I have a 99 911 and last year I was getting a CEL 1531( Cam Adj Bank 1). I had it checked out, everything came back fine. Both my actuators work. This year the CEL came back and now it was 1531 & 1340 ( Timing Chain out of Position Bank 1) I had my timing checked and everything is where it's supposed to be. The car does not work any different than when the CEL is on. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas as I'm getting tired of taking my car to garage and spending money on NOTHING... I've spent close to $2000 in the past 2 years and 2 mechanics telling me my car works great and we have no idea why these CEL's are coming up. Maybe a sensor? Computer?

 

Have you looked at the camshaft deviation angles? You or your shop can pull the values using a Durametric. My guess is that is where your issue is originating.

 

Yes, the angles were checked and everything looked fine. Checked oil filter, no debris of any kind. Another site mentioned the small chain guide between the 2 cam sprockets are worn on Bank 1 is why I may be getting the codes. These were all replaced when the engine was rebuilt 3 years (15000kms) ago. I'm thinking they shouldn't be worn out yet should they??
Is this an engine drop issue?

 

Nice lookin car BTW Slakker!

 

My info is: P1531 - camshaft adjustment bank 1.

No triggering of the actuator, nevertheless active position. Possible causes: short to ground; actuator defective.

Among other diagnostics conditions: no fault with reference mark, camshaft position sensors and engine oil temp; the camshaft actuator must be triggered.

The cam has not jumped time, the actuator is not responding to a trigger that should have it responding and this deduced from the camshaft position sensor on that bank.

The solenoid or actuator (or both) is likely bad, but based on what you report intermittently bad.

You need to find another shop.

 

Thanks for the info Macster, I'm looking for another shop, it's just not that easy in Nova Scotia to find a shop that knows alot about a Porsche... I'm thinking of biting the bullet and just taking it to the Porsche dealer but at $140hr, I'm a little skeptical.
What about the new fault code 1340? (Timing Chain Out Of Adjustment Bank 1) Would this code be coming from the same issue? Shouldn't the car be showing some kind of the problems that come with CEL?

 

P1340 arises I think because the solenoid is active when it shouldn't be.

The two codes can be related.

My Boxster suffered a bad solenoid and what proved to be a bad actuator too. Initially the engine ran like crap. Idle speed up and down. Fuel trims were crazy. Later tech when I told him this said that in some cases the DME goes so far afield in trying to fuel the engine to get the O2 readings it expects -- but won't get because the cam timing is not right -- it can cause misfires.

Long story short I turned the engine off and shortly thereafter upon engine restart the engine was just fine. I (gingerly) drove the car home 30 miles. The engine was fine the entire way. The next day though on a short (< 2 miles) drive to the dealer it started to act up again.

Both the passenger side solenoid and actuator proved to be bad.

In cases where the problem is a "deep" engine problem -- and I consider anything that requires the engine be opened up -- as is the case for replacing the solenoid and actuator in the Boxster engine (the 996 I think one can replace the solenoid without removing the camshaft cover) -- I prefer to take the car to a dealer where the most senior tech will be doing the diagnostics and repairs.

$140/hour is cheap compared to a shop with a lower hourly rate screwing something up and there is a lot to screw up when doing a solenoid/actuator R&R.

For example, that camshaft cover has be sealed right and properly installed to be leak free both externally and internally.

The sealant seals the high pressure oil holes that route oil to the camshaft cover bearings. If these aren't sealed properly there can be an internal oil leak. A portion of the camshaft cover bearings and possibly the lifter buckets can experience less than normal oil supply and pressure. This can lead to premature failure of the cam lobe, lifter bucket, or cam bearings which are part of the head/camshaft cover.

My advice is to avoid running the engine any and get the car to a qualified shop for diagnosis and repair.

 

Ok, thanks for your opinion on the problem. I just wish the car was running like crap as your car did so I could explain to a shop what's happening and maybe they might have a better idea than just dropping the engine and telling me there's nothing wrong I have NO issues at all that I should have when the CEL turns on. I have been reading about this problem for over a year and have read most of your previous posts from a few years ago on this issue as well as many others. One guy mentioned it could be the computer as they get burnt spots on them and it was throwing the 1531 code. Is there any way it may be a sensor as you said in a previous post? Can you tell me why my car doesn't run any different when the CEL is ON or OFF?

 

Whether the car is running lousy or ok with the CEL and error codes a Porsche tech worthy of the name should be able to make a diagnosis without having to put a wrench to the car.

The PST2 (or PIWIS) provides a fairly rich suite of tests to exercise the VarioCam solenoids and observe the change in cam timing. At the same time the tech can just monitor cam timing to ensure it is stable when it should be.

