Customer Spent $1000...Now Runs WORSE?? (Sad Sonic -Part 1 - P0016) 

Ironic that the thing intended to prevent debris entering the valve became the debris that entered the valve...

Mechanic in training here. Please don't ever stop making these videos. I learn more here than I do in school

This guy is without doubt at the top of his game.

Does everyone give Ivan a thumbs up before they watch the video? I have been for years. Thanks for all the great content

My favourite thing about Ivan is how he always fixes things 98% of the time without new parts

I've learned so much watching your methodologies. Especially the cam/crank correlation stuff. Was able to diagnose and resolve a jeep 4.0 cam correlation code with my dual trace lab scope and comparing to known good traces online... ended up being the distributor gear installed backwards in the china factory, pushing the cam timing off by 1/2 tooth or approx 6 degrees.

A TRUE mechanic . Props to you on knowing how to properly scan and troubleshoot/ diag. prior to repairs or throwing parts at it!!

This is a very common problem with this engine. My brother had the same thing happen to his multiple times. The forums suggest removing the screen on the replacements to prevent the issue from happening.

Some of these have a plastic spacer in the early designs. It goes in the end of the cam between the cam and phaser. I think there was a TSB about some missing. Also, cams are not keyed, rely on just the attaching streach bolt. If it's the engine I'm thinking of.

He just seems to get better and better. So much patience. Fun to watch.

There is a TSB on the Chevy Cruze to remove the these screens. The filter screen on the end is to remain in place. I ordered GM/Delco replacements. I replaced both solenoids as both had broken plastic. One was made in Germany. The other was made in China. Both OEM. The first suggestion on the Cruze is to check oil level and quality. Change oil and filter if last oil change is unknown.

The more I watch and learn from your videos the more I'm glad that my newest out of 5 GM vehicles is a 1998! No over-complicated timing components.

So just goes to show take it to a mechanics garage & customer pays a hell of large some of money to have it fixed & get the car back & its Bloody Worse because the mechanic that worked on this engine didn't do the work & until a gentleman like you come along & diagnose it properly on a scanner & found the problem & you are one Real Nice Guy & knew what you were doing & solved the problem Good on you Sir & it's a Bloody shame that there are so many mechanics that call themselves mechanics that don't find the correct problem & charge the earth & there is a mechanic like you Sir that didn't take you long to find the correct problem & now the motor is running Sweet As Sir Kind Regards Peter & the Customer is Really Happy Now with the Excellent Work that you have done THUMBS UP TO YOU SIR

My son has a 09 GTI with a 2.0. Bought a larger turbo and that company also supplies a tune. Uploads it and cam timing issues on the exhaust cam. He pulls the solenoid because he thought it was a sensor or solenoid issue. His lower screen was gone. Totally. He deals with a speed shop that specializes in VW's. Good rep. The owner says it's an ongoing issue with those motors, so he always removes all the screens from the solenoid on all motors he builds. Never had a problem and most of his engines are for racing. My son came over and we were discussing the problem and I told him it has to be a bad tune due to it only appearing after new tune was uploaded and to upload the stock tune. He did and problem was gone. My point being this is sounding more of an issue weather the screens are clogged, missing or broken and jammed like yours from different mfg. My sons motor had over 200K mile on it, so he bought a low milage motor from the junkyard and had the speed shop rebuild that one so missing screen is also no longer a future issue with the old motor. He swapped the motors out about 4 weeks ago and broke in the new motor. Having the speed shop dyno and tune the new motor tomorrow. It's amazing that you post this one and I just went through this with my son and daughter's car. Daughter had a bad CVVT on her exhaust cam. Thank goodness it was under warranty. 2018 Hydia Elantra. Thanks' and keep them coming.

So at this point it seems VVT solenoids are going to be a maintenance item just like the timing belts.

They say even hypochondriacs get sick. You fixed, beautifully I should add, one issue and up pops another one that was being hidden. Great job Ivan!

There is even a service bulletin to remove those meshes. Good job Ivan!

oh god. I used to work for a small car lot washing and taking cars to smog. As soon as we saw the #P16 code, it was game over.

Super smart individual, I think the diagnostic terms/abilities goes way above normal people. Plus you are straight to the point, with no fun. I think that is a big reason for not blowing up on subs.

Great diag Ivan.after 47 years of doing this still learn from great techs like you.

