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2012 Sienna code P0015

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5.6K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  chris92se  
C
#1 ·
Driving on the interstate and after about an hour, the CEL and Trac OFF lights came on. I was heading away from home and it's Sunday, so stopped at the nearest parts place to use a scanner. It showed code P0015 and google shows that is exhaust camshaft timing issue, often caused by oil sludge?

After using their scan tool, the lights stayed off and I drove home (about 75 miles) and checked again with my own scanner. It was stored in the memory, but the lights haven't been on.

I see this was fairly common on 2G Siennas, but is it common with a 3G? I have had regular dealer oil changes and I am about due again. It's early by date, but about right by miles, since I had a large road trip this summer. It's a 2012 with 85k. It's also a wheelchair van, so I have a lot more weight than most probably move, too.

Any insight? I don't really want to go to the dealer, but I haven't had this type of issue on a vehicle before. Only common things like sensors and oil leaks that weren't that difficult to address.
 
A
#2 ·
Assuming you trust the dealership with the oil change. They did indeed change the oil with quality correct viscosity per manual and filter, it’s most likely be a bad oil control valve or you can take it out and clean it. While you’re at it, check the vvti oil filter screen and see if there’s any clogged.
 
C
#6 ·
This sounds like the best option, but it might take a while for me to get time to do it. I might also try seafoam or some other oil cleaner/treatment. I don't normally use stuff like that, but I've never had issues with sludge or deposits in any car I've owned before.

I cleared the code and I drove it for a day with it not returning. I did not tell the dealership and they changed the oil and did their "multi-point inspection" without any issues. I just drove over 100 miles without the CEL coming back on.
 
E
#3 ·
I decided (right or wrong) to limit my oil change intervals to 8000 mi.
I was going 10000 and could even go to 15000 according to toyota. This is using mobilone 5w30 full syn.
I got this code a few years ago, it might not have been the exact one but it was the same oil operated circuit.
I decided to run some seafoam in the oil at the recommended amount for 100 miles before the oil change and then dropped down to 8000 mi as I read dirty oil can add to this.
It has not returned since. If it had come back I would dig into it as avs recommends
But thought I would try this first. And yes it was a mostly a gen 2 thing. 2008,s seem to be a good year. It did not sound like a chronic problem though.
 
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