Help Please... VTC Solenoids
 

Hi, can anyone PLEASE help... The Service Engine Soon light on my 2002 Maxima has been on for several weeks, so I took the car to the dealership to have it checked. Prior to this, I asked Autozone to read off the problem codes which are P0011 and P0021 ("Intake Valve Timing control circuit failure"). The engine also makes some clicking noise when it is cold.

Anyway, the service manager at the dealership said that two VTC solenoids are sticking and need to be replaced. He quoted the repair at over $1,000. My simple question is, can I just ignore the Service Engine Soon light? I mean, the car has generally been running good. Otherwise, does some sort of alternative exist to keep the car running without going broke for a high cost repair? This car has only 68k miles.

PLEASE HELP!!! THANKS!

RE: Help Please... VTC Solenoids
 

Those things retail for $165 each..... so they are chargin you like 6-7 hours of labor......and im not sure why they would say both are sticking, that would be unusual. I would get a second quote from another dealer.

Edit: and have them diag. the car, not just read the scanner.

RE: Help Please... VTC Solenoids
 

Thanks for the info. Somehow I had a feeling that something was amiss with the diagnosis and repair quote.

Someone else also suggested to reset the ECU, which I did (using the gas pedal procedure) and the Service Engine Light is off at least for now. I have yet to drive the car, however I am praying that the light does not come back on...

RE: Help Please... VTC Solenoids
 

i hope your light will not come back on, but it does, nissan have a service bullitin for your model about VTC solinoids, DO NOT CHENGE THEM DO NOT CHENGE THEM, they need to do complete diagnostic and there might be a very inexpensive or a little problem, just ask them to see SERVICE BULLITEN # NTB06-079. and aslo ask them from me"how come you say that solinoids need to be changed without proper diagnosis and without informing you that this is a known problem of maxima ???[:@]
you know what i mean if u need any help in complete diagnosis i can help
thanks

RE: Help Please... VTC Solenoids
 

Thanks for the tips. Here are the latest developments:

The Service Engine Soon came back on again 10 days after resetting the ECU. Meanwhile, the noise under the hood had become more persistent. So I took the car back to the dealership. This time I spoke with a different advisor who was more helpful. It turns that the noise was coming from a belt that needed to be replaced, not from the VTC solenoids as stated by the first service advisor. I made them replace the belts and the noise is 100% gone. So at least this is a step in the good direction.

Now I am just left with the SES light that wants to stay on. I do not hear any tapping noise that would support that the VTC solenoids are bad. At this point, it has been 3 months since the last oil change so I am going to have the oil changed. Let 's see if it helps.

Thanks for the suggestions, let me know if you have other advice.

RE: Help Please... VTC Solenoids
 

Here is the latest update. I took the car to have the oil changed 2 weeks ago. The next day, the Service Engine Soon light turned off for a brief period of time. However it later came back on.

It is the first time that the light came off (except when I reset the ECU), so the oil change must have done something at least temporarily. Now I wonder if the problem is possibly related to sludge in the engine. If this is the case then does it make sense to perform an engine flush? I have read mixed advice about engine flush. What do you think?