P0010

or: “A” Camshaft Position Actuator Circuit (Bank 1)¹

After breakfast at Hardee’s and weekly grocery shopping at Krogers in the Sonata we came back home and got in the Miata for a drive. Before getting in I popped the hood and unhooked the electrical connection to the VVT oil control valve, disabling the system. As expected, as soon as I started the car the CEL came on, and stayed on.

Cruising out of the neighborhood the VTCS surge (formally the VVT kick) happened right around 3k RPM as expected and virtually disappeared after warmup as expected. What didn’t happen as expected was the ugly exhaust note at full throttle. Also missing was the slightly out of tune feeling at higher RPMs. My highly un-calibrated butt dyno reported that it was accelerating like a normal Miata, only with slightly less power. Although the less power thing might have been influenced by yesterday’s chart…

Part way through the drive, as Donna was buying some fresh peaches at a local stand, I jumped out and reconnected the wire to the VVT system. Sure enough, as I accelerated away briskly the annoying sound and sluggishness returned. When got back home, I dropped Donna off and did one more set of runs down a local street, one connected and one not just to be positive.

Well, that confirmed it, the culprit is in the VVT system somewhere. The only things left I can think of are the actuator on the camshaft itself, a lack of oil pressure to the system or it is in the ECU itself, all of which are above my meager skills. This leaves two options; 1) take it to a professional or B) disconnect the system and live with the CEL on all the time.