Reset check engine light

[Starter986]

COAS! $200 to smog? I paid $65 yesterday morning, and I'm in facking Californium.

Why $200? .

[sfkjeld]

Originally Posted by Starter986

COAS! $200 to smog? I paid $65 yesterday morning, and I'm in facking Californium.

Why $200? .

Because they’ve already charged $2000 trying to clear the code, unsuccessfully.

[JFP in PA]

Reading, noting, and then clearing codes to see if they come back is common practice, but only if you have run the correct code diagnostics (in the case of the actuator, read run the electrical test) and found nothing. These cars do throw "ghost codes" that aren't real, but if a shop is regularly just clearing codes without further diagnostics that turn up nothing, they aren't doing their jobs.............

[sfkjeld]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Reading, noting, and then clearing codes to see if they come back is common practice, but only if you have run the correct code diagnostics (in the case of the actuator, read run the electrical test) and found nothing. These cars do throw "ghost codes" that aren't real, but if a shop is regularly just clearing codes without further diagnostics that turn up nothing, they aren't doing their jobs.............

I’ve had two high porsche shops scan the car and they confirm the cam advance is ‘slow”. The code is correct. But as I said, in terms of measurable pollutants emitted during the smog test, my car runs quite clean (I’ve been told anyway). The smog test checks the exhaust at idle and at specific rpm. But evidently it doesn’t test the rate at which the cam advances.

[Homeoboxter]

Originally Posted by sfkjeld

I’ve had two high porsche shops scan the car and they confirm the cam advance is ‘slow”. The code is correct. But as I said, in terms of measurable pollutants emitted during the smog test, my car runs quite clean (I’ve been told anyway). The smog test checks the exhaust at idle and at specific rpm. But evidently it doesn’t test the rate at which the cam advances.

In terms of measurable pollutants malfunction of the variocam system won`t make any (within tolerance) difference. It means the actuator gets stuck in either condition or just shifts slowly between the two, as it is in your case. But, because it affects timing, it also has an effect on performance, and hence, on fuel consumption and emission. So it has to work properly, according to California law. It`s the same with SAI for instance: if you take the car to a smog test and your SAI is shot, there is no way to measure the difference in pollution, because it does not work when the engine is hot. Yet, if you have an SAI error code, you are screwed.