P0084 Intake VVT Solenoid Fault

I have a 2010 2.9L Cayman with 100k miles. Engine seems to run fine but recently came up with a P0084 intake valve control solenoid circuit range/performance BANK 2 along with P0300, P0301, P0302 & P0303 (all on bank 1). Took a chance and replaced the bank 2 intake VVT solenoid, but it didn't fix the problem. Has anyone had this same trouble before? For background, the coils and plugs are about 20k miles old and were replaced with factory parts at the dealership. Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

Actual Porsche descriptions for those codes: P0084: Diagnosis Information - DME Valve Lift Control Driver, Above Limit Value Valve Lift Control Driver, Open Circuit P0300: Diagnosis information - DME Cylinder-specific misfire NOTE 1 : The fault types have a special meaning in the case of misfires: Fault type Implausible signal: Exhaust-related fault after engine start Fault type Limit value not reached: Exhaust-related fault during driving Fault type Limit value exceeded: Fault damaging to catalytic converter NOTE 2 : The sum fault P0300 is always entered in addition to other misfires It is possible that misfires have occurred for one or more cylinders. Detecting the misfire can block the fuel injection for the remainder of the driving cycle after a permanent misfire is detected on the cylinder in question. Misfire detection remains active. Diagnostic conditions Engine running Engine load > 4 % up to 25 %, depending on engine speed Intake air temperature > -30 °C (-22 °F) No fault in crankshaft sensor In the event of misfires while driving: level road conditions (= not a bumpy road) Possible fault causes - If misfires occur for only one cylinder: --> electrical fault in the activation line between DME and ignition coil --> Spark plug connector faulty --> Ignition coil faulty --> Spark plug faulty --> Secondary air --> Mechanical or electrical fault in injection valve --> Valve seat or valve faulty --> Valve lift control faulty --> Exhaust system blocked/constricted --> Foreign matter in intake system; this can also lead to sporadic misfires for changing cylinders - If misfires occur for a bank: --> Electrical fault or loose contact in the activation line to the solenoid valve of the camshaft control --> Solenoid valve of camshaft control has electrical or mechanical fault or is blocked --> Hall-sender rotor (sensor wheel) faulty / twisted out of position --> Secondary air --> Intake camshaft adjustment too slow --> Intake camshaft timing incorrect --> Outlet camshaft timing incorrect --> Fault in valve lift control --> Oxygen sensor faulty (also loose contact in wiring harness) --> Exhaust system blocked/constricted --> Foreign matter in intake system; this can also lead to sporadic misfires for changing cylinders - If misfires occur for both banks: --> Wrong / poor fuel --> Tank empty --> Water in tank --> Use of an engine-block heater --> Secondary air --> Exhaust system blocked/constricted --> Foreign matter in intake system; this can also lead to sporadic misfires for changing cylinders The remaining P0301, P0302, P0303 have the same descriptions - they're just specific to different cylinders. The fact that 301, 302, 303 are all sequential cylinders means the possible errors are limited to those that affect one complete bank of cylinders (cylinders 1-3). There are also error codes P0304, P0305 and P0306 - for cylinders 4, 5 6 - in bank 2. So - what made you decide to replace the timing control solenoid? Did you check the camshaft measured timing against the camshaft's desired timing? Was that off? The reason I ask - "--> Fault in valve lift control" is also a strong possibility. It's known on the H6 '09 and newer engines. The valve lift control is another oil control solenoid that selects which cam profile the engine uses for valve lift. I've also had this failure on my Cayenne turbo - the solenoid in that case is located at the rear of the heads (pita spot to get to..) The shop that did mine said it was the same solenoid as the H6 Variocam-Plus engines use, and they see those fail on occasion either from crud in them or going open-circuit. A question - you replaced the valve timing solenoid on bank 2 - why bank 2? From the error codes it appears the issue is in bank 1. Are there also stored misfire codes for any of the cylinders? The Foxwell tool can also read how many misfires have occurred on each cylinder, making it fairly easy to figure out what bank is giving the issue. And have you explored all the other possibilities listed for a failure in a single bank? BTW - welcome to Planet-9, the Friendly Porsche forum! When you have a chance, how about visiting New Member Introductions and introducing yourself and your Cayman?

Thanks for the extra info, I appreciate it. I own an inexpensive scan tool (icarsoft POR 3.0) that showed the fault for bank 2. Since I already have what is likely a good intake solenoid, I might just change it out on bank 1. I will also have access to professional level scan tools this weekend, so I'll see what info I can get from them. Stay tuned.

Someplace here on the site is a diagram of the cylinder/bank layout on a Boxster/Cayman . It's opposite that of a 911 since the engine is installed with the output to the rear on our cars. Let's see if I can find it again.. more than one person (and scan tool) has been caught out on this.. Here you are: I keep a copy of this on my phone and a printed out copy with the car documents. I think there might be one in my glovebox too.

