U261A 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.

U261A Code Symptoms :

The original multi-displacement system turned off opposite pairs of cylinders, allowing the engine to have three different configurations and displacements. U261A 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 U261A

U261A 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 U261A code ?

• Continuous oil flow to the VCT piston chamber
• Continuous oil flow to the VCT piston chamber
• Air fuel ratio (A/F) Sensor 1 Bank 1 harness is open or shorted
• Fuel tank leaking

Gear changes are accomplished by a command from the BMW TCM to energize the clutch actuator to release the clutch; after which various actuators inside the transmission disengage the current gear, and depending on current operating conditions, engage the next higher or lower gear ratio. All of this happens much faster than a human driver could change gears, and in most applications, gear changes are as smooth and seamless as on any fully automatic transmission.