P1656 Oil control valve

Hadn't seen that one before, but that's what I got on this car I'm trying to get going. This one hasn't run in 3 years. Was in a low-speed front end collision. Thought I had everything fixed so it'd start, and the inverter did, but it stalls trying to start the ICE.

That 1656 is the only code I pull with TorquePro. And sure enough, when I checked it, the OCV connector had sustained a little damage from the wreck. Still looked like it should work, but I guess not. So I swapped in the OCV off my parts car. No difference.

So, I'm guessing it's the harness side of the connector. That's the part that is damaged. Reading the service manual's diagnostic on the OCV, it looks like it's 12v coming through that connector. I'm horrible with electronics, but I'm assuming that I should see 12v on one of the two pins with my multimeter with key on. If I do, then the harness side is OK?, and maybe my parts car's OCV that I swapped in was no good.

I expect not though. I expect I won't see 12v on either pin. Guess I should back probe as well to confirm it's the connector and not a ground upstream somewhere, but I doubt it. All in all though, it was great to hear the inverter fire off. This is the car I replaced the power cable from the battery to the inverter and had such a PITA with (before I figured out the the cowl comes off). I couldn't tell which cable went to which terminal at the inverter - they look interchangeable - and since I'd had to tear apart the cable carrier, I wasn't positive they were back in place as before. But, I must have got it right. Nothing blew up.

Hopefully, the OCV connector is my only issue, but that's not usually my luck. probably get a new pigtail spliced in and it'll get past the OCV but then fail over something else. It's never easy.

 

Dang, thanks Chap, that's what I was afraid of. The diagnostics say to test the valve with 12v, so I assumed. I guess the plan is to do that test to confirm it's not the valve, then just assume it's the connector and replace that pigtail.

The original OCV was damaged too - its side of the connector would move a little up and down perpendicular to the valve body. The harness side just has a little of the outer plastic broken off around the clip. All the plastic around the pins seems intact. IDK, maybe both sides were broke.

The orange triangle comes back on immediately when I clear it with TorquePro. I don't have to start the engine. It even flashed the triangle one of the times I tried clearing it, and wouldn't clear at all another time. I'm taking that to mean it's an electrical connectivity issue - i.e. no connectivity, and the ECU sees that as soon as the key is turned on and all the time the key is on.

 

OK, looked at the connector more closely, and the clip is broken on the harness side. I will definitely need to swap in a pigtail, but I pushed it in firmly and made sure it stayed there as I tried to start it, and...nothing. Still dies after the ICE sputters a bit. However, I'm no longer getting the 1656 code.

I sprayed the throttle body down real good and wiped it all out. Butterfly valve turns OK. Also sprayed a can of MAF cleaner on that sensor. Seems to try to start harder, longer sputtering before it dies.

I couldn't get either OCV to operate with 12v, as the service manual instructs. Dropped the original and broke the connector off, so I only have the one from the parts car, and that's not a known-good one. But, they're real easy to take off, so I'm next going to swap this one into one of my running cars and see if it messes that car up. If not, I will have a known-good OCV and can eliminate that as the cause of my no-start. If my good car doesn't start, the OCV is probably the issue, and I'll take the one from the running car and try it in my project car.

That OCV can definitely cause a sputtering no-start if it fails, but after the code seems to have gone away, I'm not real confident that's my problem. But I'm not getting codes. I expect the problem is TorquePro - are there any better code readers for this car other than TS?

Or, maybe the no codes is correct - maybe I just got a bad gas issue. The car has been sitting for three years. Maybe bad gas doesn't throw a code?

I guess my next step, if the OCV doesn't resolve this, is to pull the injectors and see what shape they're in. I've had these cars start before with a bad injector or coil - will they start with two bad injectors? Maybe all of them went bad while sitting up? Any other suggestions? I'm old and forgetful.

 

HELP!!! LOL, as usual, nothing is easy. So I go to swap this parts-car OCV into my running Prius to confirm whether it's good or bad. I pulled the one out of my project car without a problem, and I pulled this one out of the parts car without a problem, but when I go to pull the known-good OCV in my running Prius, it breaks off at the block. %&$#*$($

The valve rod slid right out, but the rest of it, the valve body/shell from the o-ring back is still in the head. There's nothing that holds it in except an o-ring after you remove the retaining bolt. I can't get it out for nothing. Tried hooking it inside, tapping around the edge, trying to tap it in a circle, although it didn't move. Got an extractor tool and threaded it in pretty tight, then clamped onto it with vice grips that I could leverage against the head to pull out. Nothing. It doesn't even budge.

How can an o-ring hold something so tight? Here's some pics, any suggestions would help.

The first pic is the entire valve, unbroken. I've tried to reach inside to hook one of those holes, then pull out, but I haven't found a good hook. Has to be short and strong.

The pic of the engine shows what's left of the valve. Hard to see but half of the lip exposed on the outside is broke off. I thought it was plastic and haven't hit on it much thinking it'd break off; but, from the service manual diagram, that looks like it's part of the metal valve body, so maybe I can work on it harder.

I really got that extractor tool wedged in pretty tight, and when I got vice grips clamped to it, I really seemed to be exerting a lot of force pulling out, way more than should be expected to break loose an o-ring. I don't get it. I'm going to be passing the point of no return if I keep messing with this. End up having to remove the head and machine it out. That's crazy. Surely, there's some other way. I have sprayed PB Blaster and WD40 all over it.

 

Well, that was a pain and needless distraction, but I got it out. I tapped threads into the valve body and screwed a bolt in, then leveraged my pry bar on the ear above the valve opening and caught the inside of the bolt head to push it out. Took some effort to break loose, and I still had to use the pry bat to push it all the way out. Had lots of varnish on it compared to the others.

Good news is that the OCV from my parts car that I was trying to test by swapping it into this car slid right in and the car fired right up. So, I got that car back, and I know that it wasn't the OCV keeping the other car from starting.