986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

Rick_22 · 11-10-2024, 03:15 PM

I have a 99 986 with 43,000 miles. I was driving in town the other day and got a CEL. I scanned the car when I got home and it showed a P1531 code which I understand is for a camshaft adjustment bank 1. From reading other posts, this looks like it could be a solenoid or a actuator problem? I also checked my camshaft deviations and got a reading of 3 for camshaft position 1 deviation and -6 for camshaft position 2. I cleared the code and I have not had another CEL in the last 100 miles or so of driving with several startups. The car still runs great and idles smooth.

Should I be proactive and have this diagnosed further since I have a deviation that is right at the limit or should I just not worry much yet unless it keeps throwing codes? I understand that replacing the actuator or the Vario Cam pads require a lot of labor to remove the cam covers and other bits. I would not do the work myself, so I was wondering what the ballpark cost of having the pads/chains replaced and possibly an actuator or solenoid? The car still has the original IMS as far as I know and I wasn't going to worry about it until I needed to replace the clutch.

11-10-2024, 03:15 PM	#1
Rick_22 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2022 Location: Central Il Posts: 12	P1531 and Camshaft Deviations I have a 99 986 with 43,000 miles. I was driving in town the other day and got a CEL. I scanned the car when I got home and it showed a P1531 code which I understand is for a camshaft adjustment bank 1. From reading other posts, this looks like it could be a solenoid or a actuator problem? I also checked my camshaft deviations and got a reading of 3 for camshaft position 1 deviation and -6 for camshaft position 2. I cleared the code and I have not had another CEL in the last 100 miles or so of driving with several startups. The car still runs great and idles smooth. Should I be proactive and have this diagnosed further since I have a deviation that is right at the limit or should I just not worry much yet unless it keeps throwing codes? I understand that replacing the actuator or the Vario Cam pads require a lot of labor to remove the cam covers and other bits. I would not do the work myself, so I was wondering what the ballpark cost of having the pads/chains replaced and possibly an actuator or solenoid? The car still has the original IMS as far as I know and I wasn't going to worry about it until I needed to replace the clutch.