Hi all, it appears I have over reach with my mechanical expertise. I replaced my camshaft adjuster plates over the weekend. I did my research and followed instructions but I've obviously done something wrong as I now have 16 faults in the ecu and a very sick engine. Bank two all cylinders are misfiring and bank 1 is showing a fault on camshaft position sensor b. I set the timing at 40 degrees, used the camshaft locking tool and the camshaft position tool (the red bit). I've had the thing apart twice to check everything and can't see what I've done.. any pearls of wisdom for me?
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Apoth May 11, 2021 02:06 AM
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Just to close this saga off and the fact that I am intentionally embarrassing myself because I deserve it... during all the research I completely missed the fact that the camshaft plates that I replaced are different for the intake and exhaust, of course it makes perfect sense they would be but I didn't take notice. Anyway I'd managed to get two wrong, swapped them around and thankfully all errors have disappeared and there appears to be no permanent damage. Lesson learned... stick to my day job...
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I have seen several examples of people timing the engine by turning the crankshaft the wrong direction. It will give the symptomes described above.Originally Posted by Apoth
Hi all, it appears I have over reach with my mechanical expertise. I replaced my camshaft adjuster plates over the weekend. I did my research and followed instructions but I've obviously done something wrong as I now have 16 faults in the ecu and a very sick engine. Bank two all cylinders are misfiring and bank 1 is showing a fault on camshaft position sensor b. I set the timing at 40 degrees, used the camshaft locking tool and the camshaft position tool (the red bit). I've had the thing apart twice to check everything and can't see what I've done.. any pearls of wisdom for me?
You need to go clockwise not counter clockwise.
Also, did you use the complete timing tool? If you only used the front locking tool your cams can be 180 degrees wrong.
Hope its something simple though :-)
Thanks the feedback, I turned the crank clockwise to get to 40 degrees, I used the rear and front cam locking tools, replaced the plates on the adjusters then rotated the crank a full revolution and checked timing again. There was 1mm of play using the red tool that sets the position of the cam position sprocket, would 1mm of rotation cause the issues described do you think?
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When timing the phaser plates there will be a little play in them. Thats normal.Originally Posted by Apoth
Thanks the feedback, I turned the crank clockwise to get to 40 degrees, I used the rear and front cam locking tools, replaced the plates on the adjusters then rotated the crank a full revolution and checked timing again. There was 1mm of play using the red tool that sets the position of the cam position sprocket, would 1mm of rotation cause the issues described do you think?
And you are sure that intake adjusters is on intake cams and exhaust adjusters on exhaust cams?
What about wiring for cam position sensors? Sometimes they get switched arround. Seen that too

I did one adjuster at a time to prevent me from mixing them up, look at the wiring for the solenoids it looked like the wire length made the plug locations pretty straight forward but I will concede I didn't label them when I removed them. I guess there is no harm in seeing if I can switch them round?
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Yes, one wire is longer than the other one, but doesnt harm to check it as you say.Originally Posted by Apoth
I did one adjuster at a time to prevent me from mixing them up, look at the wiring for the solenoids it looked like the wire length made the plug locations pretty straight forward but I will concede I didn't label them when I removed them. I guess there is no harm in seeing if I can switch them round?
When you timed your engine did you turn crankshaft two rounds clockwise(seen from front engine looking towards the back of car) and recheck timing? Often it takes a few times to get it 100% correct, as the adjuster pins has some play in them also. Even with new plates

