Q: Engine Codes are P1663, P1656 & P1315. Car doesnt pass 45mph. I believe it may be Camshaft Position Sensor. Replaced OCV already

asked by on April 03, 2017

I’ve been having an issue driving past 45 mph. I replaced my air filter and cleaned the MAF sensor. Repalced the spark plugs, oil filter / oil change, OCV Sensors for bank 1 and 2 also cleaned the OCV filters. Recently had my fuel filter replaced thinking it was clogged, but it wasn’t. The mechanic told me I may have a clogged catalytic converter but the three Engine Codes point to a problem with my VVT. Im thinking I have a faulty Camshaft Position Sensor, causing the car to misfire and not pass 45 mph.

My engine codes are P1663, P1656 and P1315. I swapped coil #4 with #6, but nothing changed. Since i replaced the OCV, the codes p1663 and p1656 must be pointing to a short somewhere in the oil control valve circuit? I figured this may be due to my cam getting stuck because of a failing Camshaft Sensor? If i were to replace the camshaft position sensor, im assuming the VVT would operate normally and my engine issue would be resolved?

Thank in advance !!!

My car has 213000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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If you suspect a clogged exhaust, check back pressure with a gauge. You can usually infer exhaust back pressure by looking at intake vacuum (easier to measure of course) which will be out of spec if exhaust is restricted. You can rule the camshaft position sensor in or out as a cause by simply hooking the sensor up to an oscilloscope. If the sensor is bad, the waveform will be way off. With regard to the codes, each of those codes has a panoply of causes that are electrical in nature (e.g., wiring harness, terminal related). For example, with regard to Code P1315, if the harness is open or shorted to the coil position (or the ECM is bad; that’s rare, though), actually you would not expect to see any change in operation by switching the coil because the circuit supplying the coil could be the issue, not the coil itself.


I would recommend that you first check the circuits referred to in the three codes and perform voltage drop testing on each circuit to be sure there is no high resistance anywhere. If the circuits check out, the cam sensor tests good and there is no back pressure, a factory scanner will then have to be applied to determine exactly what the engine operating conditions are once the engine is loaded and you observe the fault. A scanner will tell you what is going on with the throttle position sensor, timing advance and so forth. If you want these diagnostic steps performed by a certified Mechanic, dispatched by YourMechanic right to your location, please request an engine management/controls diagnostic and the responding certified mechanic will get this taken care of for you promptly. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.

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