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Is this CAM sensor or Valve Timing Control Solenoid?
Yesterday my SES light came on.
Below is a pic of the report AutoZone came up with.
Before I went, I ran the codes on my own and got p0011 and 0300 (using self diagnostics).
Then I reset the codes and drove around till the SES came back on (then stopped by AutoZone)
Symptoms:
Rough engine idle.
Weak performance.
Really bad gas mileage.
Exhaust sounds horrible at 3-4k RPM. Sounds like my G has the flu.
I replaced the CAM sensor 2 or 3 months ago. The car worked fine until yesterday.
Do you think this is CAM sensor or the VTC solenoid?
I got an oil change yesterday AFTER the light came on.
Should I pull the VTC and clean it? I'm not worried about the replacement cost though.
My oil was honestly a little dark...
The fact that it has a p0300 multi cylinder misfire code trailing the p0011 makes me think you may have a bank 1 intake sprocket stuck at full advance which is around 64 degrees or so. You would have to take front timing cover off to replace it. It would be a better help if we could see the intake timing on both banks when the code is set.
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
I don't know where that pic is from but that is not a VQ35DE engine in the pic. The intake sprockets are not right.
That's fine, at least I know what you're talking about now.
I'm more likely to replace the engine if I have to repair that. That's 20+ bolts, pulleys, oil pan, gaskets, and a chain kit (might as well if I'm in there).
I can direct swap an engine on my own if I'm in there.
I'm going to check plugs (b/c I never have), clean MAF sensor, swap the autozone cam sensor out anyway (b/c the autozone employee even told me they don't last 3 months and I should buy it from infiniti), and I'll go from there.
What did it end up being also throwing both codes.
There was a time when I had an issue with the cam sensor. So I just replaced that. It takes 10 minutes.
However, the error would come back again later... I believe it was just dirty oil. An oil change and driving it for a bit should make it go away.
The VTC solenoid is an unlikely culprit, far more unlikely than a Cam sensor.