P3406 OBD Error Code: Problem & Solutions

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The OBD-II Code Reduced engine performance is stated as a Cylinder 1 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance.

As you turn the key to ON gear, occasionally the fuel pump will stop priming. You can begin by calculating the fuel pressure and checking if you are receiving a light white-bluish spark in all the four plugs. You should definitely detect the mechanical timing as we were just talking about earlier. As soon as you’ve seen the P3406 engine trouble code description on your scanner, observing the reading will help you out.

In the determined attempt to encounter fuel and emissions values, numerous manufacturers are using cylinder deactivation systems. This type of system enables the engine's control module (PCM) to deactivate specified cylinders when power being added is not required by the engine, for instance at idle or when coasting on the highway. If the engine's control module (PCM) finds out the Exhaust Valve for cylinder 1 is not turning ON or OFF the way it is ordered to, the PCM will position code P3406.

What causes this problem with the Cylinder 1 Exhaust Valve Control Circuit Performance?

• Defective variable valve timing solenoid
• Dropped engine oil level or pressure
• Limited oil passage
• Defected or damaged wiring
• Loose, corroded or damaged connector
• Faulty ECM

1. ECM - A Check Engine Light that comes on is a major indicator of a problem associated with the Engine Control Module. The Check Engine Light regularly begins to come on as the computer specifies a problem that is associated with all the sensors or circuits. In some cases, the ECM activates a Check Engine Light by accident, or if there is no current problem. Scanning on the computer for trouble codes can help with checking whether or not there is an issue with the ECM, or the location of where the problem is detecting on the vehicle. Abnormal engine reaction is another major indicator of a defecting or failing ECM. A failed computer might cause a vehicle to embrace abnormal problems such as stalls or misfires. These symptoms may come and go, and may not display any type of pattern to their continuity or severity. Engine performance issues are another major indicator of a crucial problem associated with the ECM.
   If the ECM is embracing any errors, it may result in timing and fuel settings to badly affect the performance of the vehicle. A faulty ECM may result in the vehicle to experience a reduction in fuel efficiency, power, and acceleration. A vehicle that fails to start or refrains to start again is another major indicator of a defective or failed ECM. If the ECM fails completely, the vehicle will remain facing a lack of engine power control, and will fail to start or operate as a result.
   The engine may still crank, but will fail to start if dealing with the absence of critical inputs from the computer. A wide variety of other issues can also cause this symptom, so it’s a great prospect to do a thorough diagnosis that is achieved by a certified mechanic that will persist at checking the outcome.
2. PCM - A Check Engine Light that comes on is a major symptom of an error that is associated with the Engine Control Module. The Check Engine Light normally illuminates when the computer detects an error associated with any of the sensors or circuits. These are circumstances when the ECM triggers a Check Engine Light to come on by accident, or when no current problem is apparent. Make sure a mechanic scans the computer for error codes to diagnose whether the problem is related to the ECM, or another location inside the vehicle. Irregular engine performance might also detect a faulty or failing ECM. A defective computer might lead the vehicle to stall or misfire erratically. The symptoms may come and go, but not show a certain reaction under any kind of sequence of their accuracy or severity. Engine performance issues are another symptom of a critical error associated with the ECM. If the ECM encounters any problems, it may cause timing and fuel settings inside the engine to badly affect the performance system. A defective ECM may cause the vehicle to face a decrease in fuel efficiency, power, and acceleration. A poor ECM might cause a vehicle that fails or refrains from starting. If the ECM fails entirely, the vehicle will stay without any engine management control, and will start or operate as an outcome. The engine might still be cranking, but it will start again, and not have any critical inputs from the computer. The ECM will not entirely cause any errors in starting the vehicle, so it is better to run a diagnosis by contacting a certified mechanic to continue detecting the ultimate result. A poor fuel economy might happen when the ECM is failing. A defective ECM rejects the engine from recognizing with the amount of fuel burning within the combustion system. Normally, the vehicle expends more fuel than it commands in this case. As a result, you will be spending more money on fuel than you need to with a performing ECM.
3. Exhaust Valve - A major symptom of a problem with the exhaust pressure valve is an engine performance error. If the valve gets blocked or clogged it can impact the engine performance.
   A faulty exhaust pressure valve may cause the vehicle to deal with a reduction in power, acceleration, fuel efficiency, and in some cases, hard starting too. Another symptom of a viable problem with the exhaust pressure valve is excessive smoke or soot expelling from the exhaust. Pertaining to diesel engines accumulating with these components, the exhaust pressure valve has a critical role for the interior of the right engine combustion. These kinds of errors can interrupt the already delicate combustion system of diesel engines, which could cause black smoke and soot being emitted by the exhaust pipe. An illuminated Check Engine Light is another symptom of a possible error associated with the exhaust pressure valve. If the computer detects an issue with the exhaust pressure valve’s circuit, signal, or position, then it will trigger a Check Engine Light as a manner to alert the driver of a viable problem. A Check Engine Light that comes on will also set a wide variety of other errors, so scanning the computer for trouble codes is strongly recommended.
