3.4L Camshaft deviation on 40k mile car is 10.67 & 0 ? Can this be right?

2000 C2 - bought w 32k miles 3 years ago, now at 40k - I drive w careful warm up and then rev it out a lot. Just got a Durametric and after an hour-long hard drive measured cam deviation and was shocked by this huge number - can this be right? Car was running at idle. Haven't looked in the sump and use the metal filters w LN spin-on adapter so not easy to look inside. Did look in paper filter at first oil change after buying. Since buying I've used Driven DT40 annually or more often. Don't have past history but tracked down and briefly spoke to PO who claimed annual oil changes, but due to such light / infrequent prior use and possible oil change neglect I guess the pads are crazy worn down? I don't hear any chain slap or odd noises at startup and the car drives great. I will get a few more readings to be sure it's consistent. I was planning to DIY IMS Solution etc but looks like I need a shop to take care of chain guides (not willing to tackle these). Good excuse to replace injectors when engine dropped and he can put in all the parts I bought for IMSS, UAOS, clutch, water pump.

Update - I think I'm going to try replacing the bank 1 cam sensor to see if it helps, easy first step DIY.

What is the date on your door tag for manufacture and do u have a cable throttle body or electronic? As a 2000 u should be able to see the numbers in both banks but earlier cars can only see one side. Also what country r u in? Row cars (or programed dme's) can only see one side.

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Save time and money by not replacing it. The fact you get a reading shows it's working and the sensor's working principle prohibits it giving a false reading. Based on the mileage I agree the number reads surprisingly high. Personally, I suspect the durametric is not able to read M96.01 (3.4 RoW with cable throttle and cam sensor only on B1) correctly. Case in point: My 128k miles example always reads a steady 3� on bank 1, irrespective of rpm or load. Having seen the wear on the variocam chain pads I don't think that can be right. Hence my suspicion (and nothing further to back it up, apart from reports by other users). Hth Interested too to hear what engine (or tune) you have.

There�s a chance your cam actuator is stuck. Since you now have a Durametric-under activations you can energize the bank 1 camshaft adjuster and see if the engine lopes or responds to the activation. If not further inspection is needed. Those sensors don�t get more sensitive with age they get less.

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If it reads, it reads. Sensitivity is then obviously sufficient. Trying to activate the variocam solenoid through durametric is good advice!

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Pulling off the sump plate is what I'd do first thing. Look in sump for green o-ring cam actuator bits, and or pad wear material... Go from there depending on what you find in sump. My 2001 c2 with 35,000 miles has 5.5� dev. Not looking forward to it getting over 6� and eventually needing to rebuild cam actuators and new pads. But know thats in my near future, like ALL 25 year old m96 3.4 green o-ring actuators... Haven't seen any green bits or pad material in sump yet, and I take off the sump plate every oil change... Just going to keep an eye on cam dev, and sump debris every oil change. I'll be ready for a cel, but drive it till cel does come on. Then have to contemplate the dreaded expensive engine out full 3.4 m96 maintenance, or engine swap or possible rebuild...

Remember that the cam position and deviation is READ off of the intake cam, but the Cam Timing is actually manually SET on the exhaust cam ..meaning the small chain can be a tooth off and the CAM Tools will still say the CAM is in time.......and also the "pointer" can be bent on the intake cam ... Usually when the INtake cam is 1 tooth off it is about 15 degrees, so you could only have 5 degrees of wear but are 15 degrees out of time and that would show as 10 degrees deviation.. Also note that anytime you see 0.00 degree on a Cam Value it is not plausible... You will NEVER have exactly 0.00 degrees on any CAM value... So if you have a 0.00 Cam value ( and no fault code) .. Then the Tester is even reading the Sensor...Could be because of the DME.5.2.2 or a ROW engine or an ROW Software...or a glitch in the Tester ..

Here's images of the Cam Deviation values of my 996 with 3.4 (MY 2001) originally sold in Finland, so RoW car -> cam sensor only only Bank 1. First image is from October 2025, a day before taking my car off the road for winter (-9.08 Cam Deviation, but no CEL). Second image is from May 2026 as I had driven with car approximately 650km after larger service, including couple of engine testing track days (-0.17 Cam Deviation). I did do this past winter rather large service also to the engine, inclunding the following: - Variocam chains replacement (between cams) - Variocam chainpads replacement - Variocam actuator rebuild with seals replacement on both banks Before / during the service I found: - Oil filter had couple of small green bits of O-ring material - The chain pads were in rather well worn state, but not missing large chunks. - bank 1 Variocam actuator was missing one green O-ring seal completely - timing on variocam chains were both banks exactly as those should be (no jumped chainlinks) From what I have experienced and read from the forums (also in this thread before me) there are three good possibilities for your high Cam Deviation value: - Variocam actuator is stuck - Variocam cain pad(s) are toast - could be missing a larger chunk. - if you can see from Durametric (or PIWIS?) an over rev use, there is a good possibility for cam chain has jumped a teeth

Was wondering if by chance the IMS sprocket could have slipped a fraction and retarded timing on other cams. One way to test that possibility would be by replacing bank 2 sensor . The motronic on my car reads the newest sensor. Or taking cam plugs out and checking timing.

Thanks everyone for the good information. Car is USA, 9/99 production, e-gas, no prior tune as far as I know, should be original DME. Tried a scan again, engine up to full operating temp but only drove for about 20 min with several errand stops but did rev it up at the end a bunch and it's 90 degrees here in Sarasota, FL. Car has always driven perfectly - never CEL, very strong smooth acceleration through the whole rev range. Bank 2 was never 0 this time so it at least partially works? Under "Activations" at idle I activated both banks separately and felt a change in idle so both are working to some degree. Initial scan today (bank 2 was 0 the day before). when bank 2 was activated after deactivating bank 2