What Does Code P0011 Mean?
- P0011 definition: Intake Camshaft Timing- Over-Advanced Bank 1
- Issue Severity: SEVERE – Stop driving immediately
- Repair Urgency: Fix this code immediately (same-day if possible) to avoid damage to multiple internal engine components.
- Diagnosis: This trouble code severely impacts the drivability of your vehicle. The most common problems consist of increased engine stalling, rough engine idle, lowered fuel economy, and rattling/knocking noises from the engine. Use the FIXD Sensor and app to diagnose and fix P0011 yourself, see the most likely fix and cost for your car, access our Mechanic Hotline, and more.
The variable valve timing system increases fuel economy and engine performance by regulating when the intake and exhaust valves are opened and closed. The camshaft(s) is(are) adjusted by the engine computer through the use of an oil control valve(s) (OCV), also called variable valve timing control solenoid valves. When trouble code P0011 is set, it means that the intake camshaft in Bank 1 is more advanced than the engine computer has told it to be.
P0011 Causes
There are many potential causes of code P0011. Some are easy to check and correct yourself, such as old engine oil, or not having enough oil in the engine. Other causes are more complicated, such as malfunctioning components in the variable valve timing system itself.
- Engine oil is dirty
- Engine oil is too low
- Engine oil is incorrect viscosity
- Camshaft variable timing solenoid failure
- Camshaft phaser is seized in the advanced position
- Continuous oil flow to Variable Camshaft Timing chamber
P0011 Symptoms
- Check Engine Light
- Hard start of the engine
- Rough running engine
- Stalling
- Rattling/Knocking from engine
- Decreased fuel economy
- Failed emissions test
How Do I Fix Code P0011?
With a variable valve timing fault, the first step is to get it diagnosed to figure out what is causing the problem.
The FIXD Sensor and app can help you diagnose and fix P0011 yourself by giving you access to detailed engine diagnostics that are easy to understand (even if you don’t know cars), live OBD2 data, and a Mechanic Hotline. You can even use FIXD to clear the fault codes on your vehicle and see if your fix worked, or simply turn off codes that aren’t serious.
> Click here to get FIXD for $19.99 for a limited time!
If your vehicle has this fault and you’re not comfortable diagnosing this issue at home, we recommend finding a RepairPal certified shop nearby to pinpoint the problem and give an accurate estimate for repairs.
These shops can not only help you figure out what’s going wrong before you waste time and money on the wrong parts, but they also offer a minimum 12-month, 12,000-mile warranty and stand behind all their estimates with guaranteed fair pricing.
How Much Does It Cost to Fix Code P0011?
P0011 can be caused by anything from old or low oil to catastrophic engine failure. It’s impossible to give an accurate estimate without properly diagnosing the issue first.
If you take your car to a shop for diagnosis, most shops will start with an hour of “diag time” (the time spent in labor diagnosing your specific issue). Depending on the shop’s labor rate, this typically costs somewhere between $75-$150. Many, if not most, shops will apply this diagnosis fee to any required repairs if you have them perform the repairs for you. From there, a shop will be able to give you an accurate estimate for repairs to fix your P0011 code.
Possible Repair Costs for P0011
Once properly diagnosed, P0011 may require one or more of the following repairs to resolve the underlying issue. These prices are based on national averages and include parts and labor. Your cost may differ depending on your location and type of vehicle.
- Oil Change $20-$60
- Oil Control Valve/Variable Valve Timing Control Solenoid $300-$400
- Engine $3000-$4000
DIY Steps to Diagnose Code P0011
Engine code P0011 could be caused by a number of things, including old oil, the camshaft variable timing solenoid, the camshaft phaser, and more. If you’d like to try to fix code P0011 at home without throwing money at parts, you’ll want to follow the steps below for proper diagnosis. Keep in mind this is an intermediate-level diagnosis and repair and not recommended for beginners. Diagnosis beyond oil level and condition requires more specialized equipment beyond what the FIXD Sensor can provide and it can be a time and labor-intensive process for inexperienced DIYers.
DIY difficulty level: Intermediate
This repair requires mechanical knowledge and is not recommended for beginners.
Tools/parts needed (our top picks from Amazon):
- FIXD
- Basic hand tools
- Fused jumper wires
- Vehicle-specific service manual
STEP 1: USE FIXD TO ENSURE NO OTHER ENGINE CODES ARE PRESENT.
Use FIXD to scan your vehicle to verify P0011 is the only code present. If other codes are present, they must be addressed first.
STEP 2: CHECK THE OIL LEVEL AND CONDITION.
If the oil level is low, adjust to spec and test drive to see if the concern is resolved. If it’s dirty, change the oil and filter and test drive to see if the concern is resolved.
