Help Diagnosing Slew of CEL Codes

[-tWv-]

Originally Posted by blue62

Hope I have helped in some small way.
Yes do keep us posted.
Hope things turn out well for you.

Got the report back from the shop today. Looks like everything looks good from a mechanical perspective on the timing. Unfortunately, that means there’s some sort of deeper issue and the mechanic thinks it has to be the timing chain actuator/tensioner. This part alone is over $1200 and it’s about 10 hours of labor to put it in. Bill just over $3k ....

I’m going to go ahead with it because his analysis makes sense from what I’m feeling with the car. It starts and drives just fine so I don’t think I’m getting a consistent misfire. It seems like it occurs in specific gears/rev ranges and just feels like the car is very low on power. My assumption is this is occurring due to one cylinder bank advancing/retarding valve timing and the other not acting similarly. He’s going to work through getting to the cams and will report if there’s something simpler going on (ex: the plastic guides on the tensioner failed instead of the whole part).

Hopefully this is it and I can get out on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the next couple weeks. Wish me luck.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by -tWv-

Got the report back from the shop today. Looks like everything looks good from a mechanical perspective on the timing. Unfortunately, that means there’s some sort of deeper issue and the mechanic thinks it has to be the timing chain actuator/tensioner. Unfortunately this part alone is over $1200 and it’s about 10 hours of labor to put it in. Bill just over $3k ....

I’m going to go ahead with it because his analysis makes sense from what I’m feeling with the car. It starts and drives just fine so I don’t think I’m getting a consistent misfire. It seems like it occurs in specific gears/rev ranges and just feels like the car is very low on power. My assumption is this is occurring due to one cylinder bank advancing/retarding valve timing and the other not acting similarly. He’s going to work through getting to the cams and will report if there’s something simpler going on (ex: the plastic guides on the tensioner failed instead of the whole part).

Hopefully this is it and I can get out on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the next couple weeks. Wish me luck.

When your mechanic is talking about the timing chain tensioner/actuator (so you and I are on the same page). I am going to assume he means the Variocam actuators.
Did he test the function of the actuator??
I can test the function of mine with my Foxwell scanner.
I run the RPM's up to I think it is 1500 RPM and I watch the exhaust cams jump in advance by 25 degrees.
Or I go to the testing functions and actuate them with the scanner and The engine responds differently so I know if they are working or not.
Your mechanic should be able to verify if the actuators are functioning or not

As you stated:
There are wear pads on the actuators so if they are worn out the actuators can be fine and still not advance the cams properly.
Wear pads are cheap actuators expensive.

Hope this info is of some help.
Keep us posted with the out come.

[-tWv-]

Originally Posted by blue62

When your mechanic is talking about the timing chain tensioner/actuator (so you and I are on the same page). I am going to assume he means the Variocam actuators.
Did he test the function of the actuator??
I can test the function of mine with my Foxwell scanner.
I run the RPM's up to I think it is 1500 RPM and I watch the exhaust cams jump in advance by 25 degrees.
Or I go to the testing functions and actuate them with the scanner and The engine responds differently so I know if they are working or not.
Your mechanic should be able to verify if the actuators are functioning or not

As you stated:
There are wear pads on the actuators so if they are worn out the actuators can be fine and still not advance the cams properly.
Wear pads are cheap actuators expensive.

Hope this info is of some help.
Keep us posted with the out come.

You are correct, talking about the VarioCam actuator. He’s going to test the actuator function today and confirm there’s a cam position mismatch before moving further.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by -tWv-

You are correct, talking about the VarioCam actuator. He’s going to test the actuator function today and confirm there’s a cam position mismatch before moving further.

Good luck let us know how you go.

[-tWv-]

Originally Posted by blue62

Good luck let us know how you go.

Mechanic confirmed today that bank 1 camshaft position is off by about 20 degrees as compared to bank 2. Bank 1 has all the CEL codes, so solidifies the variocam actuator theory. He’s going to start tearing ‘er apart tomorrow.

[blue62]

Originally Posted by -tWv-

Mechanic confirmed today that bank 1 camshaft position is off by about 20 degrees as compared to bank 2. Bank 1 has all the CEL codes, so solidifies the variocam actuator theory. He’s going to start tearing ‘er apart tomorrow.

Good luck with it.
Let us know how you go.
I always like to hear end results

[-tWv-]

Originally Posted by blue62

Good luck with it.
Let us know how you go.
I always like to hear end results

So the saga continues... he got the valve cover off and found that the cam timing was actually off by 1 tooth. The VarioCam actuator looked good and didn’t look like it needed replacing, so buttoned the car back up and test drove.

He said car ran well (no codes at all) after the first test drive but he noticed the water pump was leaking pretty bad so I told him to go ahead and replace that while the car was in the shop. After replacing the water pump he test drove again and now the car is throwing a camshaft sensor (P0341) code. He replaced the sensor and the code is still showing up. He has checked the cam timing and both banks are advancing together so doesn’t seem like an actuator issue. Additionally, the car runs well when cold but starts to run poorly and feel sluggish when hot. I don’t think this has anything to do with the water pump install, it just didn’t show up until he got a true test drive with the car all the way warmed up.

He’s keeping the car over the weekend and looking into it more next week, but I’m sort of at a loss for what this could be. I guess this could be an electrical issue with the connection itself causing it to not function properly. Another thought was something is wrong with air/fuel mixture when it gets up to temp (maybe MAF, O2 sensor, injectors...?), but no clue why that would throw a camshaft position sensor code.

Any ideas?

Mechanic is going to keep troubleshooting so will post back if we figure it out.