@gmoney__831 I think you're a new owner of this car, correct? A few things to check beyond the actual codes: 1) Battery - these cars are very well known to be sensitive to "weak" batteries. If the battery is older than 5 years, I would suspect that. If it's ever been dead, I would recommend replacing it anyway. Of course, you won't know the latter if the car is new to you. You can try a battery load test to see what its health is, but I find those tests aren't always accurate. You can also test yourself with voltage measurement, and that's even less accurate. A weak battery will throw weird codes on these cars, which is why I recommend looking at that first, because it's quick and easy. 2) Did anyone replace the serpentine belt? Some people have found the P03xx codes as a result of a non-OEM belt. We don't really know why this happens, but it's a thing. The solution is to install the OEM belt, even though it costs more... this has solved the issue for at least 2 known cases...

Thanks for all the great information in this thread. Last night the car went into limp mode on two occasions (engine operating at reduced power red message). The first time only lasted for a couple seconds. the second time maybe 2 minutes. Car ran smoothly at all times. The second time, I accelerated the car up to highway speed, shifting around 5-6000 rpm. Still ran smooth, but with noticeable lack of power. Seconds after the acceleration, the instrument panel light extinguished and car had normal power. This morning I had time to pull the codes. Only DME code was P0084 for bank 2. All Data info quote: P0084 Diagnosis information - DME Valve lift control driver, above limit value Diagnostic conditions - Short test run with 1 full-load acceleration (solenoid hydraulic valve activation) Possible fault causes - Solenoid hydraulic valve faulty (short circuit of coil) - Short circuit to B+ in control line to solenoid hydraulic valve - DME control module faulty What the heck is a "valve lift control driver"? After finding this thread, I went searching for the location(s). Since the code was for Bank 2, I pulled the solenoid between coils for 4 and 5 and tested with 12v. Although I couldn't hear it click, I did feel an internal thump when power was applied. Since I didn't hear a clear click, I pulled the solenoid between cylinders 1 and 3 and applied power with the same result. While I had them unplugged. I tested the pins for voltage with the ign on, I got 12v on one pin and 3.5v on the other also had continuity on one pin and not the other (same results for both plugs). The result is I think the VVT solenoids are normal. I'm at a loss for what to check next since there were no other DME codes. I hope all this makes sense, and would welcome any ideas

Wonder if you ever found the root cause. I have a similar issue on my 2011 2.9 Base I get a "reduced engine power" warning on the tach and it is clear the intake timing is not advancing and the throttle is not opening fully. If I pull codes I have P0084 Intake Valve Control Circuit High Bank 2 which sounds like a textbook bad VVT solenoid. Typically if I drove a bit the code would clear and the car would go back to normal power, but occasionally pop the "reduced power" alert back up briefly. No other codes. https://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/more_info.cgi?pn=9A1-105-308-03-HBT So today I swapped it out with a new one from Pelican, pretty easy job but now the issue is constant and appears within seconds of startup at idle and does not clear after a short drive. I'm scratching my head.

So interesting observation. The OEM part has a teflon like seal on the tip of the solenoid. I'm wondering if that is impacting how the oil pressure flows and perhaps causing the unit not to work at all despite the solenoid being 100%. The OEM unit I removed did seem intermittent on hearing the solenoid click when I energized the terminals, while the replacement was consistently clicking. I cleaned the OEM out and it is consistently cycling when I energize the coil so I may reinstall it and see what that does. 20260717_161228 by ImageLume , on Flickr OEM Unit is on top with the purple o ring. Aftermarket is on the bottom.

Phanophish, Wish I could offer help. I just put it back together and so far, have not had any issues. Haven't driven the car very much. I have a track weekend coming up and will see how that goes. Hopefully you fixed yours by cleaning. Did you just spray it with MAF cleaner or something else?

Yea Like I say I hooked it up to a pair of test leads and then touched them to terminals on a spare 12v battery I have. Initally it would audibly click about 1/3 to 2/3 of the time and somewhat quietly. Sprayed some WD40 and then some MAF cleaner in the orifices and cycled the 12v 10-15 times after each. It freed up considerably after that process and was clicking consistently and louder. Hit it one more time with the MAF cleaner and then blew it out a bit with compressed air just to get the solvent out before I reinstalled. I will say, I'm kind of surprised it got gummed up. The guy I bought the car from was pretty anal about maintenance and always did 4-5k oil changes with LiquiMoly and had the records to show it. I did a change when I bought it about 1k ago back to Mobil 1 . It had 3k ish on the oil when I changed it and the stuff I drained looked as clean as the brand new oil I put back in. Bottom line is it was a really well maintained car and has always had quality oil. I suppose it is possible the switch from LiquiMoly to Mobil 1 had some different detergents and that caused some sludge to kick free perhaps, but that seems like a stretch. Went for a hour drive this evening and so far so good. I'll give it a few weeks, but I also suspect it may be on the way out so I'll probably return the aftermarket Solenoid to Pelican and chase down an OEM to eventually replace it proactively. I think that teflon tip has a purpose. Would love to hear from an expert that really knows. It takes 20-30 minutes to swap out the part so it is not too bad of a job. The worst part is getting the quick jacks out and getting the car in the air/wheel off. You will need a Etorx Socket set with E10 for the engine heat shield (2 bolts) and E8 (2 solenoid mount bolts) Best of luck on yours and enjoy the weekend on the track! Where are you headed?