springgeyser

After many many frustrating months of not being able to drive my 996, the variocam issue is fixed and I finally PASSED CA SMOG today.

Thank you to Kahlers for getting this fixed inexpensively compared to the astronomical quote I gotten from the dealer.

Now to get my suspension setup...

Cefalu

How did they fix it?

springgeyser

The dealer wanted to drop the engine just to diagnose the issue (>$2k).

Kahler fixed it with the engine IN the car still and just replaced the bad solenoid (open circuit). For the '99 the valve cover had to be removed, special tools are used to hold the top end in place, etc...way too much work for the little spare time I have.

My Durametric can kick in both variocam now where as I was driving around with only 1 bank working.

I just noticed you are in the Bay Area, you coming to the GGR autocross this Saturday?

Pac996

Glad to hear your engine is working good now. Doesn't sound right things not being diagnosed good enough to do the jo as performed. Oh well. Take care and enjoy.

sandersd

I recently had the same problem. Dealer switched the actuators to confirm one not working and replaced the defective one. Warranty paid for the bulk of cost but I paid $800 including an oil and filter change.

ivangene

wow - those dont fail very often. Glad you found it!

redridge

+1..... wonder if its just bad wiring or stuck plunger.

Dharn55

Springgeyser -

Are you saying the athe Durametric has a function to advance the VarioCam? I am not sure if mine are working as the actual values on the Durametric don't show an advance. Can you give me some direction on this?

springgeyser

@Doug. Durametric has a 'drivelink' feature to activate(advance) the variocam from either bank. This I know can be done with the DME 5.2 and 7.2, I can't speak about the later DME versions. It can also read the deviation that I think you already posted.

@Redridge. The solenoid mechanics was fine, it was a electrical short in the solenoid assembly. The Porsche dealer state they see the variocam issues with a 'lot' of 996s. Kahler states they see the solenoid failing but not often.

Cefalu

Were you aware of the problem with the vario because you felt power was low, or because your car was throwing a cel and when you hooked to the smog machine it failed you because of the cel, or what?

Barn996

Or did you use a code reader if in fact you threw a CEL to tell you it was a VarioCam issue ? Inquiring minds want to know.

tgt40

Excellent news!
a) glad you dodged the big bill
b) thanks for letting the rest of us know what we might need to watch for!

springgeyser

The variocam fault will throw a CEL which will cause you to fail CA smog. My Durametric caught this fault early but I thought the CEL was from the secondary O2s that were bad. After I fixed the O2s the variocam fault actually didn't trigger a CEL right away but popped up right when the smog test was being conducted.

As for power being low, I didn't noticed since I had the variocam issue pop up right after I bought the car. It 'seemed' fine when I was on the track with other Porsche and did well at AXs.


My learnings from this ordeal-
-I am not going back to a dealer for servicing.
-Durametric allowed my to identify multiple bad coilpacks also so I ended up replacing all of them.
-While the car was not being driven ...I started getting a RMS leak wherre it was bone dry before.
-Kahlers also identified a bad purge valve causing me to have a intermittent EVAP CEL.