P1A81 BMW Fault Code

Description:

The issue covered by the bulletin involves a power steering noise/whine or fluid leak from the power steering pump, gear or high pressure side power steering hose during extreme low outdoor temperature operation.

P1A81 Code Symptoms :

The original multi-displacement system turned off opposite pairs of cylinders, allowing the engine to have three different configurations and displacements. P1A81 code had an elaborate diagnostics procedure, including showing engine trouble codes on the air conditionning display. However, the system was troublesome, misunderstood by customers, and a rash of unpredictable failures led to the technology being quickly retired.

Diagnosis And Repairing P1A81

P1A81 OBD2 specifically refers to the camshaft (cam) timing. In this case, if the cam timing is over-retarded, the engine light will be illluminated and the code will be set.

How to fix P1A81 code ?

• Continuous oil flow to the VCT piston chamber
• Damaged VCT phaser
• Failures of clutch motion/travel sensors.
• Faulty spark plug (s)

One example of this would be when an bmw automatic car in placed in gear. To prevent the added drag from the torque converter and transmission from reducing the idling speed, the PCM will command the idle control valve to allow more air to enter the engine, while at the same time, adjusting the injector pulse width to inject more fuel to suit the increased amount of air. Note that the idle air control valve is closed by the PCM when the throttle plate is opened to prevent excess air from entering the engine.