P0017 Fault Lexus Gs450H

armstrob · December 6, 2015

Hi folks, can anyone give me some advice on this?

I am getting a P0017 Crankshaft Position - Camshaft Position Correlation Bank 1 Sensor B error on my 2007 GS450H. I have replaced the main Battery (needed to be done) and replaced both the camshaft sensors and just had it serviced. It had the recall done for the valve issue as well and a software upgrade which they thought would resolve the issue.

The car drives perfect with no rough idling or any other symptoms and no other faults are showing. The CEL light comes on after a few days after I reset the error and can go off again of its own accord. Any ideas folks? Hoping it isn't a timing chain issue.

ZXSpectrum · February 15, 2016

Hi Matey, I have the exact same issue on my 2006 GS450H. Took it to lexus and for £130 they told me stuff all and wanted to start stripping the engine to check if the timing chain has skipped a tooth.. Which it cannot have as the car still runs and drives fine.

After a bit of research I believe the issue is either one of the sensors is faulty, If you plug an obd2 connector into a laptop or tablet it shows one sensor reading is out of spec. The other thing it could be is that one of the VVTI solenoids is stuck in the open position causing it to be on all the time. Generally this will mainly just cause a little revvyness and increases your fuel consumption.

Hope that helps a little. I have not got round to sorting mine yet but I do less than 300 miles a month.

If you get it sorted please post back :)

armstrob · February 15, 2016

ZX, thanks for the reply. I changed both the CamShaft sensors and still shows up and after a few months now I have been watching it and noticed something strange.....The light always comes on when the fuel tank drops to just above 3/4 full and goes off again when it gets to just over 1/4 tank full. Very strange and the car drives and runs fine, no excess revvyness at all. I had read somewhere about the pressure in the fuel tank causing problems because the seal on the fuel cap was not right.

My Lexus dealer gave me the same line "strip the engine down to check the timing chain" and it would cost about €2,500 to do it!!!

I might just get two new VVTI solenoids and see how it goes from there. The car runs and drives like a dream even though the error is there.

messi · February 15, 2016

You can get a new timing chain with kit for around £300 from the us and then get a good indy garage to replace it for you0

tomostrio · February 15, 2016

3 hours ago, messi said:

You can get a new timing chain with kit for around £300 from the us and then get a good indy garage to replace it for you0

Great thread gents and very interesting. I'm getting this message too, my EML comes on, but I'll have to keep an eye on when it does ie full tank etc... and it does go out but haven't noticed when either. The car drives beautiful, with or without the light on. So it will be great to know if you get it sorted and how. I'll add it to here if I get it sorted in the mean time.

messi · February 15, 2016

331669306641

That's the eBay item number and I know this is the right chain for a mk3 gs300 as a mate of mine bought the kit from this ad. I'm not sure if it's the same for a gs450h though

KayCee · February 16, 2016

I had this same problem last year it came on after my son had borrowed the car to go and see his brother i too was told by Lexus it could be something to do with the VVT could be expensive

I called in at fuel station and when i took of the fuel cap it felt like it was cross threaded it wasnt damaged but felt strange

he did tell me " Ive put £10 of fuel in Dad"

I bought a new cap as i too had heard this on the US sites about faulty seal on cap

The light as never come on since

tomostrio · February 16, 2016

Thank you for the reply. WoW!!!! now you mention it. Mine too felt like it is cross threaded. Right off to Lexus to order one. Fingers crossed, a cheap fix would be amazing. Thanks so much.

tomostrio · February 16, 2016

Just undone my fuel filler cap and no suction / vacuum at all. So I've ordered a new cap, should be here on Thursday. Fingers crossed. Thanks again

10 hours ago, tomostrio said:

Thank you for the reply. WoW!!!! now you mention it. Mine too felt like it is cross threaded. Right off to Lexus to order one. Fingers crossed, a cheap fix would be amazing. Thanks so much.

