Hallo
I live in Sweden and I have Grande Punto 1.4 bensin 2006. Check engine light is on with code P0016. It has been in Fiat workshop for three months ago, they just could not fix it. They changed timing belt and timing wheel for the cam shift and water pump. The changed cam and crank shift posit

Is it the 16v I had this error its called the vvt or sommit like that. It sits on the rocker cover below the bracket for the air filter. Oil goes in and out, i took mine apart and cleaned it all only do if confident though, there is a small clip at the top to get the piston out after doing it the error went. Also the connector gets oil in it.

They have already changed it the vvt actuator. It dose not fix the problem.

sounds like the only parts not changed were the crankshaft pulley/pulleys?
does the car drive correctly?

The car drivs badly. no power att all. The pulley seems new .

Halo again
I bought the tools and reset the timing belt three times. It did not help. But I noticed that when I plug out the connector to the vvt actuator it drive normal and above 400 rpm. The moment I plug it in I get p0016. Now it is working but without vvt system .

Hej,

the VVT (Variable Valve Timing) actuator or better Phase Transformer as called by Fiat, modifies the angular position of the camshaft related to its pulley in order to optimize the engine breathing at various speed /loads. To do so the ECU needs to know the camshaft position relatively to the crankshaft so it compares the signals of TWO sensors reading those shaft angular positions.
If the ECU computes a bad camshaft position, it will try to correct it by moving the Phase Transformer, but won't succeed since the signal is still wrong, resulting in a TRUE bad camshaft position and finally throw the P0016.
Since the fuel injection point is set by the crankshaft position (more precise and not floating) and this seems to be ok, I'd suspect the camshaft (timing) sensor to be bad.
Have to dig deeper in eLearn to see what kind of signal we're looking at and the control procedure (if any) for this sensor...

Regards, Bernie
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First post says crank and cam sensors changed.

I think that's what poster meant.

" The changed cam and crank shift posit "

You're probably right Jack, wasn't that obvious to me ! Anyway, the reasoning is still valid, the problem can come from a bad connection / wiring ...

Regards, Bernie

No offence meant Bernie!
Agree with checking wiring to crank and cam sensors.
Do you know a simple check the OP can carry out on the crank and cam sensor connectors using a volt meter, with the ignition on , to verify the wiring is intact from ecu to connectors?

Hallo again
Any one has any idea. I tried almost every thing. Now i drive it with the vvt actuator plug out. It runs without any problem for about 05 km then i get check engine light on with camshaft code. While it is running i learnde to do the following. I plug the vvt actuator in when it is running ok efter i get the camshaft code , when i plug in the actuator it begins to ideal roughly and i still have the same code. So i should plug in then out the actuator, shut off the car, erase the code and start it. Then it will run smoothly with full power for more 5-7 km.

This phase transformer can modify the camshaft angular position in both direction; when not actuated the cams are at standard setup and the engine runs smoothly. When asked to shift position, this device will optimize the cams position and the engine still runs smoothly for the current situation...
What would happen if it act reverse-wise ? The cams setup would be very bad and the engine will run very bad as well !
Don't know exactly how it is build but I suggest to check everything that could lead the actuator to work the wrong way, piping, wiring, internal valve ...

Regards, Bernie

With the single cam engine, after a cambelt change the ECU needs to be made to realign itself to the crank and cam sensors. "Phonic wheel relearn" I think is the phrase.
Is there a similar procedure for the 16v? If so, might be a fix.

Recently I did a little diagnostic on the car, I noticed that the vvt solenoid is getting 12 V all the time. Should it be so. ??

No, certainly not !

when engine is running at normal speed, say 80mph on highway and driving relax, the camshaft should be in its "neutral" position and correction should only occur if needed by a change in the driving condition (pedal down, hill, take-over etc.).
Proof is the engine runs ok when the valve is disconnected so there is NO compensation on the camshaft; of course there is NO optimization possible neither so possibly a bit less power and a bit more consumption...
Why is the ECU sending 12V permanently to the valve ? No clue, could be the output stage, or a bad reading of one of the sensors, or sensor cable to ground. Sadly I have not enough information about HOW the system works (i.e what kind of signals) to be more precise, but I'd concentrate on the sensors wiring first.

BRs, Bernie

hello. does anyone has the vvt wiring diagram.

Hi there,

have been digging deep in e-Learn but couldn't find any specific drawing. The phase transformer function itself is describbed but the components are not listed in the drawing, eventhough they are represented !
The description says N076 as actuator valve so I think they used the same naming in the drawing. If so, the N076 is direcly driven by the ECU, probably by a PWM based signal (why you get a permanent 12v on it...).
Need confirmation from specialists though !

BRs, Bernie

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Hello,

I am new to owning a Fiat and also to this forum.
I recently purchased a Fiat Punto Evo (2010) 1.4 8V that suffers from the p0016 error.
The maintenance center has serviced the car completely (as it is bought second hand). The timing belt set has been changed along with the water pump and the camshaft dephaser pulley. The timing has been checked multiple times and was done with the proper set of tools but the error won't go away. The sensors have been checked and were temporarily swapped with new but the error persists.
I have yet to attempt disconnecting the vvt actuator.
I was wondering if the root cause in the case of the thread originator has been identified/resolved.

Thanks.

Unfortunately Nabih did not share its progress with us :-( so no one knows if it had been fixed or not and what was the culprit ...

Disconnecting the actuator and getting the car running ok for a while would prove the ECU drives it bad. Has the relearn procedure been performed by the service center ??

BRs, Bernie

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