Joined the p0018 club; bizarre Intake VVTs
 

I've read through every single p0018 thread in its entirety, and now feel well educated enough to know I'm relatively screwed. I got a p000d a few months ago that was fixed by a new OCV. Got the p0018 CEL yesterday, and today I swapped the intake OCVs to see if that's it (too easy...). Before I reflash back to stock tune with OFT and bring it into the dealershit, I did some datalogging and found some bizarre Intake VVT values. Can anybody tell if this is the smoking gun that my cam sproket is toast? Only other thing I can think of is that the Cam sensor isn't properly shimmed as there is a TSB for this.

Car runs great since I replaced the first exhaust OCV. I have a 2013 BRZ limited with 60k miles, last 10k miles with JDL uel, magnaflow catback, & OFT stage 2 on 93 tune, and VIN # 605,XXX. Also my engine warranty ended back in January...I've heard of some Subaru dealerships working with corporate to pay for these issues because let's face it, this was Subaru's manufacturing f*ck up; not sure how likely this is, but that's obviously the best case scenario unless it's miraculously something simple.

I know these issues can pop up latently with a tune due to increased demand on VVT, but I got this car used with 40k miles so I'm still surprised this didn't pop up sooner. I can't even believe the car even runs this well with the Intake VVT bouncing all around. Is this car safe to drive? Unfortunately it's my daily.

Can you post tgat log to www.datazap.me

The vvt system is not active at idle as not enough oil pressure to work actuatlors reliably and the standard ecu logic foesnt use vvt at idle. So both cams should not be active.

If the vvt readings are jumping wildly then it likely a position sensor issue ie clearance, sensor is bad,wiring or connection bad. Or possibly the ecu input for cam position sensor is bad.

Can you log cams commanded position amd actual position

Thanks for the input! This is the data while on the OFT stage 2 UEL 93 octane tune:

https://datazap.me/u/majixmatrix/p00...t?log=0&data=1

I just switched back to the stock tune and the same random intake VVT readings are still present.

https://datazap.me/u/majixmatrix/p00...e?log=0&data=1

I'm worried that my AFRs are literally off the charts :/ Am I not safe driving this to the dealership?

Are you able to log both banks?

The OFT doesn't give me the option unfortunately, but I can try and use the Torque app tomorrow. It threw a p0018 code so I know the left bank is the issue. I ordered a cheap replacement cam sensor on Amazon, and I'll try that before bringing it to the dealership.

Your AFR is fine. Off the chart = fuel cut while throttle is closed and you're slowing down.

Assuming that those 'vvt intake' and 'vvt int at' values represent measured and commanded something respectively, vvt intake seems pretty wonky. It's a crap shoot without knowing exactly how those values are derived.

Well you've at least brought me some peace of mind regarding the AFRs haha. I'll provide updates.

The intake VVT looks bad.


however it could be OFT logging issue


maybe swap cam sensors and see if it goes to other bank or exhaust side


It could also be ecu input or wiring.


you realy need a logging tool that cam monitor all four vvt


Techstream or ecutek

I am dealing with a P0016 myself.......I swapped the cam sensors, then OCV's,.....same code keeps showing up.

Took it to the dealer and they said back in 16 a new computer and cam gears were put in for this exact code. Now they wanted to charge me by the hour to start checking all the wiring ??

Simmons

What is the TSB for the P0016 ?

Thanks

What are you using for oil?

The data is really odd to me. I'm assuming "vvt exh at" is command and "vvt exhaust" is actual. Those two follow fairly close. "vvt intake" on the other hand is all over the place and the values are WAY beyond what is even possible. It's showing 298deg at times. I would think maybe it was a logging problem if it wasn't for that stretch where it's no longer erratic and has a nice flat line and correlates a little to the commanded value although way out of range. To me is looks like either a sensor problem or the ECU has a problem on that channel.

Seems these ECUs are garbage.

See the thread P0016 on a 60K mile car thread. Covers this exactly. Oil may matter. Use the thin 5w20 or 0w20. Only way to know for sure if cam gear is at fault is to r and r, sadly. Bad news is that if problem has been there for a bit, ecu learning values will take a loooong time to learn settings of the new parts, so dealer procedure is to swap ecu as a final step.

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Major update here...Went to swap the intake cam sensors, and found this silver crap. I remembered I had put some CeraTec in the engine about 6 months ago after a friend recommended it to me. I cleaned off 3/4 cam sensors, flashed to new OFT rev4 tune, and the car feels much, much better. Did some data loging and the intake VVT values still seem impossibly sporadic:
https://datazap.me/u/majixmatrix/p00...a=1-9-10-11-12

This might explain why I had to replace an OCV a few months ago? I'm worried this CeraTec stuff got into all the wrong places...I'm assuming I should also try to clean off the crank sensor? Should I do an engine flush or just replace the oil? What other stuff could have I put in danger? Will the ECU have to relearn values, or is something still messed up considering the data log?

https://i.imgur.com/3d9ohup.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/z3vwrkM.jpg