[Danimean]

I have recently bought a 2013 Malibu LTZ with 165k Kilometers on it.
It was acting weird, missing stalling and CEL showed up. I got it checked to a local garage & he said need to change the followings:
VVT Solenoids, 4 Coils & Plugs, Engine Oil. So I asked him to change it all.
After that The car drove well for around 20 Kilometers and the CEL showed up again.
I took it back to the garage and he said it's the Camshaft which need to be replaced which is really expensive.
This mechanic did wrong: He put 10w40 instead of 5w30. He put used coils.
Does engine oil affect the performance? Car average has dropped to 8km/L.

Following are the codes shown on the scanner.
P0011: Intake Camshaft Position System Performance - Current
P0014: Exhaust Camshaft Position System Performance - Current
P0016: Crankshaft Position - Intake Camshaft Position Not Possible - Passed & Failed
P0171: Fuel Trim System Lean - Current

Following Codes come in display:
Code 17, Code 128, Code 35.

He told me that it's fine to drive the car like this. So I drove it for 3 days and the missing & stalling got back at low rpm and when I drove it above 120km/h.
I checked with another garage, he inspected & told me that 2 coils are short & 1 coil is not passing enough current.
Now I am not sure what to do. One garage already changed the coils from scrap.
I think that the missing is due to the coils but the 1st garage guy said it's because of the camshaft itself.
Another thing is that while I am driving, And I am near a stop sign so I remove my foot from accelerator, the car should keep driving lean but it automatically reduces the speed and it felt like as I was applying brakes.

Please guide me, I am really stuck in it.

 

[kdefilip]

I guess the first thing to do is to have one final discussion with mechanic #1, and that conversation should be about getting some, if not all, of your money back. Any mechanic who would do a coil job on your car and then return it to you with those coils malfunctioning can't be trusted.

Next, you have to get working coils in your car. You can't expect your car to be running smoothly with malfunction coils. They are truly the heartbeat of your vehicle. I'm all for saving money, but coils is not a place I would skimp. These really should be new parts and they should be AC Delco - not aftermarket parts or scrap parts.

Next, your VVT's, also a place I would not skimp. These things are very sensitive and are dependent on proper oil level and oil viscosity, and do not perform well with dirty oil or low oil levels. I have personal experience here - my vehicle was having some of the same issues as yours. I swapped the VVT's out with aftermarket parts. Although the car ran somewhat better, the problems did not go away until I put AC Delco VVT's in my vehicle. The old adage is true regarding aftermarket VVT's - "A cheap man will pay twice".

Additionally - and this is a total guess on my part - but I suppose it's plausible that malfunctioning VVT's could cause camshaft codes to be thrown, especially when you consider that the VVT's are responsible for advancing and retarding your timing.

If it were me, I guess I would start with what I mentioned above and then reassess where you land.

 

[Danimean]

Surely I'll get the coils changed tomorrow and see what next. Thanks alot for taking time to write it. Means alot. Really appreciate it.

 

[kdefilip]

NP, and I'm just a driveway mechanic so take everything I say with a grain of salt. Also, if you can get your hands on the VVT's, they're a pretty easy job to do your self with some very basic tools. --OR if you're having a mechanic do your coils, while the engine cover is off, they are literally right there, it might save you some labor money to do them at the same time.

kd

 

[cp-the-nerd]

When @kdefilip says "VVTs" he is referring to your intake and exhaust VVT actuator solenoids. You need one of each, ACDelco brand. There is NOTHING wrong with your camshaft. The camshaft codes are referring to the VVT actuator solenoids.

You should never let a mechanic convince you to drive with faulty parts and incorrect oil. That is really, really low quality work bordering on scam artist behavior. The mechanic is either completely incompetent or intentionally leading you into more repair work.

Get proper parts put in your car by a good mechanic.