P000B and P0017

[Abaier]

Hey guys, first time posting but I'll try my best.

About me: I'm located in California and drive a 2015 BRZ Limited with 32,000 miles on it, its been a dream to drive. I take it to the dealer for all the regular maintenance and do my best to keep all the papers for it, in the purchase it included the first two years of free oil changes so there was really no reason not to get it done there.

The problem:
Back in April I had an instance where I had a really rough idle, rpm's bouncing between 500 to 1000 and just super weak in general. Turned it off and back on and everything was back to normal.

Over summer I installed CNT UEL headers, and the car was doing great. Come September I made the drive down to Irvine where I go to school, and got stuck in awful traffic through LA. After an hour of stop and go traffic it got back to having a really rough idle, turned the car off/on and drove the whole way back without AC as that usually messes with the idle. This was the first time I got a check engine light followed by the car going in limp mode, made a stop to get it read and it only came back as P0420 (No cat in the header). After turning the car on again it was back to normal, no CEL. No big deal. Bought an OFT to tune the car for the headers about two weeks after that, and ran the Stage 2 Plus tune for a while, did a tank on E85 right before leaving for home (probably the best the car has ever felt ) and then switched back to 91 for the drive home.

I came home for winter break exactly a week ago (9/16) and this is when the problem got serious. As I was driving home I stopped about two hours south of where I needed to for food, when I got back in the car it began idling really poorly. Turned it off/on and it definitely started feeling really weak but I thought if I baby it I could make it home. Checked my OFT and it read that my ADV multiplier was at 0.70, which I can only assume is very un-ideal. Made it home though, and slept on it. The following few days everytime I drove I would have at least one instance of the idle getting choppy, which would go away after turning the car on/off. It wasn't until 9/20 that I got a check engine light for code P0017. I thought it might have had something to do with the tune, so I went back to the stock tune to see if that would help. It was running really well for the first time since coming back home, and the ADV multiplier went back to the expected 1.00 after about 30 miles of driving. But the following day (9/21) i got a check engine light for P0420 (again no cat in the header) and P000B. The car still runs really well, and I haven't had a rough idle but after doing some research on P000B I don't want to mess around with it and will be taking it to the dealer this Wednesday (9/26). I thought I'd take a look under the hood before that and went looking around today. I read that it could be a bad sensor so I checked the ohms of all four, and they all read 8.7 so they're all good. Next I thought I'd check the header, because I did have a little trouble with one of the nuts as i was installing. After pulling the skid plate off i noticed a lot of black stuff caked on it, which I had noticed when I installed the header but hadn't paid too much attention to. All the nuts on the header were torqued well so that was alright, but I thought I'd look at the sensors from the bottom to see if anything was there. What I saw was just awful, that exhaust cam sensor and all of the block below it is just caked with oil. Luckily it's only the front part of the engine, it does not rap around to the back at all. It starts at the level of that sensor and spreads all the way down. It isn't visible at all from the top, and really I had no idea all of that was there until I looked at it from underneath. Pics included. I checked my oil, I'm at a good level and the oil is still looking healthy. My last oil change was only three months ago (about 3,400 miles). What I'm wondering now is what I should do, maybe it's a bad seal on the sensor? Any observations or tips would be really helpful!

From the top:


From underneath:






Skit Plate:

[Abaier]

Sorry pics didnt load, here they are:

From the top:
https://imgur.com/a/Z92WbwK


From underneath:
https://imgur.com/a/sLsQokd


https://imgur.com/a/YQI0ceT


https://imgur.com/a/dbbozji


Skid plate:
https://imgur.com/a/rMNMgPW


https://imgur.com/a/5qYytxX

[humfrz]

Hello Abaier and welcome to our forum...

Yep, something is leaking fer sure.


I'd guess the leak is coming from the timing chain cover.


I'd suggest you take it into the dealer .. even if the warranty has expired ().

Maybe they can detect why it's running rough, along with diagnosing the leak.

Good luck and happy holidays.


humfrz

[Ultramaroon]

I know you tried hard to take good photos. It looks like the leak may originate from the exhaust OCV itself. The odd thing is that is the bank-2 exhaust OCV. P0017 corresponds to the bank-1 exhaust OCV.


There is a TSB out there for Oil Control Valves that fail by leaking. You might be lucky.

[Abaier]

Thanks for the input guys! I’m hoping for the best, I’ll go hunting for that TSB. Do you guys think I should put the stock headers back on before taking it to the dealership? I have the stock tune back on it, but i can’t clear the check engine light for having no cat in the header without also clearing P000B.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Abaier

Thanks for the input guys! I’m hoping for the best, I’ll go hunting for that TSB. Do you guys think I should put the stock headers back on before taking it to the dealership? I have the stock tune back on it, but i can’t clear the check engine light for having no cat in the header without also clearing P000B.

If you're paying, they can work around the 420.