Variocam thoughts and questions

[sfkjeld]

Originally Posted by Homeoboxter

Just hypothetically, if the O-rings inside the variocam are worn out/broken and they no longer can hold the pressure as they are supposed to, they can leak more when the oil is hotter and thus thinner, leading to more frequent triggering of the CEL. So it does not work better in a cooler motor, just it`s more likely to fail when it`s at normal operating temperature. Assuming this to be correct, thicker oil would give you even less frequent CEL.

Yes, that was my theory as well. I went to a 40wt oil but didn’t really notice much difference.

Any idea why the CEL would be clearing on its own? Is it documented anywhere what the 1341 CEL algorithm might be? What sets it off? How many degrees off, at normal engine temp, and maybe the number of times it has to happen? Over a period of time maybe?

[blue62]

Originally Posted by sfkjeld

Yes, that was my theory as well. I went to a 40wt oil but didn’t really notice much difference.

Any idea why the CEL would be clearing on its own? Is it documented anywhere what the 1341 CEL algorithm might be? What sets it off? How many degrees off, at normal engine temp, and maybe the number of times it has to happen? Over a period of time maybe?

The CEL will clear itself after a set number of drive cycles without the issue reoccurring.
Each issue or code has it's own number of non occurrences before resetting the CEL.

Sorry I don't know the algorithm for the 1341 to set.

Most issues that are not immediately harmful to the Catylitic converter's have to happen twice or back to back over two drive cycles.
On the first occurrence the code is set in the pending area of memory.
If the issue happens again on the next drive cycle that code is moved to the permanent area of memory and the CEL is set.

Issues that are immediately harmful to the cats like misfires set the CEL on the first occurrence.
That's my limited understanding of how it works.