2008 Astra has same solenoids; there was a "Service Note" to remove the orange screens. The dieseling for a few seconds at cold startup typically is a failing camshaft gear. For P0420, a leaky flex pipe is first check.

It is sad the customer spent so much money for essentially nothing. You came along & diagnosed the issue in a very short period of time. Well done Ivan. It will be interesting to see if the catalyst issue is directly related the the valve train issue, IE unburnt fuel making it's way into the catalyst due to the timing issue caused by the stuck actuator that you cleared.

These 1.8 valvetrains are really sensitive to oil. They run great with full synthetic (DEXOS) in newish condition. They run terrible with older oil and with non-DEXOS.

Great detective work Ivan, thank you for fixing my little econobox :D

Ivan thought he was done....no sir, it's a chevy!

Hi Ivan , great video . The next plastic part in the vvt system to break up is the plastic oil control tube which phaser bolts go through which feeds phasers . The debris spreads . Can't wait for part 2 👍

Not knocking anymore after debris removed engine running smoother very nice find looks like a confirmed fix Ivan good Repair and Find Ivan @Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics

You are a madman!! Great videos and knowledge. Please keep them coming!

Sadly I own one of these cars. I feel like i am constantly chasing issues with it. Not this issue so far! Thank you for sharing your amazing diagnostic skills.

That's true with parts like that you should always use OEM parts and if I was the customer I wouldn't mind having no filter as long as the oil is clean it's all right 👍

I truly enjoy watching you and South main auto channel's and try to mimic your diagnostics when working on my '95 F250 and '12 dodge grand caravan but so far haven't had any electrical issues.

Solid diag Ivan! Man this poor customer has been put threw the ringer. Hopefully the cat and O2's have a warranty. Thanks for sharing 👍

Thy part one. That was awesome now I no what I'm looking for great video. Going to check it out over the weekend again that's that helped me out like you couldn't believe

Nice job! Thanks for taking the time to educate us 😊

What's better than no parts required ? NEGATIVE PARTS REQUIRED ! a sonic/cruze with a p0420? nooooooo never lol

Good job! You put the scope on it and got right to the point! Looking forward to the second part.....

Wrong shop = depression and frustration for the customer. Glad they got the vehicle to you before another hack got a hold of it. Great video. Thank you PHAD

Another good video, this is the first video I’ve watched in a while as I’ve been busy with my own RU-vid journey but something to learn from Ivan 🔧💯🔧

Your great man so good at explaining and easy to follow and listen to! Keep it up 👍🏻

Nice technical breakdown of the fault and problem solving. I would have gone right to the solenoid thinking low oil pressure or a faulty unit.

damn, i love your videos Its amazing to see your skills and ability to diagnose. While I seem to always fall into the category of "learned helplessness" when i try to diagnose things, its extremely helpful to hear your voice in my head telling me to check the fundamentals first. It really helps that you were also able to hear something funky going on mechanically on startup.

A filter jammed up the works. Really great find/fix Ivan. I have a new "X Tool D8" and watching both B1S2 and B2S2 I can see, in graph form, how the B2S2 is showing the performance problem for the bank 2 cat. (P0430 code) It intermittently follows B2S1, all while bank 1 cat is working as designed. There is more needed testing but I was watching this from the driver's seat. Really Cool! The vehicle is 16+ years old, runs great, probably needs the cat.

Excellent diagnostic work! Great teaching video!

I regularly deal with that engine in the UK, one thing to note for future is the camshaft reluctors are pressed onto the camshafts and quite often people move them by using them to hold the camshafts when tightening the cam sprockets, even though the cams have flats for a spanner. This causes a real headache when using a scope to check cam positions.

Just rebuilt one of these.lack of maintenance

This seems like a deja vu moment. Was there another video with a similar situation with some little plastic thing stuck in a solenoid (or something) recently? An amazing diagnoses.

The money saved in higher mpg is spent in repairs.sorta evens out...

IRONY: when the filter itself clogs the machine 😆.

It reminds me of myself 50 years ago in this business take it apart find out what makes it tick what makes it fail and is there a possible way to prevent it down the road looks to me at the rate he's going he will learn more by stepping on his feet a few times then a lot of guys do through entire career of doing this of just throwing parts at it I love seeing the surprise look on his face during the videos when something happens he didn't expect sometimes we all get tongue-tied explaining these types of issues but I'm sure that it's going 240 through his head and he wants to get the job done and done correctly

First time watching. Great, methodical diagnostic skills! Subscribed!

