Bad VVT
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Joined: Oct 2012
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From: Oregon
Is this considered the official thread for VVT codes P1383/1388 for the early V6? I wanted to pass along my latest observation for the Great VVT Oil Viscosity Debate.
About a month ago, I changed the oil on my '02 V6. This is definitely a high mileage situation, coming up on 390K miles. (For those of you who prefer the metric system, it's still 390K miles...) Normally I use 10W-40 but my local store had a sale on 10W-30 from the same brand, so I went with that. I didn't think there was much difference. Lo and behold, with no change other than a new filter and fresh oil of a slightly thinner viscosity, I immediately started getting codes P1383 and P1388, maybe 50% of the time. After about 2 weeks of either clearing the codes or seeing if they'd clear on their own, I switched back to 10W-40. I did not change the filter, as it was practically new. No other changes were made. The codes stopped immediately and have not returned, and that was about 2 weeks ago.
FWIW. YMMV.
About a month ago, I changed the oil on my '02 V6. This is definitely a high mileage situation, coming up on 390K miles. (For those of you who prefer the metric system, it's still 390K miles...) Normally I use 10W-40 but my local store had a sale on 10W-30 from the same brand, so I went with that. I didn't think there was much difference. Lo and behold, with no change other than a new filter and fresh oil of a slightly thinner viscosity, I immediately started getting codes P1383 and P1388, maybe 50% of the time. After about 2 weeks of either clearing the codes or seeing if they'd clear on their own, I switched back to 10W-40. I did not change the filter, as it was practically new. No other changes were made. The codes stopped immediately and have not returned, and that was about 2 weeks ago.
FWIW. YMMV.
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 4,759
Likes: 1,435
From: Hazlet Township, NJ
Is this considered the official thread for VVT codes P1383/1388 for the early V6? I wanted to pass along my latest observation for the Great VVT Oil Viscosity Debate.
About a month ago, I changed the oil on my '02 V6. This is definitely a high mileage situation, coming up on 390K miles. (For those of you who prefer the metric system, it's still 390K miles...) Normally I use 10W-40 but my local store had a sale on 10W-30 from the same brand, so I went with that. I didn't think there was much difference. Lo and behold, with no change other than a new filter and fresh oil of a slightly thinner viscosity, I immediately started getting codes P1383 and P1388, maybe 50% of the time. After about 2 weeks of either clearing the codes or seeing if they'd clear on their own, I switched back to 10W-40. I did not change the filter, as it was practically new. No other changes were made. The codes stopped immediately and have not returned, and that was about 2 weeks ago.
FWIW. YMMV.
About a month ago, I changed the oil on my '02 V6. This is definitely a high mileage situation, coming up on 390K miles. (For those of you who prefer the metric system, it's still 390K miles...) Normally I use 10W-40 but my local store had a sale on 10W-30 from the same brand, so I went with that. I didn't think there was much difference. Lo and behold, with no change other than a new filter and fresh oil of a slightly thinner viscosity, I immediately started getting codes P1383 and P1388, maybe 50% of the time. After about 2 weeks of either clearing the codes or seeing if they'd clear on their own, I switched back to 10W-40. I did not change the filter, as it was practically new. No other changes were made. The codes stopped immediately and have not returned, and that was about 2 weeks ago.
FWIW. YMMV.
That is what I did with my 00 S Type V8 and she was still going at 262K miles.
I used 10w 30 w/o issue. It's a thinner viscosity but again these engines are finicky, especially w/ the VVT's.
Try it.
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Chuck Schexnayder
XJ XJ6 / XJ8 / XJR ( X350 & X358 )
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Oct 24, 2015 10:20 PM
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