N55 PCV Valve Went Bad

[bnace10]

First off, please excuse my French/frustration.

So I had a repair shop replace the entire valve cover and gasket on my 2011 N55. When replacing it, the new one immediately failed, so they had another one put on (all being ordered directly from the local dealership).

Cue 4 months later the PCV valve is chirping like a canary similar to all the different threads. Since it is built into the valve cover, I'm required to buy a whole new valve cover (4 months after doing the original goddamn one).

Is there any risk of damage by driving with a bad PCV valve? I really don't feel like shelling out more money on this god forsaken shit engineering. This whole situation is ridiculous with 3 valve covers going bad within 6 month.

[F31B48]

BMW parts come with a 2 year warranty over here. Surely they would have something similar there. Was it a genuine BMW part?

[K.david]

Instead of replacing my valve cover I simply replace the PCV valve. I get it from amazon for $14. Heres a link to one I've used. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085MX6MKZ...ing=UTF8&psc=1. I also wanted to mention that it may not be your PCV system, it may be your front or rear main seals. Im assuming your vehicle has high mileage, so I would recommend using Castrol 5W30 synthetic high mileage oil to treat those seals first before shelling out more cash. Hope this helps.

[TWO STEP TEX]

Originally Posted by bnace10

First off, please excuse my French/frustration.

So I had a repair shop replace the entire valve cover and gasket on my 2011 N55. When replacing it, the new one immediately failed, so they had another one put on (all being ordered directly from the local dealership).

Cue 4 months later the PCV valve is chirping like a canary similar to all the different threads. Since it is built into the valve cover, I'm required to buy a whole new valve cover (4 months after doing the original goddamn one).

Is there any risk of damage by driving with a bad PCV valve? I really don't feel like shelling out more money on this god forsaken shit engineering. This whole situation is ridiculous with 3 valve covers going bad within 6 month.

Do you have video? I thought mines was there valve cover but ended up being the idler pulley.

[bnace10]

Originally Posted by TWO STEP TEX

Do you have video? I thought mines was there valve cover but ended up being the idler pulley.

I don't have a video, but I replaced the tensioner pulley, idler, and belt and the noise stayed.

It also stops whistling/chirping if you take off the oil fill cap, that's how I know the PCV is bad.

[TWO STEP TEX]

Originally Posted by bnace10

I don't have a video, but I replaced the tensioner pulley, idler, and belt and the noise stayed.

It also stops whistling/chirping if you take off the oil fill cap, that's how I know the PCV is bad.

As far as I know, you risk damage to the crank seals front and back which can be a nightmare but that's about it. From my experience with it, it's more like a howling after boosting or getting off idle coming to a stop. Apparently the N55 creates a little more vacuum than the N54 so there will never be zero suction when pulling the oil cap. Check for oil from the oil filter housing dripping down?

Edit: Lots of edits, drinking whiskey.

[bnace10]

Originally Posted by TWO STEP TEX

As far as I know, you risk damage to the crank seals front and back which can be a nightmare but that's about it. From my experience with it, it's more like a howling after boosting or getting off idle coming to a stop. Apparently the N55 creates a little more vacuum than the N54 so there will never be zero suction when pulling the oil cap. Check for oil from the oil filter housing dripping down?

Edit: Lots of edits, drinking whiskey.

Yep, it only happens at idle, and while slowing down to a stop. No issue with the oil filter housing, that was actually changed when the valve cover was as it was leaking.

Now that you mention it, after the new valve cover was put on, the front crank seal did start whistling while it was still at the shop, so they replaced it. I wonder if it's just a bad seal...

[bnace10]

As I continue to think about it, the PCV has to be bad, or the front seal wouldn't be chirping, even if it was incorrectly installed and leaking...

[corbinwhit]

Originally Posted by bnace10

As I continue to think about it, the PCV has to be bad, or the front seal wouldn't be chirping, even if it was incorrectly installed and leaking...

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I have been experiencing the same exact symptoms you have explained. Replaced the entire valve cover, and the howling/chirping still persisted. I am thinking it is most likely the front crank seal or the rear main seal seeping. Did you ever get this issue resolved? TIA

[tracer bullet]

See a related thread.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=2017774

[bnace10]

Originally Posted by corbinwhit

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I have been experiencing the same exact symptoms you have explained. Replaced the entire valve cover, and the howling/chirping still persisted. I am thinking it is most likely the front crank seal or the rear main seal seeping. Did you ever get this issue resolved? TIA

See tracer bullet 's reply. I did get this issue solved. It ended up being a malfunctioning Vacuum Pump pulling too much vacuum and sucking air in rather than blowing it out, which never caused any oil to seep out of the seals.