Chasdad · February 16, 2016

I had the eml light come on in a saab 9-5 aero.i read up and there were mentions of a fuel cap seal

KayCee · February 17, 2016

but make sure you tighten it correctly at least 6 to 10 clicks

tomostrio · February 17, 2016

On 15/02/2016 at 10:44 AM, armstrob said:

ZX, thanks for the reply. I changed both the CamShaft sensors and still shows up and after a few months now I have been watching it and noticed something strange.....The light always comes on when the fuel tank drops to just above 3/4 full and goes off again when it gets to just over 1/4 tank full. Very strange and the car drives and runs fine, no excess revvyness at all. I had read somewhere about the pressure in the fuel tank causing problems because the seal on the fuel cap was not right.

My Lexus dealer gave me the same line "strip the engine down to check the timing chain" and it would cost about €2,500 to do it!!!

I might just get two new VVTI solenoids and see how it goes from there. The car runs and drives like a dream even though the error is there.

Hi All, my EML comes and goes. I read in a post that it could be as simple as changing the fuel filler cap. I removed mine and it had no suction at all, plus it had been crossed threaded by the previous owner. Getting a new one tomorrow. So fingers crossed.

tomostrio · March 7, 2016

No joy. Changed fuel filler cap and light is still on. :(

alexchrisro · April 23, 2019

So, no one solved this issue?

BachelorDays · April 24, 2019

I'd check if there is a vacuum hose connected to the camshaft position sensor, since a leak in vacuum here will throw a camshaft sensor code. Used to happen in the old Mercedes E Class w210 series and it was almost always a break in the vacuum hose.

In any case, if the error is triggered more when in heavy traffic or in city traffic after a motorway run it's most likely a fuel system issue - no wonder in some cases it has been related to the fuel cap.

ColinBarber · April 24, 2019

9 hours ago, BachelorDays said:

no wonder in some cases it has been related to the fuel cap.

It has never been related to the fuel cap, that would produce a completely different error code. One person received a CEL once which was fuel cap related and now people think that is the only reason a CEL will come on, when in fact there are hundreds of different error codes that can trigger that light.

alexchrisro · April 24, 2019

It is weird because it is a common issue on the 350's but no one solved this issue or report to solved it. Indeed this error or the 0016 appears only in stop and go traffic.

ColinBarber · April 24, 2019

Stretched/worn chain is the main cause, stretches beyond the tensioner adjustment can compensate for.

alexchrisro · April 24, 2019

The weird thing is that this error only appears in stop and go traffic when the engine switches from electric, also, the engine runs perfect. If the chain would be streched, i am guessing that the engine performance and smoothness would be affected.

For example, in my case if i put the gearbox on S (this does not allow the engine to stop even if the hybrid kicks in) no error will pop. I driven the car for two weeks like this and no error codes poped up. As soon as i hit traffic and the engines power on and off... the error appears.

ColinBarber · April 25, 2019

The thinking is that the VVTi changes the timing so the error isn't always detected and if you are just at the point of being out of spec then it will be intermittent.

steve2006 · April 25, 2019

Strange how there was a shift from chains to belts due to chains stretching and now they are back doing exactly the same even with improvements in materials and technology.

ColinBarber · April 25, 2019

I assume belts started to be used due to noise, lightness and cost but then as all Toyota engines became interference designs they reverted back to chains. Seems the first family of engines that went back to chain suffer from these issues.

The following is a good write up on a GR engine, same family as the GS450h engine, just a larger one.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/p0016-chain-stretch-cam-sensor-crank-sensor-ocv-filters-ocv-valve.509102/

alexchrisro · April 26, 2019

Si it seems not only bmw has problems with the timing chain... that is sad

acepower84 · April 27, 2019

My car had both P0017 and P0018 codes for both bank crankshaft sensors. After 7 momths of ownership and 5000 miles later, she packed up om the motorway and switched to hybrid mode until it could go no more. Had the car towed home and later tried starting it again but it felt like it was running on only one bank.

Diagnosis showed camshaft sensor bank b was at fault and we duly swapped both sensors on each bank but to no avail. In the end i decided to have Copart collect the car and cut my losses as i was not prepared to have the engine stripped down which would cost me in excess of 2k to diagnose further and fix.