P3497
Cylinder Deactivation System (Bank 2)
- Severity
- Medium
- Driving
- Drivable — book it in
A general fault in the cylinder deactivation system on bank 2. This system shuts down some of the cylinders at light load - cruising on a level road, for instance - by holding their valves closed so they neither draw in air nor burn fuel. It saves fuel and is meant to be almost imperceptible. Because it is actuated by engine oil pressure through solenoids and special lifters, its health depends far more on oil condition than on electronics.
Possible causes
- CommonLow, old or wrong-viscosity engine oil
- CommonFailed or collapsed deactivation lifter
- CommonFailed control solenoid or oil control valve
- CommonBlocked oil passages in the lifter valley from neglected servicing
- PossibleWiring or connector fault at the solenoids
- PossibleLow oil pressure from a worn pump or a clogged screen
What you might notice
- Misfire or shudder as the system switches in and out
- Ticking or tapping from the top of the engine
- Worse fuel economy
- Reduced power
- Check engine light on
What to check, in order
- Check the oil level and condition first, and check what viscosity was last used. On these engines the correct oil specification is not a recommendation - the deactivation hardware is hydraulically actuated and will not work reliably on the wrong oil.
- Ask when the oil was last changed and by whom. Extended or missed oil changes are the single biggest cause of failures in this system.
- Listen for a tick from the top of the engine, which points at a lifter rather than a solenoid.
- Read all codes. Misfire codes on specific cylinders alongside this one identify which ones are affected.
- Check the oil pressure against specification if the noise or misfire is present at idle.
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