Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I'm experiencing the same issue. Shortly after JDL uel catless header and delicious tune I got P0016 and P0018. I am running a Jackson Racing Supercharger so the dealership is not really an option unless I take everything back to stock. I am on my third set of OCVs, second ECM, 6th oil change, and have returned to stock header and JR Carb legal ROM.

Was your problem ever resolved? If so, what was the root cause?

Also, has anyone had success with the cam position sensor shim TSB?

Aren't you way out of the warranty period anyway so why would a dealer care, or do you have an extended warranty?

For the sake of discussion, lets say I'm out of warranty. I have done a lot of research on this topic and have found very little non-dealership related solutions. This problem will continue to plague folks as these cars age out of warranty. Any feedback is much appreciated.

Tune can often excersise the cams more rapidly or over a wider angle range. This can uncover latent problems.

If you jave already done ecu and ocv then ywah probably check the sensor clearamce as its easy and cheap. But after that it looking like cam sproket \ actuator issue and thats expensive.

I didn't mean to focus on it, just saying that my understanding is that TSBs are only covered when the car is under warranty. If I'm wrong, and they'll replace a defective part out of warranty (b/c it was defective...) then I'm at the dealer tomorrow as I just ran into the same issue last night.

When I had P0018 pop up on my car this past August, I was outside of my warranty coverage by 12,000km. I fought tooth and nail with Subaru Canada corporate for help; they ended up offering to cover the cost of all parts involved in the repair, and I only had to pay for labour at a discounted warranty labour rate.

Even if you're outside of factory warranty, it never hurts to try. I e-mailed Subaru Canada initially after my local dealer plugged me into the diag and told me I would need "the works" (ECM, OCV's, sprocket etc.) and told me I'd be looking at a $2500+ bill to fix it.

I wasn't honestly even expecting Corporate to help, but I owed it to myself to at least try, so imagine my surprise when they ended up offering to cover approximately 80% of that cost. They even paid for my rental car for the 48 hours that my car was in the shop. It was less than 2 weeks from the point of initial contact with Subaru Canada, to the day I received my car back from the dealer, fully repaired.

Again, it never hurts to try. My story might be the exception and not the rule, but if you don't ask, you don't get.

Good luck!

Update to my post as of today. I replaced the cam position sensors (22056AA270) with new and completed the sensor clearance TSB 11-130-13 with the .008" shims on both sides to bring into the 049" to .053" clearance. Unfortunately, both P0016 and P0018 came back in.

God damn this shit sucks.

Got P0016. Passenger intake side, right? 2014 BRZ, 09/13 build date.

Swapped cam sensors. Nothing. Swapped OCVs. Nothing. Massaged OCV and cam sprocket plungers, they felt smooth. Nothing. Saw that I was half a quart low on oil. Filled up. Nothing. Realized I was on the B00C CalID. Flashed B01C. Nothing.

Changing out a cam sprocket is not really feasible for me right now. Shims don't seem very convincing.

I'm seriously considering just buying a 2015-2016 ECU and swapping it in. I don't even know if this will solve the issue or if the year even matters now that I see 2015s getting this code.

Any other input is greatly appreciated.

Any updates from anybody? I'm getting a p0018 code and I just fixed a p000d with a new OCV a few months ago.

Swapped ECM about a month to six weeks ago after ocv. No further check engine lights. Worth trying as a cheap solve if you don’t see engine issues.

Has anyone with a 15 or newer ever experienced this issue?


BTW I had 0016 pop up twice with no actual drivability issues and my passenger side valve train exploded two weeks later at the track.

Ouch. That really sucks. I primarily use the car on track so fingers crossed for me...

What part(s) actually failed?