Cause
Blocked deactivation solenoid oil screen
The fine filter in front of a cylinder deactivation solenoid, and the cheapest item on a list whose far end is a camshaft.
It is a different screen from the one in front of a camshaft oil control solenoid, though the two fail the same way and for the same reason. The camshaft screen serves variable valve timing; this one serves the lifters that switch a cylinder off. An engine with both has both, and cleaning one does not touch the other.
It blocks because it is doing its job. It catches what degraded oil leaves behind — varnish, carbon, and the debris of ordinary wear — and the passages it protects are small enough that a partial blockage is enough to slow actuation past the point the module will accept. That is why performance codes point here and circuit codes usually do not: the electrical side is fine, and the oil simply did not arrive fast enough.
A quote that starts at the lifters and skips this is worth questioning, because the screen is an afternoon and the lifters are an engine-out job on many V8s.
Typically specialist work. Needs equipment or training most home workshops do not have.
Some of these codes mean you should stop driving
28 of the 29 codes this can cause indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. Which one you have matters more than the cause does — read the code's own page before deciding.
Codes this can cause (29)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
- P3402 Cylinder 1 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3406 Cylinder 1 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3410 Cylinder 2 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3414 Cylinder 2 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3418 Cylinder 3 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P341A Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Bank 1 Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P341B Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Bank 2 Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P341C Deactivation/Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Bank 1 Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P341D Deactivation/Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Bank 2 Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3422 Cylinder 3 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3426 Cylinder 4 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3430 Cylinder 4 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3434 Cylinder 5 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3438 Cylinder 5 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3442 Cylinder 6 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3446 Cylinder 6 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3450 Cylinder 7 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3454 Cylinder 7 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3458 Cylinder 8 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3462 Cylinder 8 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3466 Cylinder 9 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3470 Cylinder 9 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3474 Cylinder 10 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3478 Cylinder 10 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
- P3482 Cylinder 11 Deactivation/Intake Valve Control Circuit Performance Likely for this code Stop driving High
Information, not instruction
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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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