"Lazy" VarioCam, P1341

UPDATE: IF YOU ARE SEEING SMALL BITS OF GREEN O-RING-ISH RUBBER IN YOUR OIL FILTERS, OR GETTING CAMSHAFT ADJUSTMENT CELs, THIS COULD BE FOR YOU. The last few hundred miles I have started getting intermittent check engine lights with code P1341, camshaft adjustment bank 1 below limit. This link seems to state the only issues that can cause this code are a bad actuator or bad wiring: https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-...ml#post7495744 I have done some Durametric-ing and for the most part the system seems to function fine; camshaft is around 0 degrees at low RPMs, and then changes to ~24 degrees when engine revs are raised. Very occasionally, the bank 1 camshaft is "slow" to return to 0 from the 24 degree position; it will slowly drift back to zero over the course of a few seconds rather than snapping back immediately. The only time I seem to be able to get it to do this is with the car sitting still, if I raise the idle and then suddenly lift, SOMETIMES, but not frequently, bank 1 will be slow to return to 0 degrees. I've never been able to reproduce the behavior while driving, but then again I haven't driven more than 5-10 miles or so logging data. I'm assuming this slow return to 0 is the reason for the fault code and CEL. If I do the Durametric activation of the solenoids at idle, Bank 1 activation seems to cause a slight stumble and then recover, whereas Bank 2 seems to cause a slight surge and then recover. Both activate every time, so I doubt any wiring problem. I can imagine the solenoid being slightly "sticky" such that when energized, it moves, but when released it sometimes is slow to return to its rest position. Or I can imagine the actuator itself having similar "stickiness". I have not checked the wiring directly, or tried cleaning the connectors or anything yet, but based on the behavior under Durametric it seems that electrically everything is fine since both banks' actuators respond every time they are asked to. This all started happening near the end of about a 1000 mile road trip that started with a fresh oil change; the previous filter looked great *other than some small bits of green rubber which turned out to be the culprit. Read on* . The car runs fantastic and if not for the check engine light, I would not think there's a thing wrong with it. As a side note, my camshaft deviations have been slightly high any time I have checked them; like 6.1-6.3 degrees or so. Is this likely to be from tensioner pad wear, or something else? Perhaps replacing the actuators and tensioner pads would kill 2 birds with one stone? But that seems like a lot of work for something that doesn't really seem to significantly affect the way the car runs. Ahhh, the dilemma of Porsche ownership; to thrown money at it or not? Thanks very much in advance for any suggestions from those in the know!!

The debris from worn tensioners would normally have been evident in the pan/oil pickup strainer.That is easy to check.. Before you do tensioners and a Solenoid I suggest you research the work involved and decide if you would drop the engine to do it. There may be a few 'while you are in there' jobs pending that would influence your decision. .

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Yeah I have seen a few little specks of what I assume to be pad material in the filter over the previous several oil changes, but very small. I've only had the car for 10k miles (from 70k to 80k), so who knows what showed up before that. I have had the sump plate off and there was nothing in there or on the pickup strainer screen. I guess there's no way to know the condition of the tensioners without opening things up. It seems the tensioners can be done without removing the engine, just taking the exhaust and cam covers off, so I don't think this is a cause to take the engine out and do the whole alphabet, but I'm not an expert.

It sounds like the actuators and solenoids are working - albeit a bit slow to return to normal state. Camshaft deviations could be from tensioner pad wear. All this work is easier/more precise with the engine out...

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The Solenoids are the Engine in/out decision. As others who do this work often will tell you, the sooner you get familiar with dropping the engine, the better. In a similar situation one such expert advised a Noob that yes, you can do the job in situ but it is like "assembling a ship in a bottle".He was right.

