P3461
Cylinder 8 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit/Open
- Severity
- Medium
- Driving
- Drivable — book it in
The exhaust valve control circuit for cylinder 8 is open - typically a broken wire, a disconnected plug or a failed solenoid winding. The module cannot operate the solenoid that deactivates cylinder 8, so that cylinder will stay active. On its own that costs a little fuel economy; the concern is that the same conditions which damage these solenoids also damage the lifters they control.
Possible causes
- CommonFailed exhaust valve control solenoid on cylinder 8
- CommonCorroded or oil-contaminated connector at the solenoid
- CommonWiring damage in the valve cover harness - these run hot and get disturbed during servicing
- PossibleOil leaking into the connector from a failed seal
- PossibleBlown fuse on the solenoid supply
- RareFailed control module driver
What you might notice
- Cylinder deactivation not working, so fuel economy is worse than usual
- Misfire or rough running when the system tries to switch
- Ticking noise from the top of the engine
- Reduced power
- Check engine light on
What to check, in order
- Check the connector at the cylinder 8 solenoid is actually plugged in and locked. These get disturbed during rocker cover and plug changes.
- Check the engine oil level and condition before anything electrical. This system is actuated by oil pressure through those solenoids, so oil that is low, old or the wrong viscosity causes more faults here than wiring ever does.
- Inspect the connector at the cylinder 8 solenoid for oil contamination. Oil wicking into a connector is a common failure on these engines and it looks like an electrical fault.
- Measure the solenoid winding resistance against specification.
- Read all codes. A misfire code for cylinder 8 alongside this one points at the mechanical side rather than the circuit.
- Check the valve cover harness for chafing and heat damage, particularly if the engine has been worked on recently.
Read this code from your own car
Plug an ELM327 adapter into the OBD-II port under the dashboard. Pin16 reads every stored, pending and permanent code, explains each one like this page does — offline, with no account — and shows what the car recorded when the fault was set.
Where this code sits
P00xxP01xxP02xxP03xxP04xxP05xxP06xxP07xxP08xxP09xxP0AxxP0BxxP0CxxP0DxxP0ExxP0FxxP10xxP11xxP12xxP13xxP14xxP15xxP16xxP17xxP18xxP19xxP1AxxP1BxxP1CxxP1DxxP1ExxP1FxxP20xxP21xxP22xxP23xxP24xxP25xxP26xxP27xxP28xxP29xxP2AxxP2BxxP2CxxP2DxxP2ExxP2FxxP30xxP31xxP32xxP33xxP34xxP35xxP36xxP37xxP38xxP39xxP3AxxP3BxxP3CxxP3DxxP3ExxP3Fxx
Auxiliary emission controls
P3400P3401P3402P3403P3404P3405P3406P3407P3408P3409P3410P3411P3412P3413P3414P3415P3416P3417P3418P3419P3420P3421P3422P3423P3424P3425P3426P3427P3428P3429P3430P3431P3432P3433P3434P3435P3436P3437P3438P3439P3440P3441P3442P3443P3444P3445P3446P3447P3448P3449P3450P3451P3452P3453P3454P3455P3456P3457P3458P3459P3460P3461P3462P3463P3464P3465P3466P3467P3468P3469P3470P3471P3472P3473P3474P3475P3476P3477P3478P3479P3480P3481P3482P3483P3484P3485P3486P3487P3488P3489P3490P3491P3492P3493P3494P3495P3496P3497