Check Engine Light on After Engine Replaced

Hi, so I’m hoping someone can help me get clarity on this issue. Last year I started having engine problems with my Hyundai Sonata. I got a quick code read done a advanced auto and it came back as the camshaft timing over advanced code. I planned to get it looked at but my car stopped working a few days before my appointment. I was told that my engine was sludged and needed to be replaced. Since I needed my car and junking it wasn’t smart I decided to get the engine replaced. I took it to a shop and got the engine replaced. I informed them of the original code read issue. Anywho they replaced the engine with some of my old parts that were still good and some new parts that they said needed to be replaced. That happened in December 2014. Well around mid January 2015 my check engine light came on. I took it back to the mechanic and they did another code read with that handheld device and the same code that came on before the engine stopped came on again. I was told that since the engine was just replaced that it probably a false code or my sensor was faulty. They reset the sensor and the check engine light went off. I was told to drive around over the next few days and come back if it comes back on. It didn’t come back on so I thought all was well. About a month later around mid February it cam back on for a day then went off. About 2 weeks later it cam back on for a day then went off. then about a week after that it came back on and stayed on. I made an appointment to get it seen. In the meantime I went back to Advanced Auto to get a code check done and sure enough it was the same code. I finally had on of the mechanics at the shop look at it and he said that it is the Camshaft Timing Solenoid that needs to be replaced. Well this is the same original code that was coming on. My question, I know finally getting to it, is should this part have been replaced when I had my engine replaced? The mechanic is behaving as if this is a separate issue from me getting my engine replaced. Is it? Should this have been fixed with everything else especially since I told them about the code in the beginning? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

P.S. I hope this is in the correct topic. And I forgot to tell the exact code. It is P0014 B CMP Timing Over Advanced or System Performance Bank 1. I don’t know anything about cars so any help on how to fix this issue would be helpful. Thank you

Please tell us the year and miles on the car. Also tell us if you bought the car new or used and the mileage when you purchased it. Engines usually sludge up if the oil is not changed often enough or not alt all.

At this stage I also have reservations about the skills of your mechanic.

Hi Docnick, the car was brand spanking new 2013 (bought in 2012). I killed the engine because I didn’t realize oil changes were actually important (silly me!!!). I knew I should do it but always forgot so I only had it changed twice. It completely locked on me and the car could not drive at all. The mechanic said it absolutely had to be replaced. I just don’t see why the part that’s triggering the CEL wasn’t replaced also. Is that something that should have been replaced especially since that code was coming up?

The code is not necessarily to replace a part, but that a circuit malfunction has been detected. It could be in the wiring, which may not have been replaced.

I take it that you feel that because you paid them to replace the engine, you should not expect any faults to show up for quite some time. This is unrealistic when you do an engine swap. It is common for many parts to be swapped from the old engine to the new one, and normally there is no problem with this.

Had they replaced every sensor, sending unit, and control system, the bill for the engine swap would have risen by $500-$700.
After the swap if there were no engine codes pending, and the “check Engine” light was not illuminated they would feel that everything is working properly.

When you brought it in with a seized motor, they had no way to diagnose the P0014 code without a running engine. When that code did not pop up after the engine swap, they probably figured that the problem was solved with the engine swap.
Had that code popped up while they still had the car in the shop after the engine swap, then it would have been something that they would pursue before turning the car back over to you.
Had it popped up, they would have charged you for the time and parts on that bill along with the engine swap.

Either you pay them that day for diagnostics, labor and parts…or pay that same amount two days or weeks later. It’s all the same.

Weather “Advanced Auto” read a code prior to the engine seizure would not have been too concerning to them.

This is a hard lesson to learn, but you should learn to read your owners manual and follow the maintenance schedule that they suggest. After all that is why they wrote the manual in the first place. There are many items that you have ignored besides the oil and if you want the car to last through 200,000 miles, you should take an evening to do some reading.
The next thing to go is your transmission, because I doubt that the fluid and filter have ever been changed in that either.

Yosemite

The code is a diagnostic code for the variable valve timing function for your engine. Older cars don’t have that feature, but newer ones do. As the engine rpm increases, some functions (like air and fuel flow through the valves) in the engine begin to not occur on time like they did at lower rpm, decreasing engine power and efficiency. So the auto designers want to start these processes sooner in the cycle (advanced in other words) as the rpm increases. On older cars only the spark plug timing was advanced. On newer cars both the spark and the valve timing (VVT) is advanced.

