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OBD-II Code

P0349

Severity

Not yet reviewed

Nobody on our side has assessed this code yet, so we are not going to guess at how serious it is.

Can you drive it

We cannot say

Treat it as unknown until a shop reads it with live data. If the check-engine light is FLASHING, stop driving as soon as it is safe to — that means an active misfire, whatever the code.

Indicative cost (USD)

$80–$2,500

From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.

P0349 is the intermittent Bank 2 CMP A code - the signal disappears or goes invalid briefly under specific conditions (heat, vibration, RPM range, load) and recovers, so the customer gets a check engine light that comes on and off with no obvious driveability symptom, or a momentary stumble at a specific operating point.

How a shop works this

Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.

  1. Note every code that is set, not just this one.

    Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.

  2. Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.

    Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.

  3. Confirm the fault is current rather than history.

    Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.

  4. Then follow the diagnostic notes further down this page, in the order they are written.

    They are written in the order a shop works this code, cheapest checks first. Where they name a component, inspect its wiring and connector before replacing it.

If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.

Common symptoms

  • Check engine light
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0349 is the intermittent Bank 2 CMP A code - the signal disappears or goes invalid briefly under specific conditions (heat, vibration, RPM range, lo…

P0349 is the intermittent Bank 2 CMP A code - the signal disappears or goes invalid briefly under specific conditions (heat, vibration, RPM range, load) and recovers, so the customer gets a check engine light that comes on and off with no obvious driveability symptom, or a momentary stumble at a specific operating point.

Cheapest-first ladder

  1. data-log the Bank 2 CMP signal at high sample rate during a road test that replicates the customer's conditions, and log commanded vs actual VVT phaser angle alongside - P0349 paired with sluggish or erratic phaser response means the underlying problem is oil delivery to the cam phaser, not the sensor.
  2. Wiggle-test the harness from the Bank 2 sensor back to the PCM with the engine running, paying attention to where the loom crosses the cam cover or transitions through rigid plastic conduit.
  3. Heat-gun the sensor and the connector to provoke heat-soak failures.
  4. Inspect the cam cover gasket for weeping oil into the CMP connector - wet contacts cause exactly this kind of intermittent low/high signal flickering.
  5. Verify the sensor mounting bolt has not loosened and let the sensor walk in its bore, which changes the air gap dynamically with engine flex.
  6. The expensive misdiagnosis is replacing the Bank 2 CMP sensor when the real fault is timing chain stretch causing the cam to phase in and out of correlation under load - on high-mileage VVT engines, P0349 is often the early warning before harder P0016/P0017 cam correlation codes set in.
Vehicle-specific patterns2007-2014 Ford 3.5L Cyclone V6 P0349 is the early warning for stretched Bank 2 secondary timing chain - do the timing kit at this stage and save the…
  • 2007-2014Ford 3.5L Cyclone V6 P0349 is the early warning for stretched Bank 2 secondary timing chain - do the timing kit at this stage and save the engine, because letting it progress means a chain skip and bent valves.
  • 2008-2013GM 3.6L LY7/LFX throws P0349 as the Bank 2 oil control valve (OCV) screen progressively clogs and oil delivery to the rear cam phaser becomes inconsistent under load - OCV screen service plus a fresh oil change often clears it.
  • 2011-2018Chrysler 3.6L Pentastar P0349 typically clears with a Bank 2 OCV cleaning plus correct-viscosity oil; clogged screens are the dominant root cause.
  • 2010-2016Hyundai/Kia 3.3/3.8 Lambda V6 sees Hall-IC heat aging on the Bank 2 CMP where the sensor reads fine cold but goes intermittent above 200F coolant - heat-gun test confirms it in five minutes.
  • 2007-2013Nissan VQ35/VQ37 P0349 from valve cover gasket oil intrusion into the rear connector - the oil migrates along the wire shield and causes intermittent shorts.

Estimated repair$80 to $2,500.

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