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P0012 VVT Solenoid no Voltage

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Elecgenius, Oct 27, 2024.

  1. Elecgenius

    Elecgenius New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Hello,

    I have an issue with a P0012. I replaced the Camshaft Position Sensor and the wiring harness since it was faulty, had a bad cable. I also replaced the VVT solenoid twice and the wiring harness as well since it also had a faulty wire. The issue is I get ground, but the yellow wire gets no voltage. I also tried checking the voltage while the plug was connected to the VVT solenoid and no go.

    Is there another sensor that activates or is there a sensor that would tell the ECU not to send voltage to the solenoid? Or does someone have a wiring diagram or know what pin is it on the ecu harness?

    Also, I did mention the rebuilt head because I did see on OnDemand that there is a plug or a filter on the head that goes to the VVT Solenoid but my did not have one. Maybe the machine shop removed it and did not give it back. I doubt that is even the issue because if the VVT Solenoid is not getting any voltage, it would be irrelevant if it is getting enough oil pressure or not. I did not replace the Timing Chain as well.
     
  2. Elecgenius

    Elecgenius New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    West Covina, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    One

    Apologies, I get code P0010 and P0012. I just ran some test after the car being off a few hours and now I get 6v and then 7v.
     
  3. Eddie25

    Eddie25 Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I believe the camshaft position sensor is what's called the VVT sensor in this capture from my wiring diagram.

    I'm not exactly sure how the VVT solenoid is controlled by the ECM, but I'd be concerned that it's power side controlled (maybe with PWM), so that could be a reason for odd readings. It's also curious to me how the camshaft position sensor and the VVT solenoid would both end up with faulty wires. Could you clarify what you mean by the "wiring harness"? Certainly it's not the whole wiring harness.

    I think my first step after visually checking the connectors would be to do a simple resistance measurements to the ECM from the VVT solenoid and the camshaft position sensor. If that checks out you might need to do a pin-fitment test. Somewhere in there I'd measure resistance of the sensor and solenoid, but I'm not actually sure what they should be.

    Are you using OEM camshaft sensor and VVT solenoid?
     

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  4. Elecgenius

    Elecgenius New Member

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    Location:
    West Covina, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    One

    Thank you for the reply. I may have not been as gentle when I removed the connector from the sensor since the connectors were stuck pretty good. I would get no continuity from the pin to the cable so there was a break in the wire where the wire meets the pin. This happened on both connectors. I did do a continuity check from the new Pin on the side of the VVT Sensor to the Pin on the ECU and I get a proper reading, however I have not been able to do so on the VVT Solenoid connector since I don't know what pin is it on the ECU. I haven been able to get constant readings of 6 volts now on the hot side of the VVT Solenoid wire when connecting the ground to the other wire in the same connector and I also get the same reading if I check positive on the hot wire of the VVT Solenoid and a grounding point on the engine.
     
  5. Eddie25

    Eddie25 Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    IL
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    The VVT solenoid is the Camshaft Timing Oil Control Valve (with the green and yellow wires) in that capture, so Pin 36 and 59 of the ECU (according to the diagram).

    If you really damaged two connectors while removing them my focus would be on pin fitment. Could you have damaged the pins or spread the female portion to much so that it's not making good connection?