The problem with advancing the valve timing is that there’s a complicated assortment of mechanical gadgets inside the top part of the engine needed to do that. And those VVT gadgets need very clean oil to work properly. That’s why a person could get away with not changing the oil very often in older cars. No VVT, faster parts wear, but little engine function sensitivity to dirty oil. Newer cars with VVT engines are much more sensitive to the cleanliness and change frequency of the oil. Oil sludge will clog up the VVT mechanism and cause all sorts of problems.

One of the VVT parts is the VVT solenoid. It is an electro-magnet that is activated by the engine computer at the appropriate rpm to cause the valve timing to advance. When the computer has activated the solenoid, it then checks to see if the valve timing actually changed, like it should. If the cam sensor (CMK) says the valve timing did not advance, the code light comes on. So the code light could come on if either the CMK or the solenoid wasn’t working.

The solenoid is a bolt on part and that’s probably the simplest of the VVT parts to replace, so in my opinion, as long as it’s been proved the sensor is working, it is worth a shot to replace the selenoid as your mechanic advises. VVT solenoids failing are not an uncommon complaint here, and could well be the cause of your check engine light turning on.

Unfortunately, it is also possible your VVT problem could be caused by the same problem as in your original engine, sludged up VVT mechanisms inside the engine. The only way to tell is to first verify the CMP and solenoid are working.

I’m wondering if the OP had the engine replaced with a bone yard engine. They all seem to only have low miles and were only driven on every other sunday by a grandma on her way the church.
Maybe the oil was never changed in this engine either.

Yosemite

Joalmoore, my impression from your second post is that the engine seized, and I commend you for your honesty in owning up to the cause rather than trying to blame the mechanic.

Regarding your current problem, I think George has provided an impressively clear description of the very likely cause. I think you’d be wise to follow his advice.

The main reason I wanted to post was to recognize your honesty and George’s advice. Both your and George’s posts were refreshing to these old ears.

True @The same mountainbike, at least he was honest. most people seem to want to blame everyone but themselves for their problems.

We all had to learn some lessons the hard way. I hope @joalmoore will take the advice and read up on the maintenance for his car. It sure will save him money in the long run.

Yosemite

Just curious how many miles the engine made it before failing. You may have said but if you did, I missed it.

I have a 2014 Hyundai Sonata and the motors are faulty mine just went out 2 weeks ago I e had the car 2 years I’m the second owner! THEY HAVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY ON THE MOTORS!!! Take it to a Hyundai dealer and they will reimburse what u already paid. ALL THEM TODAY

6 years too late plus the person who started this thread admitted they did not change the oil as they should have done which voids the warranty.

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I think if one was to dig deep (and it can be near impossible to find the truth sometimes…) one would find that most of these engines failures are due to not changing the motor oil often enough or by never raising the hood to check the oil level.

Of course no car owner ever wants to believe that they had a hand in the destruction. Cut and paste quote below from the OP on this thread and common as dirt actually…

I killed the engine because I didn’t realize oil changes were actually important (silly me!!!).

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I am not aware of any mfr that provides a lifetime warranty on their engines.
Can you provide a credible link to that information?

… and it is unlikely that you have documentation of the maintenance that was done by the previous owner. Do you actually have that documentation? If not, then you have to assume that none of the maintenance was ever done.

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Hyundai class action settlement-warranty extension;

“1. Warranty Extension
HMA is extending the Powertrain Warranty to a Lifetime Warranty for Hyundai Class Vehicles. The extension of the warranty will cover the short block assembly, consisting of the engine block, crankshaft and bearings, connecting rods and bearings, and pistons, in those Class Vehicles owned by individual consumers that have completed the knock sensor program software update. With the exception of cases of exceptional neglect (defined below) and subject to the existing terms, limitations, and condition of the Class Vehicles’ original Powertrain Warranty, the Limited Warranty shall otherwise endure for bearing wear or damage irrespective of the Class Vehicle’s mileage, duration of ownership, or prior warranty engine repairs and/or warranty replacements.”

For those with a legitimate claim it is not too late for reimbursement, the deadline is April 12, 2021.

Information on the class action settlement;

Good luck with that lifetime warranty and documentation; or lack of if that is the case. Claims made verbally mean zero.

As VDCdriver mentioned, it’s highly unlikely that you have prior maintenance records. Removing contact info and so on is standard operating procedure and that is why one seldom ever finds owners manuals, receipts, etc in the glove box. Too many people might check that owners or maintenance manual and find the maintenance sections free of service notations and stamps.

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