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ExploreJust to close this saga off and the fact that I am intentionally embarrassing myself because I deserve it... during all the research I completely missed the fact that the camshaft plates that I replaced are different for the intake and exhaust, of course it makes perfect sense they would be but I didn't take notice. Anyway I'd managed to get two wrong, swapped them around and thankfully all errors have disappeared and there appears to be no permanent damage. Lesson learned... stick to my day job...
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Glad it turned out to be something simple.Originally Posted by Apoth
Just to close this saga off and the fact that I am intentionally embarrassing myself because I deserve it... during all the research I completely missed the fact that the camshaft plates that I replaced are different for the intake and exhaust, of course it makes perfect sense they would be but I didn't take notice. Anyway I'd managed to get two wrong, swapped them around and thankfully all errors have disappeared and there appears to be no permanent damage. Lesson learned... stick to my day job...
I was going through all the things that others mentioned and couldn't believe you were getting all those error codes if all those things were right.
I replaced all my CA plates only about a month or 2 back and car started perfect with no error codes.
Keep wrenching on your car as in the end you will save hundreds if not thousands of dollars over getting Indy's or dealers to do work.
Mistakes just make you study the problems better next time.
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Never stop wrenching and your experience will ensure everyone now that does their cam adjuster plates ensures they don't make the same mistake - thanks for letting us all know what went wrong!
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How much did you pay for the plates
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Originally Posted by Apoth
Just to close this saga off and the fact that I am intentionally embarrassing myself because I deserve it... during all the research I completely missed the fact that the camshaft plates that I replaced are different for the intake and exhaust, of course it makes perfect sense they would be but I didn't take notice. Anyway I'd managed to get two wrong, swapped them around and thankfully all errors have disappeared and there appears to be no permanent damage. Lesson learned... stick to my day job...
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[QUOTE=Lord 63;8366667]How much did you pay for the plates
M156 Shop M156 Camshaft Adjuster Mercedes-Benz AMG (63motorsports.com)
QUOTE]
I think I paid Aus$880 for 4 stage 1 plates and pins.M156 Shop M156 Camshaft Adjuster Mercedes-Benz AMG (63motorsports.com)
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Originally Posted by roadkillrob
Never stop wrenching and your experience will ensure everyone now that does their cam adjuster plates ensures they don't make the same mistake - thanks for letting us all know what went wrong!
Here’s some reference material for anyone wanting to DIY it in the future. That site should be better organized for the service manuals, it’s just god awful.
Full valvetrain Teardown
Adjuster Plates Reference
Someone tell these guys to put photos in their manuals or something.
So did you have an intake plate in the exhaust and exhaust plate in the intake? Amazing how the engine still fires up with that much degree of error.
yep I had them round the wrong way on each bank, it started and ran on 4 cylinders, I mean you wouldn't want to drive it and it sounded like a Subaru but it did idle 

Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to do mine at some point. It's good to see what can go wrong.
So before you realized you did it wrong the first time, how long did it take from start to finish to take everything down, replace the plates and button everything back up? I'm trying to figure out how much time to dedicate to this. I'm thinking about 10 hours. The most I've done on mine is oil changes and spark plugs. I have all the tools and a good understanding, but it always takes longer than you think. I'm not a mechanic by trade but somewhat handy with tools.
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I definitely took my time the first time. 10 hours is a good estimate. by the time I'd done it 3 times I got it down to 2 hours lolOriginally Posted by skullbox15
So before you realized you did it wrong the first time, how long did it take from start to finish to take everything down, replace the plates and button everything back up? I'm trying to figure out how much time to dedicate to this. I'm thinking about 10 hours. The most I've done on mine is oil changes and spark plugs. I have all the tools and a good understanding, but it always takes longer than you think. I'm not a mechanic by trade but somewhat handy with tools.
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I would concur, I did cams and lifters but didn't have to take apart my cam adjusters so probably takes about the same time, 10 hours was about what it took me, I did it over 2 days 4-5 hours per day, hard on the back being bent over the car for so long. I also took my time triple checked everything, but nothing really difficult just work methodically, hardest part is the drivers cover lower rear bolts, a 1/4 drive torx and a few universals help a lot.Originally Posted by Apoth
I definitely took my time the first time. 10 hours is a good estimate. by the time I'd done it 3 times I got it down to 2 hours lol
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Hello Apoth, thank you for sharing the case. I got the error on the Camshaft position correlation bank 2 sensor B after replacing the camshaft adjuster plates (63motorsport). Is your case the exhaust & intake camshaft adjuster plate accidentally swap when you installed? Your case is swapped in both bank 1 & 2? Because you mentioned bank 2 all cylinders misfires while bank 1 with the fault of camshaft position sensor B. Please advise, thank you so much. Originally Posted by Apoth
Just to close this saga off and the fact that I am intentionally embarrassing myself because I deserve it... during all the research I completely missed the fact that the camshaft plates that I replaced are different for the intake and exhaust, of course it makes perfect sense they would be but I didn't take notice. Anyway I'd managed to get two wrong, swapped them around and thankfully all errors have disappeared and there appears to be no permanent damage. Lesson learned... stick to my day job...
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Hi, yes I mixed up the exhaust and intake plates. I didn't code read at the time, it was evident the car was not running correctly as a result of something I had done!Originally Posted by Henrychung828
Hello Apoth, thank you for sharing the case. I got the error on the Camshaft position correlation bank 2 sensor B after replacing the camshaft adjuster plates (63motorsport). Is your case the exhaust & intake camshaft adjuster plate accidentally swap when you installed? Your case is swapped in both bank 1 & 2? Because you mentioned bank 2 all cylinders misfires while bank 1 with the fault of camshaft position sensor B. Please advise, thank you so much.
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Thank you. Originally Posted by Apoth
Hi, yes I mixed up the exhaust and intake plates. I didn't code read at the time, it was evident the car was not running correctly as a result of something I had done!