STEP 3: INSPECT THE VALVE TRAIN FOR SLUDGE.
Remove the oil cap and/or the valve cover and inspect the valve train for sludge. If there is sludge, there is a good chance the engine will need to be replaced due to sludge blocking the oil passages to the Oil Control Valve(s).
STEP 4: CHECK VALVE FOR PROPER FUNCTION.
If there isn’t any sludge, consider checking the Bank 1 Intake Camshaft Oil Control Valve for proper function. You can do this by removing the Oil Control valve and supplying power and ground to the solenoid quickly using a pair of fused jumper wires. (Do not leave power applied for more than a second or two) If the valve is functioning properly, it should click, and you may even be able to see the valve move based on the design of your specific valve. If it doesn’t click or move, replace the tested oil control valve and test drive to see if the concern is resolved.
If at this point the concern persists, there could be internal engine issues, and you should have a shop diagnose the concern to avoid replacing the engine unnecessarily.
Common P0011 Diagnosis Mistakes
Replacing sensors or components without any indication of a problem with the sensors or components.
Still Need Help Fixing Code P0011?
If you’ve followed the steps above and are still experiencing check engine code P0011, please contact the FIXD Mechanic Hotline if you’re a FIXD Premium subscriber or find a RepairPal certified shop near you to get the right repairs at a fair price. Don’t have a FIXD Sensor yet? Click here to get yours for just $19.99, including a free 14-day trial of FIXD Premium!
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Fixed It But The Check Engine Light Is Still On?
Check engine light sometimes need to be reset manually, check out our article:
How to Reset Your Check Engine Light | 4 Ways To Clear It (With or Without a Scanner)
Recovering autocross and track day enthusiast. Once turned a VW Jetta into a pickup truck. Lives in a van down by the river. Dream car: 2001 Subaru WRC rally car.
41 Responses
2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. May 3, 2022 I took my car in for an engine diagnostic $200, my extended warranty was about to expire. I bought the car Oct. 13, 2021 only put a 1000 miles on it. There was some periodic hesitation like the engine needed to catch up, with my foot pressing on the gas. They said I had a few oil leaks and valve cover gasket & oil pan gaskets needed to be replaced. So, $2,100 was paid by the extended warranty. However, my warranty expired while in their possession, May 15, 2022, they had my car for a month, on June 3rd. I picked my car up, I live 8 mins away, the engine light came on the next day, after driving to a neighborhood store 5 mins away. I took it to auto zone. (Dealership was closed) Code P0011, it recommend an oil change and oil filter replacement. 2 other codes DTC
Went back to the dealer they said I need a new engine. Never had a Engine light on before! They said they found lots of sludge in the engine and metal debris. However, they never inform the extended warranty their findings before finishing the work. Grrrr!
Prayer & Plan of action: Liqui Moly (Engine Flush) to remove a lot of the engine sludge, & carbon build up. Running the car 10-15 mins then Change oil & filter (fyi: which the dealership never recommended or did, they only added oil.) Run the car another 10-15 mins, then change oil and filter again. See if engine light cuts off. If not going to replace the VVT intake solenoid. If the light goes off great. If not, I’m using Liqui Moly Cera Tec ( oil additive) to protect my engine from further damage. Ride it til it dies. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Con’t…Auto zone: other 2 codes
C1611 VSS Time-out
C1612 TMC Time- out failure
The dealership code: P0011 & P0117
Cam crank correlation fault, in history
I have a 2016 Hyundai Accent. It will barely run. Oil was one quart low. I added a quart. I have not started the engine since then. What should I do?
I went through the. Vvt stuff and repaired. Month later I got p0020 and p0021 and p0011. No power and bad gas mileage but idles fine and cranks good and runs good. And suggestions.
I am working on a 2008 chevy aveo ,the intake cam acutuator is unpluged but when you plug it up the engine dies,i checked both actuators and both are working .any suggestions ,i am all ears
2012 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.4L.
P0011 code keeps coming back. We have no issue with oil or sludge. We have replaced the following: oil switch, exhaust and intake ocv solenoids, exhaust and intake timing sensors.
Once we put it all back…we test drove (100 miles consistent) Light never came on. The car sat over night. Drove tot he store (Approx 8 miles)..got to the store – no light. Drove home from the store (approx 2 miles from store) and then the engine light came on.
The car is running smooth. No ticking noises or anything.
The only I noticed is when in Drive position at a light, there is a bit of a vibration when idling. But when in park and idling – there is no vibration.
I don’t understand that if the ECM is to detect a problem – why didn’t it detect when we test drove 100 consistent miles?
We are at a loss of what to do. Any suggestions?
