7 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHVariocam troubleshooting
Leading reported evidence
Install actuator was
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
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 performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
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0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
The main reason I installed a new actuator was that there was some wear on the metal piece of the variocam actuator that holds the chain ramp from the short amount of time it was run after the plastic ramp broke off.
Leading evidence: 'Install actuator was' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check light came' (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 performed work without a confirmed outcome
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.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Installed new plugs and swapped coil packs side to side.
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
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Suggestion · Original poster
Car was running great then check light came on a couple times an then went out.
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
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Suggestion · Original poster
I recall seeing a resistance check for the variocam actuator solenoid and using a AA battery to actuate the solenoid and listening for clicks, but cannot find those values in researching the forum posts.
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
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Suggestion
Yes It is very simple to clean & test the actuator after installing the new improved ramps & new oil.
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Suggestion · Original poster
I recall seeing a resistance check for the variocam actuator solenoid and using a AA battery to actuate the solenoid and listening for clicks, but cannot find those values in researching the forum posts.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
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.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
The main reason I installed a new actuator was that there was some wear on the metal piece of the variocam actuator that holds the chain ramp from the short amount of time it was run after the plastic ramp broke off.
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
it was A LOT of work to replace the actuator with the engine still in the car and I wanted to reduce the chance of having to do it again if the worn holder let the new ramps break off again.
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
The main reason I installed a new actuator was that there was some wear on the metal piece of the variocam actuator that holds the chain ramp from the short amount of time it was run after the plastic ramp broke off.
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.
Pelican Parts: 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: 20261027T020439Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Hi All, New poster here
Subject: 99 Boxster base 103k mile
Car was running great then check light came on a couple times an then went out.
Then came on and stayed on throwing lots of codes all referring to passenger side cyls 1,2& 3. with a rough idle. P300 301 302 303(misfire detected). Also P1313, 1314, 1315, 1319, (misfires emission relevant cyls 1 2 3). Visual inspection of coil packs revealed no cracks. Installed new plugs and swapped coil packs side to side. Reset codes and after running smoothly cold threw the same codes with a rough idle after warming up. So coil
packs ok.
The other codes are P1340 ( position of cam in relation to crank 1 thru 3 cyls) and P1531 (camshaft adjustment cyl 1-3), and P1530 (camshaft adjustment cyl 1-3) which I think must be variocam actuator issues.
I recall seeing a resistance check for the variocam actuator solenoid and using a AA battery to actuate the solenoid and listening for clicks, but cannot find those values in researching the forum posts.
Any thoughts? Help would be much appreciated.
You will need a Durametric or equivalent to see what if you can actuate the 1-3 cam actuator. It's possible to have just the solenoid bad, or it's the whole cam actuator assembly going bad. If you don't have a Durametric, the "throw parts at it" approach will cost a lot of money.
Thanks for the reply yelcab1, I do not have a Durametric. I am in San Mateo which is very close to you. Any chance you know of someone in the vicinity that has a Durametric that I could rent/pay to troubleshoot it for me?
Follow up: It turns out the variocam actuator was at fault. The inboard chain ramp (some kind of plastic) failed and broke off falling into the oil gallery. This caused the chain around the cams to slip by one half of a link and leaving the passenger side intake cam advanced 27 degrees from the others. I replaced the variocam actuator with a new one, but probably could have got away with just putting new chain ramps on the old actuator.
The main reason I installed a new actuator was that there was some wear on the metal piece of the variocam actuator that holds the chain ramp from the short amount of time it was run after the plastic ramp broke off. it was A LOT of work to replace the actuator with the engine still in the car and I wanted to reduce the chance of having to do it again if the worn holder let the new ramps break off again. It was hard spending $1300 on a part for a car that's only worth about $5k but I finally decided that was better than sending the car to the dump.
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