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+1 ^^^

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Had this with my 2002 Boxster. Both the solenoid and actuator were replaced. The actuator rails were in very good shape even after 260K+ miles. I asked the tech if we should at least replace the rails of the actuator on the other bank and the tech said "no". The engine now has over 315K miles and the other bank has not tripped a P1341 (or similar) error code, any error code. The engine was left in the car. The exhaust system comes out and the camshaft cover comes off. To remove the actuator the cams have to come out. Wtih the 996 engine my info is the solenoid can be "easily" replaced. Double check this is the case and if it is then consider just replacing the solenoid and seeing if the behavior improves. If it does win. If it doesn't then the actuator becomes suspect and you'll have to remove the exhaust system and so on to get out/replace the actuator. Be aware resealing the camshaft cover is a pretty critical job. It is quite a bit more than just slathering some sealant on the mating surface of the head and then tightening the cover down. The right sealant wants to be used and the proper amount. There are videos on Youtube of Porsche engines being assembled and the scenes in which the tech takes a engine part over to a machine that lays down a precise bead of sealant. This gives you an idea of the size of the bead. I do not recall having come upon a drawing/diagram of exactly where the bead needs to be. It is important that no gaps exist to ensure the oil stays inside the cover but also to ensure the high pressure oil that flows from the head to the cover does not leak out *inside* the cover. This is an internal engine oil leak and can lead to sub-par oiling of a portion of the valve hardware.

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Thanks for the advice! Understood on the resealing criticality. Given the sensitivity here I'm probably going to be giving this to a shop anyway, against my fervent urge to never let any hands but mine touch my car My understanding is that on the 3.4 the cam cover has to come off to replace the solenoid, so it carries the same inherent risks of screwing up the re-sealing as would replacing the whole actuator. Looks like the solenoid and actuator are each ~$500, so by replacing the solenoid alone, I'd only be saving the $500 actuator cost and the additional labor of removing the camshafts and replacing the actuator, at the risk of having to do it all over again. Any advice on definitively isolating whether the issue is the solenoid or the actuator itself?? That would clarify the course of action. Although of course if I remove the cam cover to replace the solenoid and find the tensioner pads are worn down to the nub, that might dictate replacing the actuator anyway even if the solenoid is the cause of the P1341.

"Be aware resealing the camshaft cover is a pretty critical job. It is quite a bit more than just slathering some sealant on the mating surface of the head and then tightening the cover down. The right sealant wants to be used and the proper amount. There are videos on Youtube of Porsche engines being assembled and the scenes in which the tech takes a engine part over to a machine that lays down a precise bead of sealant. This gives you an idea of the size of the bead. I do not recall having come upon a drawing/diagram of exactly where the bead needs to be. It is important that no gaps exist to ensure the oil stays inside the cover but also to ensure the high pressure oil that flows from the head to the cover does not leak out *inside* the cover. This is an internal engine oil leak and can lead to sub-par oiling of a portion of the valve hardware." So, yes the job can be done with the engine in. I've done it both ways, and while it's certainly doable with the engine in, you still have to remove quite a bit of other stuff, and you need to lower the engine 6 or 8" . .. Removing the engine isn't that much more work and it gives you much better access. ** The size of the sealant bead is paramount!!! Do not use too much sealant or you will need to re-do it (ask me how I know...).The Bentley manual gives you a picture of exactly where the sealant needs be on both the 3.4 and 3.6 M96 motor. The other positive to dropping the motor is access to all the other "while you're in there" items that may need to be addressed. One other thing I would recommend is to do a ECU/DME reset after doing your work.

This was the culprit. A failed seal on the actuator plunger, probably causing it to stick sometimes and generally not move as well as desired. I have seen a few bits of this green seal in my oil filter in the past, so it all adds up. So if you start seeing green bits in your oil filter, start saving some money.

I'm glad you found a repair that works.If one actuator has failed, how long before the second one fails? I am grateful to dk (the OP )for posting this photo because of the many tests I previously documented on Renntech, none would have positively confirmed a 'lazy' solenoid or actutor caused by a broken/sticking seal. The symptoms could have been interpreted as :" solenoid clicks & jumps with 9v applied , so presume Actuator is bad & Solenoid is good.". The amount of labor involved in this job is huge and it is very difficult to reseal the cam cover with the engine in situ. So a very expensive and ineffective attempted repair could have been crowned with horrid oil leaks or plugged oilways.. Thanks to dk for taking the time to Post for us. BTW , I PM'd you.

