Azraely

Do you mean 99610524403? it goes on the outside of the engine sealing the solenoid from the outside?

Schnell Gelb

Yup, that's it.

Azraely

So I decided to let an Indy handle the job and the parts. I booked it in yesterday, they hooked up the car, activated the variocam and they said everything was working as expected, Cam deviations etc were all totally normal. They held it overnight and performed the tests cold and took it for a longer test drive, the issue has not reappeared. Contrast to the week I had the issue and I couldn't drive more than 30 km without the light reappearing.

The last thing I did before taking it in was disconnecting the ECU to make sure it wasn't burnt out as suggested by ECU doctors, and then I reconnected the solenoid. So maybe a wiring or connection issue, but I'm still not sure why manually activating the solenoid with the engine running didn't change the idle?
The shop suggested I continue to drive it and if the light reappears to not clear it and take it in.

Schnell Gelb

Odd. Bad connections - maybe. Time will tell. Let's hope it is fixed !

Kris Murphy

If it comes back and you need parts, I have them used sitting on a shelf pulled from a 99 C2. I'll make you a great deal.

rudydude

I just had this work done on my 2000 ME. Technically per Porsche manual the engine should be pulled but it's not really needed. At any rate, the $1700 quote is not unreasonable.

Azraely

So its been a few weeks and over 1000 km and the issue has not returned. So either it was a loose connection that I fixed when I disconnected the sensor to troubleshoot or the shop did add oil to bring the oil to halfway on the dipstick as bar of their troubleshooting.

Mike Murphy

So you happen to know what actual values to check for? I assume it's not ignition timing. I'm not sure I have any other timing to check (for valvetrain anyway) with ME 5.2 (I have a 99 996). I did check cam deviation, and it's the same as it was over the last 2 years (-1 and -3 per bank, respectively), and it doesn't change even when revving it (up to 3,000 RPM).

Schnell Gelb

I only know 7.2. We need to distinguish ignition advance( separate issue) from deviation( a mechanical defect over a limit of around 6)and mechanical valve timing advance. I do not know those specs for 5.2.Others will hopefully chime in to help you.

Ahsai

What codes are you experiencing and what are you trying to figure out?
Cam deviation should be rock solid regardless of revs. I think what you're looking for is called actual cam angle, which is rev dependent.

Imo000

If you think the solenoid is not working then start testing it with a 9V battery. If it works, you will hear the engine tone change when the solenoid is activated. Do the same thing to the other bank if you are not sure what to listen to. If it the engine tone changes, check if the solenoid gets +12V at 3000 rpms. If doesn't start tracing it back towards the ECU.

My 996 had a blown bank 2 vario-cam solenoid transistor in the ECU. BUT it took me some investigating before I was 100% sure that was the problem. Once I opened the ECU it was clear as day that the transistor/driver was blown (you could see it was burnt). The replacement transistor was $7. Got it soldered in and it fixed the problem.

Mike Murphy

That makes sense. Yes, actual cam angle.

I have a P1530 code (P1530 Camshaft Adjustment, Bank 1) and misfires across all 6 cylinders. I just had the plugs/coils replaced 1 hour ago and still have the same codes (not surprised). Wiring was tested as OK. Could there also be a cam position sensor issue? All roads seem to point to the cam solenoid, but then again, not sure why all 6 cylinders would show misfires.

Ahsai

A few possibilities that you will need to rule out systematically like Imo said. Check out his thread here. When you said wiring test out OK, how did you test it? Did you verify the solenoid gets the +12v and ground from the DME?
It's possible one bank misfiring will affect the other bank.

Oh and the cam sensor is likely OK as it has its own codes. Also, P1530 requires that no cam sensor errors detected.

Mike Murphy

Thanks. Here's what a different mechanic (Midwest Performance gave me for diagnosis: "Interrogation and inspection revealed bank 1 cam adjustment fault and misfire flags for all cylinders; bank 2 oil loss, but not bank 1. Continuity tests at bank 1 solenoid ok. Advise customer internal fault at solenoid, or actuator fault tests recommended, requires removal of timing cover; measurement of cam deviation over load ranges recommended."

Question: I see posts on how to replace the solenoid. Is this really a 6-7-hr job? And does it really require locking the crank/cams (as described here: http://986forum.com/forums/performan...iming-m96.html).

I was told by Midwest Performance Cars (Chicago, IL) that I was looking at a $2k-$3k deal. They said that by the time they pulled the camshaft cover off, they could discover things like - stretch chains and worn tensioner pads. And at that point, if that was the case, they might as well take the other side off and do the full pads replacement, etc. I guess I'm trying to understand if it's just a solenoid ($500 one at that, which has to make it into the top 10 most expensive solenoids of all time), or if they are trying to prepare me for much bigger issues. I understand tensioner pads, and if my car needs it, that's fine. But I don't recall these M96s having this as a common issue at 61,000 miles. Also, their labor rate is $160/hr and trying to keep my costs in check here.

dporto

"Question: I see posts on how to replace the solenoid. Is this really a 6-7-hr job? And does it really require locking the crank/cams (as described here: http://986forum.com/forums/performan...iming-m96.html). "

6-7 hrs. Yes...It can be done with the engine in the car, but I'd recommend lowering it a bit. I've removed the cam covers both ways (engine out and engine in). Obviously it's easier with the engine out, but that'll account for way more time as it's a much bigger job - you could probably spend 6-7 hrs. just removing and re installing the engine. Yes the cams need to be locked because the cam cover forms the top halves of the cam bearings. The solenoids themselves aren't $500 (at least they weren't when I did mine) - I'm pretty sure you can get them for much less than that ($200-$300 range?). The actuators themselves are in the $1k range so hopefully those are ok...
** The other thing I experienced after replacing my cam chains and tensioner pads was that my CEL and 1341 faults didn't go away. I'd clear them with my Durametric and they'd come right back. As a last resort, I decided to remove my ECU to see if there was something going on in there (there was some talk of a chip that would either burn or de-solder itself). When I removed the ECU and opened it up, there was nothing obvious going on so I just put it back together and reinstalled it. Upon reinstalling the ECU my CEL and fault codes were gone, never to return! For whatever reason, the code seemed to be stuck in there even though I had cleared it with the Durametric. Removing the ECU essentially did a hard reset/clear of any memory that never happened by just removing the battery etc.