Ahsai

I would recommend doing the e-gas recalibration first, then verify fuel pressure. Note it's normal the fuel pump only turns on for about 1 second to prime the system at cranking. The fuel pump will keep running only if the engine fires up. That's a trivial safety feature.

Just get a genuine or Pierburg (OEM). Both use composite blades.

Check out this thread. Not saying this is your problem but definitely a possibility.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/861911-stuck-lifter-symptoms-misfire-on-cylinder-4-intermittent.html

Another one

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/996/297370-solved-misfire-idle-p0305-2002-lifter-replacement-bank-2-p1325.html

In the meantime you may also want to attach a vacuum gauge at the intake vacuum to see if the needle are bouncing. That will tell you something mechanical is bad such as a burnt valve, broken valve spring, bad lifter, etc.

What year is your 996? You may need to check the injector and coil signal with a scope. If those are normal, then it's likely a mechanical issue such as a bad lifter.

What are the cam deviations, FRA and RKAT on each bank? Just a sanity check...

Have you performed any compression and leak down tests? What are the exact error codes?

A healthy reading should be less than 1 / second square at idle (after fully warmed up).

Have you tried replacing your sparks plugs and coils? You can swap the coil with another cylinder and see if the misfire follows the coil.

Did you just get the car with this problem or the problem just developed recently.

Yes, you can monitor misfires on each cylinder in real-time. Also read FRA and RKAT (fuel trims) on both banks.

You may want to try e-gas recalibration first since it's easy and free. Do you have Durametric?

In that case, why not get a Durametric first and if it's truly a -19 degrees cam deviation, you can consider redoing it again by yourself as long as you have the proper special tools. If not, you can use it to further diagnose your problems. You can read the misfires of individual cylinders in real-time. Your bank2 variocam would have been diagnosed much quicker if you had Durametric.

You can also use the Durametric to verify the timing is done properly. Also, when you don't need it anymore, you can sell it and get back at least 50% (2 free VIN slots out of 3) of what you paid.

Either will be able to re-time bank 1 but before any work the cam deviation should be read to confirm that is indeed the proble first.  Did you mention an indy replaced the bank 1 variocam pads? If so, they should redo it under warranty.

None of the above. As discussed before the -19 degrees cam deviation in bank 1 is the likely culprit of the misfires. The spec is 0 degree +/- 6 degrees so -19 is way out of spec.

47 minutes ago, vza said:

Quick question: I assume I should clear the CEL's after doing the coil swap? Thanks V

Yes, that would be the best.

5 minutes ago, vza said:

I'll swap the coils. Maybe its only fatigued coils!! The current reading I have(-19 degree business) was with all the work complete with the exception of the DME fix. v

In that case, that needs to be fixed also because it will also trip a code/CEL. It is not currently because it's likely suppressed by misfire codes.

So your mechanic just handed the car back to you with the -19 degrees cam deviation without mentioning the potential issues?

If you believe your coils are healthy, you could swap the coils between banks in the meantime.

The best is to get a fresh reading because that -19 reading may have been measured BEFORE the bank 1 cam pads were replaced. New pads/actuators/timing will give new reading. We really need to know the current cam deviation readings for both banks to move forward.

19 minutes ago, vza said:

No only the pads or ramps on Bank 1. Solenoid and pads on Bank 2. When I brought it to indie he said the the actuator on 2 was not moving. Said Bank 1 had -19 Degree timing and Bank 2 had 0. Not sure if that helps. V

He said the actuator on 2 was not moving probably because when he tried to activate the bank2 variocam by Durametric or Porsche scanner, the engine note stayed the same. We already knew that's because the DME bank2 transistor was bad.

If he meant "-19 degrees Cam deviation for bank 1", then you found your problem. The spec is 0 degree +/- 6 degrees for cam deviation. Anything not in spec could generate misfires. That's why I want to see the "Cam deviation" reading from Durametric to see if they are in spec or not.

I would like to see the cam deviation values (from Durametric) of both banks then. Are the cam pads, variocam actuator and solenoid all new on bank 1?

Yeah, actually I always thought a generic OBDII scanner can only report P030x and not P131x.

Since the misfire is bank 1 only and your coils sound fine, timing will be a strong suspect. Did you have this problem before, especially after the bank 1 variocam and cam pads work?

Could very well be the coils especially if they are old/original. When you take them off, try to look for hairline cracks on the rectangular part. If you found some cracks, it's better just to replace all 6.

Beru. Check out warehouse33auto.com and there is also a rennlist discount code if you search around.

Are your current plugs OE and of the right spec? Is the gas fresh?

Yes, you could try to swap them between banks first.

After coils, I think next step would be getting a Durametric and check the general health of the engine since timing was touched.

Well, at least you've fixed the bank 2 variocam issue.

Have you replaced the coils? I lost track.

Btw, some tests require multiple drive cycles to set (so car has to park overnight to let the engine cool down) so even if you driving 400miles in one day will not help. It takes a few days.