When the screen intended to stop debris from gumming up the works... becomes the debris that gums up the works.

Congratulations, excellent service very honest mechanic!

The euro bolts (aka Torx, Torx plus) are for manufacturability, much less tool wear.

Great detective work. Kudos to Ivan the magician.

Nice Nice Call- Goodlookin' out,Ivan!

Great case study. I've seen the screens blown out on those solenoids before but never seent one that actually blocked the actuation of it.

Very cool. I was expecting you to do a bidirectional test on the valves at some point, but the scope wins again. Thanks Ivan!

You can't replace the water pump first, w/o first replacing the oil pump. Must take the oil pump out and carefully take it apart in solvent, after releasing the 50 ft./lbs. cap nut that holds it in. The factory pump kit for first 2.4 ECOTECS HAD PARTS THE NECESSARY FOR THE 2 VVT SPROCKETS THAT HAD TO BE CLEANED AND ONE REINSTALLED ON THE FRONT END OF EACH OF TWO CAM SHAFTS. THE WATER PUMP KIT HAD NO PARTS FOR THE OIL PUMP REPAIR BUT THE OLD PUMP THAT KEEPS OIL PRESSURE ON THE TIMING CHAIN HAS TO BE FIXED BY USING A BUNCH OF OEM PARTS FROM GM TO ALLOW THE DEALER ENOUGH TIME TO FIX THE WATER PUMP AND TO CHECK AND REPLACE THE OIL PUMP AND KEEP THE OIL PRESSURE UP AND THE TIMING IN SYNC WITH THE CRANK. YOU CAN TAKE THESE APART BLIND-FOLDED IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHY THIS WORKS AND HOW GM MANAGED TO SCREW ANY NON-PROFESSIONAL OWNER/DIYER BY GIVING THEM INSUFFICIENT PARTS AND INSTRUCTIONS AND ENOUGH TIME TO FIX IT.

👍 great work as always. Thanks for sharing.

Someone explain to me how a "shop" could return a car to a customer in this condition after taking their money?

Those cam solenoids are a fairly common problem on those things actually. What amazes me is that they made those protective screens with plastic, knowing they would fail over time and would have to be replaced eventually. But you can't simply replace the screens because no one sells them. So your forced to buy a completely new solenoid with the same weak point.

Our 2011 HHR 2.2 ECOTEC has been a great engine with 200,000 original miles we recently changed spark plugs..ignition coils..flushed out radiator filled with Dexcool..R/R front struts & rear shocks..R/R tranny mounts & engine mounts..Runs like Brand New 👍

Excellent diagnoses Ivan 😊👍 Amazing with plastic debris from the screen on intake solenoid. Maybe the new solenoid have metal cap screen instead of plastic one's. Great video and looking forward for part 2 😊

That’s awesome! Those oil control solenoids almost seem like they need a service interval for cleaning! I’ve seen very dirty screens lately especially when people don’t change their oil often.

Just found your channel, I love diagnosing modern cars. It's just rewarding to use some logic rather than the parts cannons. That pico scope is a game changer with it showing degrees, wish I had one but don't do cars for a living. I use a normal 2 channel scope and a good meter with frequency counter which can give you a good idea what's going on if you know how to use them.

Awesome German engineering on those solenoids. Maybe they broke because they’re from a BMW. Beamers love plastic parts and repair garage

Ivan, is the best and the hell with the rest! I always give Ivan thumbs up before I even watch this video.

Great diagnostic, Ivan! I saw "Part 1" in the title and when you said "this car is fixed", there had to be something else :-) Not the original fault, but the money light is on - let's wait for Part 2 :-)

It's nice to see a true analytical mechanic instead of a parts changer.👍

Ivan is absolutely the NPR KING. Just amazes me his ability to sniff out issues and so many times he doesn’t even need parts to fix the vehicle. It’s like watching Jordan ball, Picasso paint, etc. etc.

Amazing troubleshooting skills!

You're great at what you do. Very interesting. I am leaning heaps.

I've replaced many many of these solenoids on the 2.4 ecotech,in fact GM has a TSB on these too ,it also helps if the owner changes oil on time as these motors will varnish heavily too.