ECM was replace 10/2019 from Dealership
y had the p0011 on my escalade 2007 the replace the cam shaft advence selenoid and the change the oil for sinthetich oil and my proble is still there cost me 900,00$ canadien very desapointed
Pjwr,
I have a 1999 e39 535i series5 3.5l v8 bmw m62tub35 engine.
Ive changed all 4 02 sensors ive done a oil and filter change and ive changed the drivers side the air filter sides vvt solenoid but aint changer the other side because one of the sensors has a crappy thread and i cant get it to take thread and im not going to risk stuffing the thread in the engine so until i get someone to thread it right i wont know.
Ive got the p0011 and p0021.
No engine lights on there abs and pad warning lights and a triangle light in the middle does anyone know it thats the engine light im not sure ive always had holden commodores and the engine light looks like a engine a red light this triangle is yellow.
Ive had this bmw for 4 or so months now ive changed coil pacs spark plugs maf sensor car never stalls its done 160.000kms mechanics said the gearbox and timingchain guides were changed 20k ago its ratteling when its warm.
I also have a 97 535i but its before the vvt system and its done 380.000kms and it absolutely goes hard the 99 has less then half the kms like it goes but low down powers not that great and i seriously dont think its got near as much power as the 97 173kw vs 180kw its just not the same which makes me believe theres a problem thinking old owner less kms newer car id have what my 97 has and more but i dont after i finally put the right side vvt solenoid in ill give feedback.
If anyone else has a e39 99 to 2003 please comment
P0011 code keeps poping up on my car i changed the vvt solenoid but i still have this light coming on and off i have 2015 chevy sonic any ideas?
Got this code on my girlfriends car. Checked the oil it was low. Cleared the code and hoping it runs better. Will replace the sensors next if problem doesn’t go away. Really enjoy having this FIXD device.
This code popped up recently and is my only one. I needed oil for at least 3 days since the oil light popped up then the service engine light turned on after. I just got and oil change today. Do you think it will go away? Or I might need to start saving money?
What happens if you bank 1 vvt solenoid in bank 2
Hi there
I have 2016 Suzuki Swift
and had P0011 code we replaced cam shaft sensor it went away for a day and engine light came back again. Any suggestions please?
Carl.
Hi. I have p0011 code for probably 3 years on this Nissan Sentra 1.8 engine. It runs smooth as silk but even with the timing chain work this light still comes on. I will reset the code and when my wife drives it up into the mountain that’s when the light comes on. At high altitude. She is a in home health nurse. I do t know what difference that makes but that is always the case.
where is bank 1 located on 2007 infiniti m35
I have a 2008 Saturn Aurora my check engine light keeps coming on and off and my oil change light keeps coming on and saying oil consumption 0% I did a oil change and the light for oil change still never went off it’s still saying I need a oil change also I got gas from a gas station that’s known to make cars run a little crappy cuz the gas is trash and ever since then my cars been running a little hard. When I go to take off it’s kinda puttering but stops after a few seconds so I went to auto zone and hooked it up to the diagnosis machine and 2codes poped up po306, cylinder 6misfire detected and poo11intake camshaft position timing -over-aecanced (bank 1) can someone please tell me what this could be and is it an exspensive fix??
I think you did not successfully reset your oil change counter so it is telling your computer the oil change is overdue and that triggers the computer to display the p0011 code. Setting the oil change counter to 0% is not enough. Once you set the counter to 0%. Press and hold the reset buttons until the display says the reset has been acknowledged . The codes should go away after a bit.
Here are the complete reset steps:
Turn the ignition to the “RUN” position.
Press the “INFORMATION” and “RESET” buttons at the same time to enter “PERSONALIZATION” menu.
Press the “INFORMATION” button to scroll through until “OIL LIFE RESET” is displayed.
Press and hold “RESET” button until “ACKNOWLEDGED” is displayed.
Turn the ignition off.
I have had the issues with the rear main oil seal, blowing out and losing all the oil in my 2014 Equinox. Had it fixed three times and when I got it back from the shop, check engine light was on with code P0011 stored. Since I always ran a synthetic oil in the engine, I would bet my left %#& they charged me for the synthetic oil, but put in the cheap crap. Where exactly is this sensor and will the crappy oil they put in , be the suspected culprit? I bought my FIXD several months ago and it’s a blessing in disguise. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this product to EVERYONE!!!
I had Advanced Auto parts to hook up a computer to see what caused my check engine light to come on. P0011 was the diagnosis.
However, the light went off as soon as I restarted my car. Should I proceed to try to fix the problem or not do anything because now my check engine light is off again?
