed figures and same as actual if are not then oil pressure or like said above

 

Hi Mike,
I took it out this morning and pulled the logs in the attached time frame, the window is from the 275-310 second mark, Seems to be a tad less splutter since the new solenoid fitted, but pulls fine after.
Many Thanks

 

2 degrees off on vanos prescribed and actual , but no big drop off's chain slightly stretched, boost graphs are within what i would expect,,
how many miles has it done on the engine oil and filter, ie on these 8k change oil and filter a must,, also in oil on full mark that can effect things,,
i would now be thinking more likely a fueling thing maybe a 02 sensor is not happy or lazy , I only ever fit NTK sensors these days and must be genuine ones,
another big one is what petrol you use, my last n14 mini ie i filled it at morrisons super market cheap petrol ie 93ron it would go fluffy and even when really pushed cause the know sensor to kick off and get super knock fault codes ,, think if i were you i would stick a can or two of cataclean in tank after using it enough to run any lesser fuel fuels out, ie try shell v-power ie their high octane fuel and cataclean and take for a good ragging plenty of heat on to cat and 02 sensors 4000 revs runs etc

 

2 degrees off on vanos prescribed and actual , but no big drop off's chain slightly stretched, boost graphs are within what i would expect,,
how many miles has it done on the engine oil and filter, ie on these 8k change oil and filter a must,, also in oil on full mark that can effect things,,
i would now be thinking more likely a fueling thing maybe a 02 sensor is not happy or lazy , I only ever fit NTK sensors these days and must be genuine ones,
another big one is what petrol you use, my last n14 mini ie i filled it at morrisons super market cheap petrol ie 93ron it would go fluffy and even when really pushed cause the know sensor to kick off and get super knock fault codes ,, think if i were you i would stick a can or two of cataclean in tank after using it enough to run any lesser fuel fuels out, ie try shell v-power ie their high octane fuel and cataclean and take for a good ragging plenty of heat on to cat and 02 sensors 4000 revs runs etc

Current oil and filter is about 1000 miles, currently has Valvoline SynPower XL3 5w40
I'll only run shell 99 after previous experiences running tuned Renaults
Will get myself some cataclean today and get it run through the system

Had an inspection on the fuel filter for piece of mind, still had the factory seal attached to the locking ring.

Will run through the tank and see how it behaves after the cataclean cycles.

Many Thanks

 

also a smoke test the inlet pipes

 

wrong oil for a start should be 5/30w fully syn might be enough to cause a pressure difference with in the vanos and oil control
these engines are very much oil sensitive, i have seen cars come in with misfire and top end all retarded and was low oil or wrong oil or very dirty oil had a effect

 

wrong oil for a start should be 5/30w fully syn might be enough to cause a pressure difference with in the vanos and oil control
these engines are very much oil sensitive, i have seen cars come in with misfire and top end all retarded and was low oil or wrong oil or very dirty oil had a effect

Ahh my mistake on the oil part, its the silver 5w30 fully synthetic C3.
Would it be better to go for a castrol or Comma blend?

 

i tend to buy from MPD motor parts direct these days based on reg number but buy trade 20 litre drums its cheapest way of buying it around £40 per drum never had issues with it, dont like buying online these days as never really know if its what its meant to be, that said asda did do some really cheap deals on castrol edge years ago, i just cant justify the extra costs by using a brand over the costs and more so on these engines as 8k oil changes is wise

 

Hi Mike,
After Changing to Millers 5w30 Fully sythetic the Vanos Actual/Specified is hitting the mark through the rev range.
Replaced the Downstream lamba with a genuine NTK
Had a good look over the car to check whats not OE/Been replaced
The vacuum hoses appear to have been replaced with some generic rubber hose, so took the car out to test and still had 3-4k misfire
Disconnected the vacuum hose from the Turbo actuator with quite some struggle.
Car then pulled through the rev range right up to 6500 rpm
Strangely enough with the actuator disconnected it still made boost.
Somethings pointing me to either the wastegate needs adjusting or something is up with the wastegate routing.
Many Thanks for the help Mike

 

think you need to smoke test the small vac lines from turbo vnt controller and turbo,, under the inlet manifold there is a vac expansion tank its got two vac pipes push in the top i have seen many cars with age the oil solenoid for vanos leaks oil this oil drops on to this tank and the vac pipes makes the rubber go soft and sucks in this then causes last of boost or some boost randomly, , smoke test it best way forward

 

i have come across that oil changes make a difference heard before someone running expensive magnetec stuff had same issues with vanos not meeting its needs ,, 8k oil changes a must and seafoam every other oil change in my book good idea

 

Hi Mike, Had a bit of a fight with the car over the weekend, a Seafoam and replacement of the vacuum lines with harder clear pipe.
The car now drives absolutely faultlessly

Both images from cylinder 3

I'm amazed at how smooth it is now, thank you for all your help.

 

Hi guys ...I been reading boost threads and god knows I hav4e my boost issue's.....Here's something I learned 2?yrs ago.... To get a really good boost response in my car I have learned to DOUBLE TAP the throttle, thats when the boost comes in hard .....this is not right and prob nothing do with this post. I just been doing it so long I've never mentioned it. Driving normal and mashing the throttle might yield 4-5 psi.
Driving normal and feeding in the throttle is much the same 4-5 psi
driving sec gear 2500 rpm ...double tap then nail it on the secondtap....10 psi....couple times i've seen 14 psi.
what could be going on?

 

all your getting at that point of on and off throttle is a point where map sensor response is slower and for a brief moment gives a over boost until map sensor cuts it back via the divertor valve and boost control solonoid, these engine when right should boost from 1000 revs to red line no more than 21psi peak , if not boosting right and you have to do that i would suspect its got a leak somewhere on pressure side ,, and smoke testing is best first step and cheapest first step before throwing the kitchen sink at ,

 

.....everyday a school day!...thanks bro