Hi,
I’m new to the site and hoping someone can help pinpoint my problem I have a 2003 Honda Accord and recently the check engine light came on, scanned and found out it was a P0341 code. Took it to Honda and they traced and were unable to find anything wrong and cleared the code. They sad if it came on again to bring it back and they would replace the VTC solenoid. The light came on again and so I returned to the Honda, they replaced the VTC solenoid and said everything was good. Driving home from the garage and the light came on again. Any ideas what else might be causing this?? The only thing I noticed different when the light came on previously was the vehicle would idle a little lower than normal and sometimes shut off. I also noticed that the check engine light would not stay on all the time and seemed to be intermittent.

Thanks for your time.

 

The car may have a damaged or stretched cam chain.

 

Thanks for the info, I'm told the chain is find and not damaged, could a bad sensor cause this?

 

Honda's troubleshooting flowchart shows the following for Code P0341:

• incorrect timing
• damaged or stretched chain
• clogged or stuck open/closed VTC (Variable Timing Control) oil control solenoid valve
• faulty VTC actuator
• damaged camshaft position (cmp) pulse plate

Honda P0341

 

To answer your question whether it can be cause by a bad sensor; I would say it can be. I haven't really heard/read P0341 on Hondas being commonly caused by the sensor though. However, I do remember one of my friend's older BMW had a similar code, upon research into her model year BMW, a faulty CMP sensor can cause the code.

 

Great find and helpful information..Thank You for your post.

WheelBrokerAng

 

unless they pulled the cam chain cover (fairly big job) they can't say for sure whether or not your chain is stretched beyond servicable use.

 

Thanks for the all the information. I decided to monitor the vehicles performance in terms of gas milege, power etc for few weeks before returning to the garage. The check engine light comes and goes. Seems like it's there all the time on a cold start and when you drive the vehicle for about an hour it will go out, this doesn't happen all the time but most times. I haven't noticed any real difference in terms of performance, power, gas milege etc. The only thing I notice is when the check engine light is on and the vehicle is idling it will drop slighlty below 1000 rpms and fluctuate back to around 1. When the light is off, idles perfect at 1000 rpms. The guy at the garage said that if the chain was stretched then I would most likely hear a knock or different sound upon cold starting but I haven't heard anything like this.

Not sure if the additional information I provided helps.

Thanks again

 

not necessarily, the code is an out of phase between the 2 sensors, cam and crank, meaning that when the crank sensor determines a certain rotational point the cam sensor should be at another determined point, differing dependent on engine conditions. when the chain stretches it throws that sync off...but not necessarily enough to cause any drivability issues. if it was stretched to the point of making noise, the car would have stopped running properly first, maybe not at all.

 

Waiting to get this repaired is a bad idea. This problem will not just disappear. What is happening the computer is reading crankshaft and camshaft sensors and detecting a difference about the rate of the pulley spinning (think slipping alternator belt). My TSX has the same engine and this code indicates that the timing chain is stretched.

It is only a matter of time for the timing chain to break. If the timing chain breaks, because it is stretched out, then the top half of the engine will need to be rebuilt. That will be very expensive.