7 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHVariocam tensioner and interesting motor find....
Reported or suspected cause
actuator
Reported cause
No successful repair reported for this finding.
1
Identified cause
0
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that report identifying a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Reported cause · Original poster
I traced down the fault and it was the actuator and so not having the time to deal with this I took the care to an independent near Cleveland where I live.
Leading evidence: 'actuator' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'actuator' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace ims bearing as well' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion · Original poster
PS while the motor is out I made the decision to replace the IMS bearing as well.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Something is technically wrong with your description, if both keepers were off the valve stem there is no way for the motor to run "fine"...
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.
actuator
No successful repair reported for this finding.
1
Identified cause
0
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
Discussions that report identifying a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Reported cause · Original poster
I traced down the fault and it was the actuator and so not having the time to deal with this I took the care to an independent near Cleveland where I live.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
7 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T155324Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
I was getting an error code of P1531 , the ol camshaft adjustment bank error. I traced down the fault and it was the actuator and so not having the time to deal with this I took the care to an independent near Cleveland where I live. They confirmed my findings and gave me a reasonable cost to replace it. They pull the motor for this job and during the course of the repair they found something very odd...one of the cam lobes had some minor impact damage, further investigation found a valve stem keeper in the sump Luckly they found both halves of the keeper and it is complete. The tech metioned that there was no significant damage to the motor.
Funny thing is the car was running fine.
Has anyone ever seen this before?
PS while the motor is out I made the decision to replace the IMS bearing as well. The car had a replacement done in 2012, and approximately 38K has been put on the car since then.
It sounds like a valve dropped. I don't know the year of your car, but cracked valve seats are not that uncommon in 996.2 (3.6 liter) engines. Send the heads to Hoffman to get reworked. Also, if you haven't already purchased an IMS go with the IMS Solution. Buy once. Cry once.
My 996.2 engine was completely rebuilt by the PO due to a cracked valve seat. It's a slippery slope when the engine is out and the heads are off.
Oh yeah it is getting fixed as we speak. I just thought it was odd. The tech seems to think that it is not a dropped valve. but also mentioned that they have never seen that before.
By the way this is a 1999 C2 with 66K
Something is technically wrong with your description, if both keepers were off the valve stem there is no way for the motor to run "fine"...
It's possible to run fine with only one keeper holding the valve, and you would have been "extremely lucky" that no secondary collateral damage occurred..
Because with only one keeper holding the valve, it is really close to "Dropping the valve" and that normally ends in catastrophic secondary collateral damage..
Go buy a Lottery Ticket NOW ..
You are correct I mis-typed, ONE of the keepers was off... and the car was running alright. the tech did note that it must have just occurred very recently. They scoped the head and found that the valve looked good and appeared to be seating correctly.
Looks like I do need to buy that lottery ticket...
Thank you for all the input.
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