I was gifted my aunts 2013 sonic with 105k miles on it(she even drove it 5 or 6 hours to me since she flies for free, took a plane back). I was sad to let go of my 99 Corolla, but it had over twice the mileage and burns a lot of oil. I'm rolling the dice on the Sonic I guess. Already have had to deal with vibrations at idle due to motor mounts(that look perfectly fine when you pull them out). I've replaced the top two and it did help a ton with it, so hoping the bottom one gets rid of it altogether, I have a sensitive spine so it was really bugging me. They also don't tell you the motor mount bolts are TTY and need replacing after one use, and you can't easily google what size to buy to get them preemptively. That was a little basket of confusion and stress. As far as I know the Corolla has the original mounts with no issues whatsoever. Haven't watched the videos yet but I'm interested in learning more, kind of scared I was gifted a money pit, but they took care of it(got it new) and took it to the dealership for all scheduled maintenance.

The irony of the screen actually causing the obstruction is laughable. Literally better of without the screens

Ivan, Great diagnosis, analysis and NPR fix on the P0016! Paul (in MA)

Nice find On the Debris from the broken filter Stuck in the pintle on the intake cam oil Solenoid Ivan wow that is a impressive Failure @Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics

I can see Ivan doing the diag and the DIY watching this video just throwing the parts cannon at the same part.

Aftermarket cat doing what aftermarket cats do? Staying tuned...

Thanks, must be very satisfying when you chase down the fault, and bingo you find the bad guy. You have some rare skills, hope they make you rich.

Nice job Ivan. It's also recommended not to put solenoids into magnetic trays as it can damage them. Never seen that happen personally but just something I've read.

The Astra's main ground wire from the starter to the battery typically corrodes right at the starter. It shows low voltage at the battery terminals (compared to the alternator we saw a 0.8v drop). One can run a new ground strap. That extra voltage seems to pep these engines a lot but not sure why (maybe better spark?)

Wow, that's cool diagnosis too find the broken screen!! Nice job Ivan. I think the cats were clogged due to the rich or lean mixture? Idk. But it needs the screen ţ to filter out impurities to make it work. That's my guess. So needs new solenoids and let's see part 2 and what happens with the p0420 code!

Very helpful video for me. Thanks.

Great lesson Ivan

Wasn't expecting to watch the whole thing in one go tonight, great stuff. I don't know much about cars, just what I had to fix on my 99 corolla in the course of about 10 years of ownership; these diagnostic videos are fascinating though. I'm hoping my 2013 Sonic is kind to me, once I get that final(lower one) motor mount swapped out I hope the vibration at idle goes away completely. Seems GM just cheaped out on their part selection, really stupid and unfortunate. I hear the mounts go bad at least every 5 years. With my sensitive back I may do them sooner than that, not the funnest thing.

Amazing detective work

Bloody clever stuff, well done

Direction of movement on the solenoid might go either way depending on polarity applied. So there might be a permanent magnet in the core of the solenoid. Another "fun" thing is if the permanent magnet for some reason decides to change polarity. Not sure if these solenoids works that way though.

I had a Kia that had sucked the screen in the solenoid and gave a similar issue. Thanks Ivan!

Love this video already have a 2012 a tik on start up for like 3 seconds 1.8 fine for now has been buggy me runs fine just waiting to see when it gets worse this video will be invaluable to me

Love the teachings! Thanks! Also, is the thinktool pros a good scanner for jeeps and fca?

Wow, what a coincidence! Just bought a '15 chevy sonic for my daughter I'm happy to know how easy it was to fix. Not mentioned was whether this was a turbo

Thanks for your explaination it's a great help I have the same issue ,I check this, but on my car a garage change timing belt remove camshaft actuator,now it leaks oil and i thinks the engine oil is not the good for this engine.

Had a similar fault in a Holden Barina ,Chevrolet Sonic.After a lot of testing I decided to do a current draw test on the solenoids. The faulty one was drawing about 4amps from memory. It's was stuck.The good one was around 1.7amps

For mine. I replaced 02 sensors. And all temperature sensors. One zzp high performance coil. That I bought from eBay. The sensors were all OEM. The coil pack was after market. With a five star rating. I even added ordinary ac Delco spark plugs. That solved my problem. I did replace both the MAF sensor and the MAP sensor. Runs like a champ. Lastly a engine air filter. No more hesitation to accelerate when making a complete stop. Use the Force obi wan. That computer will keep you scratching your head. It's bad sensors. Bad coil

Ivan, I bet this guy wishes he would have gotten to you first before he spent what seems to be unnecessary expenditures.

Great video..Now let's start part 2 lol

Love ur channel and ur property !!

Ivan will make it go from Sad Sonic to Super Sonic.