I haven't my references at hand for the diagnostic steps but it is possible the DME could be suspect but there are tests to either eliminate it or confirm it is the problem. Thankfully far more solenoids and actuators fail than DMEs.

I'm not aware of the DME getting "burned" spots anywhere. The DME can be damaged by exposure to water to be sure or being mishandled and subject to static discharge -- which is why one must be very carefull when messing with anything connected to the wiring harness -- but barring these exceptional and rare events the odds are the DME is ok. 'course, a tech would have to make that call. All I can offer is an opinion (and a hope) that all is well with the DME and the wiring harness.

My WAG is the error condition is being detected and while the threshold to set the CEL and log an error code has obviously been reached the failure isn't bad enough that the engine is acting up. Anything that compromises the engine's abilty to meet emissions is on a hair trigger, so to speak, and if the VarioCam system is acting that's pretty important to detect and inform the driver.

It is possible that if you were to monitor say short term fuel trims you might see these swinging about and if the engine ran long enough could start to run poorly as the DME went too far with the short term fuel trims, but this is not a recommendation you run the engine to possibly observe this.

Best get it to a qualified shop for a pro's diagnosis and attention.

 

Thanks a lot for the info. I will get it into Porsche to get it looked at so the tech can give me more info. I have driven the car around 3000kms with no change except for a CEL and 2 "qualified" European car specialists in Halifax,NS The first mech checked my actuators, opening and closing making sure they worked as they should as he drove the car, the car worked bad as he was making them work so I'm not sure if that is the problem. I will see if I can get the fuel trims from my code reader from earlier CEL's. I always check the CEL when it comes on to make sure it's still the same issue and make sure there is no new code. I appreciate your replies with my issue. I'll post when I find out more.

 

3000kms is a fair bit of driving for the engine to not manifest any symptoms.

This suggests there is not a real problem with solenoid or actuator. Instead the problem is one of a marginal electrical connection.

I recall years ago with my '96 Mustang GT the CEL would come on. I would read the code -- I forget the code now but it was something related to a cam timing sensor -- and then clear the code and all would be just fine for some time.

At no time did the engine ever run poorly or manifest any signs of any issues before, during or after the CEL came on.

After some time I came to the conclusion the problem was probably due to a marginal connection.

But I did not look forward to digging any deeper.

However, finally I had had enough. I managed to get to the connector of the sensor related to the error code and I just unplugged the sensor connector from the wiring harness then connected it.

This solved the problem in that the CEL never came back on for this (or anything else).

In the case of this car early on it had a number of oil leaks and the engine received a number of washings. The composite plastic intake manifold failed and as a result flooded the engine compartment with hot coolant/vapor. Then to add insult to injury the engine/engine compartment was washed several times to remove the traces of the coolant and eliminate the smell of anti-freeze whenever the engine got up to temperature. Otherwise, the car smelled like it had a serious coolant leak when all it was was just the residual coolant which of course got everwhere when the intake manifold let go.

While the various engine compartment wiring harness connectors are pretty good at resisting moisture which results in corrosion in this case I think the connector was just asked to resist more than it could.

A long winded way of suggesting your car's problem might just be a marginal connection, marginal due to the normal build up of surface corrosion that in some way interferes with the electrical signal.

Thus you might consider carefully (always carefully!) disconnecting the solenoid connector from the wiring harness connector and then reconnecting it. This is done with the engine off the key off and the key removed from the ignition switch.

Be sure the connector is fully reconnected. Many of these connectors have a latch that needs to engage a catch to ensure the connectors are fully connected and the connector halves can't work loose.

No need to use any electrical contact cleaner. Just the act of unplugging the connector then plugging it together again wipes away the surface corrosion on the electrical pin and socket surfaces in the connector body. If surface corrosion is the problem, then you should not see the CEL and related error codes again.

If you want to, and it is not a bad idea, discuss this with the tech and see if he agrees it worth a shot.

 

Well, it's certainly worth a try to disconnect and reconnect the connector for sure. I will give that a try when I get a chance and see what happens. Thanks again for another theory Macster!

 

Just a shot in the dark, but I had a 99 Porsche 911 that came to me after the customer had put in an DIY IMS bearing. and he had it grossly out of time. Luckily he had not bent the valves and I put the engine properly back in time, BUT it kept throwing those out of position codes. After double checking the cam timing and putting in known good sensors, the codes kept coming back, I was completely stumped !! Just for the hell of it, I disconnected the battery and put the positive and negative cables together to do a hard reset.and walla !! The codes went away..The only explanation I can give is that the 99 with the Motronic 5.2 while being a bit antiquated(so they say) has some pretty extensive underlying programming that got confused to where the proper positions were due to some type of memory or learning function that was cleared by the hard reset.