P0012

or: “A” Camshaft Position – Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 1) (Powertrain, Generic)

Earlier in the week we were planning on going over to the Augusta Coffee & Cars thing this morning. By yesterday afternoon after the bike ride home from work we had pretty much talked ourselves out of going there. It used to be enough of a drive when it was in Martinez, but now it is in Grovetown and it is 40 miles one way to get there. To make matters worse the trip includes about a dozen miles of Interstate travel. After dinner we came to the decision deadline point and decided we’d go to the June event (check back in a month to see if we make that one.)

So instead of weekly grocery shopping on Friday night we did it this morning. Afterward we went over to a friend’s house for a visit. Besides the amiable chit-chat, I had a small job to do there, putting together the last two chairs of her new patio furniture. That was all that her niece and husband didn’t have time to finish putting together before they left to go back to Indiana. I was amply rewarded for my minimal effort by Jackie buying Donna and my lunch from Jersey Mike’s. Which we enjoyed while sitting at the new table and chairs on her back deck.

A mile or so from Jackie’s house on the way home today the Check Engine Light illuminated again. Car was running just fine, just a light. My guess was it was going to be the same code that prompted the Automotive Workbench the week before. Since that visit and since the usually reliable Emperor has become spastic I decided to buy one of those little Bluetooth OBDII scanners and download a free app for the Kindle Fire. Sure enough, P0012, Cam Position. I had followed the AW guy’s advice, I changed to some new fresh oil last Friday, but I guess that didn’t really solve the issue. So instead of taking the car back to the certified real mechanics, I’ve decided to see about fixing this myself. What the heck, we’ve got a second car to rely on and hopefully I won’t screw this up too bad.

First step was to tap in the hive knowledge that is the Miata Forum. Apparently this issue is not that uncommon and I found numerous threads to read about it there. This failure code, in spite of my disbelief last week when Holley told me about the low oil thing, is directly related to VVT oil starvation issues. The first fix to try is to drain the current oil and replace it with some Rotella T-6 full synthetic oil because of it high detergent content. Drive for about 500-1000 miles and then change back to your regular oil. That is on the agenda for tomorrow.

If that doesn’t work there is supposedly a small mesh screen in the VVT system that can be removed and cleaned which appears to be not too technical of a job. After that, the next step is not for the faint at heart, rebuilding the VVT Actuator, but if you mess that up, lookout as it is a $500 dollar part! Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I suppose before attempting that procedure I should opt for replacing the recently replaced Cam Angle Sensor in case it is bad for a tenth of the cost.