I had codes P0016 and P0017 on a 2006 E350. The dealer wanted $6000 to replace the balance shaft. I bought the MB kit, took out the engine and transmission and replaced all the parts including the balance shaft, front and rear seals, o-rings, camshaft adjuster pulse wheels, anything and everything else that came in the kit. Once that was done, I had codes P0014 and P0024.

I then swapped the left and right Exhaust camshaft gears, which I thought were identical at first and must have accidentally swapped them. The P0014 and P0024 went away. However, I now have P0019.

When taking the camshaft gears out, I did not use an exact 3mm pin and the teeth got misaligned. The ring that pushes on them is so strong . To avoid damaging the teeth, I had to dismantle both gears (the ones that say "do not open") and put them back together with the correct and exact 3mm pin the second time around, which worked fine.

Could the P0019 be caused by one of the cam gears (I believe P0019 is Exhaust, Left) not being put back exactly right, even though I believe I reassembled both cam gears exactly the same way?

Alernatively, some online P0019 "possible causes" list an open circuit or not getting a signal form the VVT sensor. Could this second plug (see photo) on the wire that goes to the thermostat be the one that's supposed to go to the VVT sensor? I cannot find where it plugs into. Unfortunately, my numerous pre-disassembly photos do not show it,

Another possible reason listed for P0019 is the wrong engine oil viscosity. I have not changed the oil and filter a second time yet to put the Mobile-1 0-40 Synthetic oil in there yet. the Instructions say to drive the car with "high engine load" for 15 miles before changing the oil a second time. I'm trying to clear all codes first. While it's possible, I doubt the the wrong viscosity (currently non-synthetic 0-30) is causing this P0019.

This was a big job and I hope I'm close to being done. I would really appreciate any help on this.




Thank you