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To be clear, this required replacing the actuator, not just the solenoid. The damaged seal is internal to the actuator and I don't believe it can be replaced with the actuator in place.

Also I have one perfectly-working Bank 1 solenoid if anybody is interested. Since the new actuator comes with a solenoid included, it was replaced, even though there was nothing wrong with the old one.

FYI to put a period on this story, the dealer tech did this all with the engine in place. There is NOT a need to remove the engine to replace this actuator.

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^^^Just to put a period on the period...Because "it can be done" with the engine in, doesn't mean you/a diy'er (especially a first timer) would want to do it that way... It just makes the job way more unpleasant and much more prone to failure (especially sealing the cam cover). Glad you got it worked out!

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Yeah I mostly added this detail so that if somebody is looking at having it done at a shop, and that shop is quoting them a big labor charge for an engine removal, they may want to reconsider.

Yup...I think for a shop that has experience with this repair it's clearly the right call and probably saves 4 -6 hrs labor.

Nice write up and discussion on the subject. Good pictures on Renntech too, so I am now intrigued as to what size that o-ring for the small internal piston is. Might have to drop by the my friends local Indi shop and see if he has any extra old pistons from with-in some old retired tensioners. Being that these cars are getting older it seems that these things begin to fail with more miles and age. I had to replace my old worn guide rails due to wear and it would be nice maybe add yet another piece (preventive maintenance) to the "replace in case it fails" part to the ever evolving list. If it was at all possible to do instead of having to purchase an entire assembly.

Lifting this thread as I found some green debris in my oil filter during a oil change and it looks exactly as these. Seen a lot of pictures with broken sealing pieces or no sealing around this plunger, but can't find a picture with a good sealing or should there be a sealing at all?

The seal is internal to the variacam that is non servicable so u wont find a picture. Its a standard o-ring from my understanding. Best thing to do is check your cam deviations and actual cam degrees between 3-4k rpm and verify the system is working properly.

I have code P1341, and greenish/brownish bits in my oil filter at last change. My Porsche specialist is telling me its the Bank 1 Variocam actuator, also called a timing chain tensioner. My question is, can anyone point me to the correct part number? Thank you

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Old thread you bumped New actuators are $1300-1800 each, depending on vendor. Much cheaper, get 2 actuator rebuild kits from Slaker/Hartech. Or send them them both actuators to rebuild. Note (The actuators are bank specific and can not be swapped side to side These are not chain tensors, they are the units that adjust cam timing inside the heads.

Most if not all these cars with 80K+ have wear on the pads and would benefit having them replaced before it's too late. If unclear, have a cam deviation reading done and it will tell how far each side is. Mine was 4 on bank one and 7 on bank two. I was finding chunks in the oil every time I changed it. I didn't want a 3000lb. paperweight stuck in the garage so I had them replaced along with several other items while they were in there. You do NOT need to remove the motor (money grab). It can be done with the motor in the car.

1. Slakker no long sells the rebuild kit. They claim that success in rebuilding is very low without the special tools they alone have. So they only offer rebuild service a $600 each. 2. Bank 1 can be done with the engine in the car. Bank 2 is almost impossible to do with the engine in the car. 3. If you have never done this before, leave it to someone more experienced, especially if the engine is in the car. If the engine is out and you are a serious DIY, you can attempt it. 4. I have never seen bank 2 fail, and I don't know why.

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Good thing I bought several sets when Lee first put all the O-rings together ...lol I can see them spending more time holding hands with DIY'ers with two left hands after selling them the kits.....Sell the Kit for $125 then spend two hours on the phone telling them how to do it.... Not everyone is a good " Wrench" ...