4. Engine Oil - Whenever the cold viscosity of your oil is excessive, and too thick, then you might not be able to start your vehicle under these cold temperatures. When this frequently occurs it causes the oil get so thick that it fails to correctly lubricate all moving components and this results in too much resistance when the vehicle is gets started. If you consume synthetic oil within a vehicle with older or high mileage, you could start to build up slight oil leaks that you would not have been given if you’ve used conventional motor oil. This is all because of a scale of flow assets that synthetic oils have, which conventional oils do not. It enables the oil to force its way into smaller spaces than regular oil. Expending synthetic oil in these situations will not eventually cause any type of damage, so you might be noticing drops of oil scattered all over your garage floor or a burning aroma while you are driving. When this oil leaks slowly, you may want to pay extra attention to your oil level and top it off when necessary. Shifting back to conventional oil when changing the oil is strongly advised. Few vehicles will easily not perform the right way as it expends synthetic oils. If the motor oil has a hot thickness that is not high enough, the oil might start to break down under very hot settings and will not lubricate the parts of the engine correctly. This will ultimately result in burning oil. Over a time frame, this can eventually damage your engine because of too much rubbing and colliding between metal parts. If your motor oil has too much viscosity to expend for their ratio of settings, your fuel mileage will probably suffer. This is due to the viscosity of oil increasing resistance on testing components such as pistons. When providing the correct protection on your engine, it will be more expensive if making more trips to the gas station. If you consume motor oil with a viscosity that is too thin for these kinds of settings, you might hear your engine make a ticking sound. Your engine will normally make the loudest sound after starting and immoderately reducing after driving around for a time frame. This occurs if engine oil has a correct weight that entails for a bad job of coating and lubricating all engine parts. You can hear metal parts such as valves and valve lifters clash with other metal parts. A short fluctuation to a differentiation of oil thickness could resolve the problem.
5. Valve Timing Solenoid - If an Engine Control Unit (ECU) controls modern vehicles, nearly all-separate parts are inspected by the ECU. When a separate part starts failing, the ECU will store a specific error code that will enable a mechanic to use a scanner that easily detects if a problem is escalating. When the code has accessed the system, it will alert the driver by triggering a particular zone warning light to illuminate. The Check Engine Light is the most generic light to illuminate when being used, it is essential for a vehicle owner to consult with a certified mechanic to monitor the vehicle, utilizing the correct diagnostic scan tool to download the code and determine the exact source of the issue. Further speaking, there are many separate codes of a VVT solenoid problem for each vehicle manufacturer. As soon as the mechanic get a hold of the right data, they can begin to resolve this particular issue. The VVT solenoid performs at top merit, when the engine oil is clean, free of dirt, or loses a specific quantity of lubrication or viscosity. When the engine oil gets plugged with dirt, debris or other outside elements, it ultimately plugs up the passages from the solenoid to the VVT chain, including the gear. If you did not succeed to change your engine oil outside of a particular time slot, it might damage the VVT solenoid, the VVT chain, including the gear drive. To prevent this incident from continuing to worsen, ensure to change your engine oil as advised by the vehicle manufacture. Normally, the VVT system fails to activate before the engine gets positioned to a high RPM or is rooted into a track of loading bearing settings, such as driving uphill. Regardless, if the VVT solenoid fails to perform, it is viable to maintain consuming added engine oil to the VVT gears. This will cause the engine to idle roughly, particularly the engine RPM will change as the system is triggered. If you do not persist to test this out, it can cause more engine parts to wear away even sooner. If your engine idles start to get rough, ensure to reach a certified mechanic to test this problem as early as possible. The objective of variable valve timing is to make sure the valves open and close at the right timing to upgrade engine operation and decrease fuel consumption. When the VVT solenoid fails to operate, the whole system can be settled, which might cause an intake and exhaust valves to open and close at the incorrect time frame. This regularly results in the fuel economy to put up with a strong decrease.
6. Intake Valve - Popping or ticking noises are the most generic types of noises you will see when you are facing problems with your valves. You will often hear this ticking noise before you notice another problem. This noise will get louder and faster when the engine speeds up. It regularly shows an area of the valve train parts that either wears down or won’t align, or that your engine is not provided enough lubrication. Most vehicles are comprised of hydraulic lifters, and these lifters need constant lubrication and pressure maintained at a precise level. If the pressure is somewhat offbeat, it increases the behavior or inaccurate movement within the valve train. Blue smoke is a generic indicator of an ultimate engine issue and you should never ignore this sign. Furthermore, blue smoke is not specifically a result of valve problems, as it is one the most generic identifications, even when combined with popping and ticking noises. When valve guides and seals wear away, this allows oil to access into the combustion chamber and burn along with the fuel. Additionally, you will notice that your oil levels persist to drop, or you often have to apply on more oil, and you have covered all the leaks. Regularly, the amount of blue smoke you see with the valve guide and seal failure is very small and rarely noticeable. If you are spewing out a large amount of smoke, then you may be faced with more intense problems such as damaged or worn away piston rings. It is best to reach out to a certified mechanic to detect where the engine problem is placed and when you are experiencing with this type of problem. Another sign that you are being faced with valve problems is that you frequently notice a reduction in engine power and performance. Valves are designed to fit perfectly into the seats and allow for much less elbowroom. If your valve guides and seals transpire to leak, oil can accumulate above the valve and cause a loss of seating or power and combustion. Burnt valves are another problem that causes power deprivation. A burnt valve is likely to lose material and even result in large holes that leak gases and reduce compression. Many components will cause burning valves, but one of the most common reasons is to dismiss seals and guides that leak, or fail to fix other compression problems. You can mix these errors with a cooling system or EGR “exhaust gas re-circulation” error, and you are most likely to burn all the valves. These cases should not be overlooked, as they are associated with the valve, and can become worse and costly down the road. Alternatively, it is simple to stop this from occurring repeatedly, or be delayed with the proper engine maintenance. Ensure to change your oil on a normal basis, and fix any other engine issue without any lateness.

