Hello from Australia,

Have done searches but I lack confidence so need some "final advice" from those of you who have wrench knowledge.

2002 996, 120,000 miles, oil and filter change every 4000 miles, maybe six or seven oil changes ago had some very small metallic pieces, less than 1/64 inch in size and may be only three or four, since then have had a magnetic drain plug and both the plug and the filters have been perfectly clean, engine does not use oil, starts and runs beautifully, fuel economy good.

But, about six months ago was a blinking engine check light, was away on a road trip, called into the Porsche dealer at Canberra, they were good enough to put the car in the workshop and check the codes (free of charge, really good of them), they said everything had cleared and there were no problems, on that occasion the engine check light came on twice when really pushing the car hard through the mountains, passenger/wife was looking rather grim and hanging on :-)

Then about three months ago after driving two hours on the freeway came into the city and pulled up at some traffic lights and the engine idled roughly and engine check light came on, subsequently cleared itself after the car was stopped and restarted, this has now been happening every time the car is nice and hot and then pulls up and is asked to idle, runs rough and nearly stalls and the engine check light comes on, subsequently clears itself.

Went to an Independent today, had the codes checked:
P1325 camshaft adjustment bank 2
PO300 misfire detection (total)
P0306 misfire cylinder 6
P0304 misfire cylinder 4
P0305 misfire cylinder 5

Questions...

My research tells me "camshaft solenoid" but I see there are two of them, which one is the likely culprit?

Which side is "bank 2"

Have already purchased 6 new spark plugs and 6 new coil packs, so will put them in at the same time as the solenoid (whichever one it is); can the that be done on jack stands?

Thanks for having the patience to read and provide your advice.

 

Passenger side is bank 2. I had the same issue. Change both of them out at the same time - you don't want to do this job twice. They're not that expensive. I believe one has an o-ring and the other uses no gasket so get some Curil T or Loctite.

 

There are two solenoids per bank (kinda like spark plugs so they are very easy to replace), one controlling the timing and the other the lift. See posts #1 and #5 here. Your code complains the one controlling the timing so you just need to replace that one.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic...il-what-is-it/

 

Also worth checking the transistor that drives the solenoids inside the ECU? I had a code that shoed the right bank (bank2) wasn't reacting. Instead of just replacing the solenoid, I did an extensive diagnosis and found that the transiator in the ECU was fried. Got a replacement one for $8 and has been fine for almost 2 months now. Check everything before replacing anything!

 

Thanks for the advice, now I know where to "work", not sure I know how to test a transistor although it would be good to have an $8 fix, so will try the front solenoid on the USA passenger side and hope for a result, thanks again

 

Finally got around to doing the job about a month ago, replaced all six spark plugs, they were amazingly clean for 100,000 km not sharp at the electrodes but certainly too worn. Replaced the solenoid. Replaced six coils.

Car really runs well, had forgotten how crisp and responsive the car could be, dramatic improvement, the variable timing is obviously now working okay, but then...

The first time I took the vehicle on a long run and pulled up at some traffic lights it did the same thing again, idling rough and nearly stalling, but nowhere near as severe as previously, almost like a lite version of what was happening before, put code reader on and again I have P1325, P0300 and P0304, 305 and 306.

Also, the shaft of the solenoid (the part that has the oil holes in it) had some noticeable wear but just on one side, as though it was not sitting into something that was rotating but not centralised properly, and thereby wearing away on one side only.

Any suggestions?

 

Do you have access to Durametric? I think you need to diagnose it more by checking the cam deviation angles on both banks and try to use Duramatric to manually activate the bank 2 variocam timimg. If the sensor itself is good, then you need to check all the wiring and connectors between the sensor and the DME, and finally the DME itself by opening it by visually inspecting it. Also check for burnt smell.

 

Btw, is there a spring attached to the tip of the sensor and you fished out the one old?