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Mine were done while the engine was in the car....but yes, I wouldn't attempt to do it myself and I'm a decent DIY type person. I had several items, (RMS, throwout bearing, new clutch bolts, etc.) all replaced at the same time. Total bill was $6800 for a car only worth roughly $25k :P) But now I can at least drive it knowing it's not going to blow up from that problem ?:P)

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It was actually worse than that. Customers kept damaging O-rings during installation, which forced us to source individual replacements from the UK�an inefficient and frustrating process. Then one of our builders, following Lee�s instructions exactly, botched his first two attempts at rebuilding Variocams. That�s when I realized it just wasn�t a feasible solution for most shops or DIYers. Tack on an additional 30% price increase for tariffs and weakened dollar($125 is now below our cost for a couple of dozen orings) and it made even less sense When Lee was back over a few months ago, I told him we were dropping the kits, and he recommended we instead offer a rebuild service and then designed a tool that we made and we haven't had any issues since. Now we do a set or two a month. And we�ve gone from nearly every customer having a negative experience with the seal kits to every customer having a positive one with the rebuild service. At the end of the day, that�s all I really care about. Ask ChatGPT

Hey Brandon, can yall send out rebuilt actuators and charge a core charge and then refund when I send mine back? My 911 is my daily driver. Thanks

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Sure, no problem.

I know this has been talked about at length but I have a qhestion, or rather a description. Deviation for both banks is always -1.1 and -2.7 through all rpms warm or cold. Actual cam postions Bank1 16 and Bank 2 24 at operating temp and 4000RPMs. Both snap back quickly. Is this likely a Bank 1 actuator? And why is it always Bank1? OH, 2001 996.

Specs is +/- 6 degrees, I would not worry about it yet. Variocam 1 has five chains and there is slop involved in between the crank and the cam shafts. I find that one bank, with brand new parts has close to zero deviation while the other bank will be 2+ degrees. I don't have an answer for why I have never heard of bank 2 actuator going out. I do know that the adjustment on one bank is reverse of the other bank so maybe it's the direction of travel?

Thanks. I have a CEL and Durametric gives me a P1341. I havnet done any more investigating outside of the Durametric. I would like to resolve it.

Well, you need to get a hold of something like a Durametric. Then hook it up to the car with the engine running. Activate the cam actuator on bank1 and bank2, and see where the cam shafts are with relation to the crank. You will probably find bank 2 is adjusted to 25 degrees while bank 1 only moved 10 degrees, or nothing. That means you need to change 1) the solenoid on the actuator, OR 2) the whole actuator itself. The other clue is to drain the oil and look for green and brown bits of rubber in the oil. Any green bits found means your actuator is done.

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So glad I have found this thread since my shop was clueless as to where the stuff was coming from, as I am now also a victim of the green monsters in my oil filter, actually, second oil change with these floaters. The interesting things is that my cam dev were just checked and are 0 and -3. Not bad since I am at 122k.. Based on what has been posted here, I am unclear at what point to stop driving the car and not to make things worse before I have the cash to this major repair?

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Wow, those Cam Deviation numers are so good that there are couple of follow up question: - was the engine driven propery hot to operating temperature (maybe like 20 min or so). If not, durametric shows much less degrees (I have seen in my car 3-4 degrees less figures on not properly hot engine). - is the car originally a ROW (non US version)? If yes, it will show olnly one bank cam deviation while another shows 0.

Yes, it was a 30 min drive to the shop and spirited, so when they checked the cam dev numbers engine was at the operating temp. It’s a US version. The shop was also perplexed at these numbers.

The cam deviation numbers r a smoothed value that is calculated by the dme determine the timing between the cams and crank. These numbers dont affect the "lazy variocam" codes. U need to actuate the variocams and see if they both jump about 25*. Green bits in the oll could be the o-rings and the actuators still may function fine or not. So....the cam deviations can be fine and u can still have green bits and still be fine.....for a while.