I believe I fixed this on my car last night... (at least for now). I was getting p0021 which is the same code, but on the drivers side, and a p0300 misfire code. I took the drivers side VTC solenoid apart and cleaned it with brake cleaner, replaced my PCV valve for good measure, and now both codes are gone. Mine was misfiring badly because of the VTC solenoid malfunctioning and throwing off my timing on the drivers side bank. hope this helps.

The code is for the VTC solenoid btw not the VTC sensor (cam sensor). the solenoid is the dude with 3 ten mm bolts holding it to the engine, and one 10mm bolt holding the actual solenoid in the housing.. take it all apart clean it clear your codes and see if that helps

 

What's the PVC?

Ya I had the p0011 code changed the camshaft sensor because that's what everyone was telling me. Changed it twice and no fix took it to my local shop and they are telling me I need to replace my VTC solenoid. Wonder if I could have just cleaned it out instead of buying a new one.

 

of course the dealer said you need to replace it lol... try cleaning and testing it with a 12v source first, if it's still throwing the code, then check if the harness plug for the solenoid is recieving power.

the PCV is the little black and white valve that is attached to a vacuum hose on the passengers side of the engine. it is located on the front of the valve cover on the passenger side. it's takes a 22-24mm socket to remove. This is not likely your prob, i just stated that for the sake of completeness describing what I did to my car last night... i think it can cause misfires (p0300) but not sure if your getting that anyways

 

It was at a local Toyota, Nissan mechanic shop very good and inexpensive. If I would have known it was going to be that sensor and that I could have been cleaned I could have saved me a couple bucks but I just wanted to be 100% what it was instead of buying sensor and hoping it was the problem. Still sucks if I could have just cleaned it up instead of replacing it

 

no, it's not the sensor, it's the solenoid on the front top of the motor (silver casing with a bronze looking solenoid cylinder going into it). you can't clean the cam sensor, but you've replaced it twice so unless it's not OEM then the sensor isnt' your problem. Clean the solenoid and let me know what happens

 

Ya the solenoid is what I'm talking about. Already ordered one from Grubbs on Tuesday so it should be here hopefully today so even if I have them just clean and test the original one it won't help much because I won't be able to return the new one

 

PCV - Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. It's usually on the intake manifold on most cars. Not exactly sure where it is on ours. I'd like to know.

 

I described it's location a few posts up. its on the front of the passenger side valve cover. simple unscrew and replace kinda deal

id clean the old solenoid and if it works, sell the new one to someone who's solenoid really is defective... they are pretty sturdy btw

 

Oh ok. I meant to say valve cover and not intake manifold. I haven't paid much attention to the valve covers when I've removed the engine cover.

 

I had been having the p0011 and had been missinformed on it being the camshaft sensor well after taking it to a local Nissan/Toyota mechanic shop they informed me it was the VTC solenoid so I went ahead and ordered it from Grubs. After picking up the today from the shop the light came back on so headed back to the shop hooked it to the compute and the p0011 code came back on plus p0300.

 

did you replace the cam sensor? it can cause p0011 as well. So you replaced the solenoid, but did the shop check for voltage at the plug? not sure if there is a fuse or anything but maybe the solenoid isn't getting power

 

Ya also replaced the sensor. They where going to check the plugs and harness to see if there's anything wrong with them.

Just don't understand why changing the solenoid triggered the p0300 code

 

ok this is how i think it triggers the p0300. The VTC solenoid gets energized at 2k+ RPM. This pushes a little piston into a resevior of oil. Through some mechanism, this rotates the intake cams and changes the timing. The piston in my solenoid was getting stuck in the energized position, even when the RPMs dropped and the voltage to the solenoid was not being applied. This means the cam timing was advanced on one bank and not on the other. At this poing the ECU and physical cam timing were on different pages, causing a misfire

 

Got ya. Hoping notting else is causing the the p0300 code

 

they did replace the correct solenoid, right? p0011 would be bank 1 (passenger side)