Our team at Parts Avatar Canada values our customers, and this is why we will guide you to diagnose code P3406 by writing out a few major symptoms. They are described below in the following:

Common Symptoms

• Growing fuel consumption
• Bad engine performance
• Engine misfire
• Illuminated Service Engine Soon light
• Illuminated Check Engine light

It is very crucial to repair the error code P3406. We provide a few methods that will help you correct this problem:

• Whenever the code fails to instantly come back, you might have an irregular setting.
• Whenever the resistance level does not reduce with heat and rises as temperatures cool, swap the sensor. If you’ve checked out everything else to an extent, turn the key to the ON mode and examine for the occurrence of a voltage, and a ground signal, at the exhaust gas temperature/pressure sensor electrical connector or heated oxygen sensor.
• A scanner, or code reader, and a digital volt/ohmmeter will be needed to achieve diagnose of this code. Since the mid-eighties, nearly each vehicle with an automatic transmission in production has been equipped with a kind of computer regulated automatic transmission system.
• Whenever the fuel shutoff switch and all system circuitry get checked out, surmise a faulty PCM or other associated controller.

Our team at Parts Avatar Canada is available to solve all your problems associated with automotive components. We have stored a vast extension of greatly priced ECM, PCM, Exhaust Valve, Engine Oil, Valve Timing Solenoid, Intake Valve and even more to assist you in repairing your vehicle.

If you are eager to simply diagnose this error code, then all you must do is to read these steps that are described as follows:

• First step to rectify the problem with this process for any function crash is to research on the Technical Service Bulletins (TSB's) to identify the exact vehicle by year, model and engine.
• In some cases, you can save a lot more time and money if directing yourself on the correct path.
• Second step is rectifying the setting of the engine oil and confirm it is conserved at the correct level. Next step is to determine where all components are associated with the cylinder 1 deactivation intake valve control circuit and detect for any apparent physical damage. Sourcing to the particular vehicle, this circuit may intermingle many components that include the deactivation solenoid, switches, fault signals and ECM. Operate a thorough visual inspection to identify the associated wiring for apparent defects like scraping, rubbing, bare wires, or burn spots. Next step is to detect the connectors and connections for all security, corroded and damaged pins. This system has included all wiring connectors and connections to all components that come with ECM. Referring to a certain source of tech data for the vehicle ensures the configuration of the cylinder 1 deactivation/intake valve control circuit and confirms every component is intermingled inside the circuit, which may come with a fuse or a fuse-able connector.

Advanced Steps - The advanced steps come to be very specific to vehicles and need the proper advanced equipment to operate consistently. These methods need a digital multi meter and particular technical sources for the vehicle.

Voltage Checks - The sourced voltage and the adequate ratios might differ based on the particular vehicle and the circuit arrangement. Certain technical data will come with troubleshooting charts and the adequate pattern to go at helping you with a consistent diagnosis. If this process specifies the deprivation of power source or ground, progression tests might be needed to detect the durability and resistance of the wiring, connectors and other parts. Progression tests should constantly be operated with the power taken out of the circuit and the usual readings for wiring and connections should be at resistance 0 ohms. Resistance or no progression is a sign of defective wiring that is open, shorted or damaged and has to be adjusted or exchanged.

Common Mistakes When Diagnosing the P3406 Code

• Low oil level in engine
• Failed Powertrain Control Module (PCM)
• Failed Variable valve timing solenoid
• Wiring problem