Sometimes when using a OBDII/EOBD the check engine light will go off but after certain miles the computer will reignite the code and catch a misfire and check engine light will proceed to come on, I suggest you get your car fixed before problems proceed usually po11 code can lead to loss of engine power , high RPMS, very high low mileage, large consumptions of gas. Sometimes it can be the oil filter , oil change, solenoids, or camshaft sensors
All I can add is I’m in the same boat with my Equinox and I just bought it couple weeks ago. Talk about p/o over it. Thank God I bought an ext warranty that covers 75% of all engine parts n labor but the sensors themselves I might be stuck for I bet?? Either way nobody wants to buy s car with only 120,000-130,000 and 2 wks later have to spend hundreds to $1000 to have it repaired. Thinking about trying the oil change and see if light comes on again if it does. I’ll reset the light and I’m trading it in. I heard 2010 Equinox had oil n engine problems with some going thru 2-3 engines. I’m looking around already. Can’t even get it repaired til 30 days are over and 500 miles. I got screwed on this junk. I’m tired of Checy. Drove them for 30 years and every single one of them goes in the shop all the time. So long Chevy. Hello import Toyota Honda Mazda definitely not Nissan their engines suck. What am I leaning towards… A Lexus AWD SUV. I don’t know what to do fix it pay 25% of the cost or get an oil change reset the light and trade it hoping to get my 6000 back out of it?? I’m thinking of resetting the light saving the fifty bucks for a little change use that for gas for my next car. I hate to say it but our cars suck every single model and make Ford Edge and Ford Escape have engine problems same goes for GMCs terrains. Our cars suck people we all need to go with Honda Toyota Lexus or Audi stay the heck away from me Mercedes and BMW cuz I have friends who own them and they’re always in the shop. I’ll let you know what I buy. Bye y’all
Where exactly is the P0011 intake camshaft position sensor located on a 08 Pontiac G6 GT ?
Hello, I got the same code for my Chevrolet Equinox. I’ve had the oil change & the like is still on. Same code. I’ve had both sensors changed & it’s still doing the same thing.we do the test drive to check whether the valves opens correctly while the machine is on and valves were opening correctly.Can someone give me an idea as to what to check next ?
A year ago I took my car into the dealership because when I was on the highway my car kept getting “stuck”. My foot would be on the gas and I could hear my engine reving but I would slow down. I took it into the dealership (because my warranty was almost up) and they told me it was “normal”). Fast forward to now, I bought FIXD and I find a camshaft issue. Should I be concerned that after all this time being ignored has severely injured my car?
I have a turbo charged engine everytime oil get really dirty check engine light come on with the cam shaft postion sensor I replaced part is it cause I’m letting the oil go to long before changing and also i just found out I need to be running a full synthetic oil well last two times I haven’t can it seize my engine like I was told
Hi Jalaine! It is extremely important that you use the correct oil for you vehicle every time you change your oil. We suggest consulting your owner’s manual to find out what will work best for your specific vehicle.
Thanks, FIXD Team
Hello, I got the same code for my Chevrolet Equinox. I’ve had the oil change & the like is still on. Same code. I’ve had both sensors changed & it’s still doing the same thing. Can someone give me an idea as to what to check next ?
Got an email from FIXD trouble code PO11.
Check engine light was on. Took my car to have the oil changed, and the check engine light went off. Thanks to FIXD!
Awesome Jeannette! Glad we could help!
FIXD Team
I also got that P0011 issue in my Malibu 2012
Should it I do an oil change as well?
Had and oil change. Engine light still on and car stalls off when at a stop. Still getting p0011 code bank 1
I have the same issues with my 2015 Chevy EQUINOX
variable timing solenoid do i need to drive after change it, because lights still I’m trying to get a smog and a small people are saying it’s not ready yet drive it
Thank you so much for this, I have the same code I just got my oil changed and the light is off! I love this device and app.
That is awesome Debbie! Glad we could help!
FIXD Team
Every time I get this code when Advanced Auto checks why my check engine light is on, I tell them it means I’m way past an oil change. EVERY time I say that, they tell me an oil change isn’t going to make the light go off. Sure enough…. an oil change makes it go off…. until I’m VERY late for another oil change
“I don’t understand that if the ECM is to detect a problem – why didn’t it detect when we test drove 100 consistent miles?”
Your ECM is programmed to detect problems after clearing a trouble code based on “start/stop cycles”, meaning from the time the vehicle is started to the time the vehicle is shut off; not miles driven. Some manufacturers set the number at 3 start/stop cycles, others are set at 5.
That could be why.
I have a 2004 ford f150..it pops up the code for the vvt solenoid i have changed the solenoids and it still has the same symptoms.i dont know wh
Did u change the camshaft position sensors too?
The code has came on my car. I had a recent oil change. I checked oil level it is fine. Do you not understand why the light is on
I done a oil change. Light went out for a month but came back last night. Car was not driven for over a week. Can anyone help?