I replaced the timing belt, tensioner, idler pulley, and water pump yesterday. Took it for a test drive and it ran great.

Today, I went to drive the car and the check engine light came on. P0014: exhaust camshaft too advanced. So I dig into the thing again and make sure I had all the marks aligned: yup, everything checks out.

What did I do? I assume this is some VVT issue (this is my first belt on a VVT Volvo engine). The car runs alright, but won't rev past 4k rpm. Idle is a bit bumpy but not bad.

An exhaustive search of the internet and brickboard has come up with many people with the same issue, but no clear results.

Car ran perfectly before without a CE light for years.

Any help? I'm befuddled!

Nate

I had a check engine light come on after I replaced my timing belt. (I don't recall the code).
The problem is that the crankshaft timing mark is very difficult to see, and what you are using as the crankshaft timing mark may not actually be the timing mark.

same thing happened in our workshop,fix was to adjust vvhub with ohms meter attached to vvt solenoid 4.1ohm and light went out

I should've mentioned--I repositioned the belt about 10 times to make sure I had it right after the code. I am certain that the crank pulley and the intake pulley are dead on.

Also forgot to mention--the exhaust pulley has a whiteout mark on it one tooth ahead of the factory mark. When I set it to TDC before taking the old belt off, the whiteout mark, not the factory mark, was even with the marking on the housing. I assumed it was a VVT thing.

I realigned the new belt to the whiteout mark. Odd thing is--if that mark was not correct, then the exhaust valve timing would be retarded, not advanced. Thus another confusion with the P0014 code. Currently, everything lines up perfectly, even the silly (and yes, hard to see) lines on the crankshaft.

Any other guesses?

Thanks for your response, anyways!

Nate

Before you took the belt off, you did rotate the crank an additional 90 degrees forward and then back, right? Forget the white out mark, that has meaning only to the PO, not you or Volvo.

BTW, true TDC is about 20 degrees after the timing marks all collide.

Klaus
--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

Thanks again, Klaus and others--sometimes I just need to get it bashed over my head.

I had everything all lined up, but with that stupid white mark which was one tooth off. Upon researching, I think someone put that mark there when they reset the VVT at some point, because there are references to 1.5 teeth ahead in directions on that. Anyways, my stubborn brain figured that if that white mark was one tooth ADVANCED, then it shouldn't call up a timing too ADVANCED problem. However, that's exactly what it did.

Put the exhaust cam forward one tooth and all is well!

Thanks again you guys--just saved me a silly trip to a mechanic!

Nate

The white out is what confused me also. I was lost when I thought you first ignored that mark and used the factory settings. Then I thought you repositioned the exhaust cam on the white mark and still had the same problem - I was totally confused at that point!

How many miles on your car? The Tbelt is supposed to last 105K. Granted, the 1999 year tensioner from the factory only lasted about 80K, but the new ones do in fact last for 105K to match the belt.

Klaus
--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

Yeah, I think I just got myself all discombobulated and stressed and then messed it all up. In the end, I somehow got in my head that when I took the old belt off that the white out line was the one to go by . . . crazy, I know.

I just needed someone to set me straight. Thanks for being that someone.

Car has 196,250 miles. Belt was first done at 101k. I have some time off work right now (I'm a teacher) and thought I'd get a bunch of routine maintenance done while I can. I could've waited until 206k and the belt didn't look terrible, but I'd rather do it early and not have it break and destroy the valves.

The entire car is actually in spectacular shape for a 1999 with that many miles. We have taken it on numerous vacations and it has always been great. The turbo still pulls strong and it has been well taken care of its entire life.

Anyways, thanks again!

Nate

Nope, sure didn't. So I failed there. It never occurred to me that such a thing might be necessary until I started reading about these issues today. Would that have ruined something?

I just checked it now by moving it 90 degrees farther and then back, and all the marks (the factory ones) line up perfectly.

The solenoid for the VVT reads 4.1 ohms--good, right?

Did I really mess something up by not turning it the 90 ahead and then back? Does the VVT need reset?

Thanks for the response!

Nate

It should be ~3.7 and I don't know the tolerance on it. I would think you're OK there, but again, I don't know how close it should be.

I'm going to caution you with I don't know exactly what code you have. For the '99 I don't see a P0014. I found it on the '01 so I'm going to give you that information because its probably correct. However, I'm not sure, so take it for what its worth. As far as I know the symptom list you should check is for control too slow, however it could be the faulty position setting it off, so you might want to make sure the belt is on the right place (AFAIK the 90" rotate forward and back releases the valve so it doesn't snap when you take the belt off.. Not sure how important that is to your issue..)

Diagnostic trouble code (DTC) ECM-644A is stored in the engine control module (ECM) if the camshaft is not in the correct position. The engine control module (ECM) registers this as a fault as soon as the engine is started.
The engine control module (ECM) registers a fault and diagnostic trouble code (DTC) ECM-644A is stored in the engine control module (ECM) if the camshaft position (CMP) sensor flanker is not correct in relation to the engine speed (RPM) sensor.
The engine control module (ECM) registers a fault and diagnostic trouble code (DTC) ECM-644A is stored in the engine control module (ECM) if the camshaft does not rotate quickly enough in response to the control signal.


Substitute value
-the variable camshaft is disabled


Possible source

Faulty position
-camshaft belt has jumped out of place on the cogs
-defective reset valve
-mechanical fault in the Variable valve timing (VVT) unit


Faulty control
-defective camshaft position (CMP) sensor


Control too slow
-open-circuit in signal cable
-open-circuit in power cable
-contact resistance
-short-circuit to ground in signal cable
-short-circuit to supply voltage in the signal cable
-low oil pressure
-poor oil quality
-defective reset valve
-mechanical fault in the Variable valve timing (VVT) unit
--
If you're not driving it "like its stolen," are you really driving?