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My issue...2L

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Devanmc

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
589
Location
Novi, MI
Ok so ive messed with this problem alot.
I have this code- [FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif]P0340[/FONT][FONT=arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif]Camshaft Position Sensor circuit fault. [/FONT]
I have replaced the sensor with one from autozone. I have replace the plug and wiring(sodered in).

hows it act? long story...
When idleing nothing is wrong. When i take off i get almost no power and alot of noise, the common VCT issue. But atsome point(changes constantly) over 3K BUT below 4K. the system will "turn on" and advance timing again. Once i stop accelerating if the RPMs fall below 2.75k, and i do not blip(let off and then depress throttle again), the system will eventuall kick off and never advance timing again. but if i blip the throttle as mentioned, i can down shift above to above 3k and timing will advance again.

my next step is replacing the fuel and ignition harness. What else should i look at before replacing that? Timing belt was replaced before i purchased the car. I do not get noise from its pulleys an the belt is in great condition. :shrug:
 
What is the exact "VCT" noise you refer to? Describe it. What timing are you referring to, VCT or ignition?
 
basically you get very little power and the intake is extremely loud.

VCT is variable cam timing on the exhaust cam. When the system is active it does small adjustments to exhaust cam timing. When you decelerate is retards the cam heavily(30* or 60* in relation to the crank) to allow exhuast to be sucked back in to be reburt. When the system isnt functioning properly the exhuast cam will fully retard and obvioulsy giving a very bad timing secnario.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Cam_Timing

when cam timing is retarded to this extent, the pcm also retards ignition timing a great deal.
 
you've ridin in my car. plus it works nearly all the time as described above. Its hasnt gotten worse but has gotten better(with my attempted repairs) in the past 2 years. I dont think the solenoid is bad. Their is a code for that anyways.

originally autolab said the wiring in the camshaft sensor plug had a short so i sodered in new wiring which helped but problem persists.
 
Devanmc said:
you've ridin in my car. plus it works nearly all the time as described above. Its hasnt gotten worse but has gotten better(with my attempted repairs) in the past 2 years. I dont think the solenoid is bad. Their is a code for that anyways.

originally autolab said the wiring in the camshaft sensor plug had a short so i sodered in new wiring which helped but problem persists.
Click to expand...

You might have to spend a little more time on the wiring. Make sure you have no cracks in your wires further down somewhere.:shrug:
 
Did you use the black shrink on it...? OR did you leave it like that?

Last time i had a cam shaft sensor cel...it ended up being my egr solenoid that needed to be replaced.:shrug:

Weird...i know but thats what i was told....so i did that and problem was fixed.
 
If you think about it, VCT solenoid is technically an EGR solenoid since its' action results in same thing. According to Ford manual VCT has 22 degrees of rotation to it. I think it works more than just on decel as normal EGR (valve type) have to work at load and higher rpm to clean exhaust enough to pass emissions. Gotta feeling it works anytime motor above idle and lightly loaded. Reason I asked about noise is that if VCT loses oil pressure it will make a snapping or knocking noise as the cam loads against tappets and swings backward until internal spring snaps it back forward. There is more than one connection I'm sure for that sensor that could be problem. Check further down harness. Maybe where plugs into PCM. If motor dogging out even at higher speeds may not be VCT at all. Motor should accept a lot of exhaust gas at higher speeds, just not WFO. Have you a voltmeter? You should be able to back probe output wire from cam sensor and read the blips that come off sensor. That'd show at least sensor working.
 
if your suspecting wire issue I would say probe each wire from the cam sensor to the PCM for continuity.

As far as valve timing, maybe a compression test might give you an idea.

any popping sounds from the intake?
 
sometimes when it is advancing timing. It will pop and buck ect ect.

aliasJerk- how hard it is to replace the solenoid? i think you did it on your old zetec
 
Devanmc said:
sometimes when it is advancing timing. It will pop and buck ect ect.

aliasJerk- how hard it is to replace the solenoid? i think you did it on your old zetec
Click to expand...

I think you might have a jumped belt. Or the PCM is doing some crazy commanding to the VCT exhaust cam from lack of input from the cam sensor. I would do everything to rule out cam sensor, and then go onto timing. The compression test will give some input on what the valves are doing in relation to the pistons. I'm sure you can cop one cheap from Autozone or Napa.

Pull the upper timing cover back (take out the 8mm bolts) even though the engine mount will prevent removal, you can peak at the belt and see if it's groved. I had a roller jam and didn't make noise but put two groves and also was messing the timing up.
 
Advancing does not cause popping, retard can. He's right, could be cam timing off a tooth or two. Both popping thru intake and slow no power revving indicators. That's where I was going with the cam sensor too, you gotta go all the way back to PCM with no resistance to be guaranteed good circuit. More than one connector involved there.
 
with the splice i have in. If i probe the end of the plug with the engine on. I get nearly 0, like .02 ohm resistance.

i was thinking the popping is it trying to advance and then "snapping" back which makes a pop sound. I have no power because the system stays retarded.

I had previously removed the timing belt cover becuase i think its ugly. There are no missing teeth in the belt, it is newer looking and the pulleys look fine and newish

to clear up jump time idea. It had the loud intake, low power and popping at WOT when the car was first purchase 2 years ago. My fix attempts have gotten me half way to being fixed. I feel that if it had jumped time, none of my repairs would have helped.
 
Devanmc said:
with the splice i have in. If i probe the end of the plug with the engine on. I get nearly 0, like .02 ohm resistance.

i was thinking the popping is it trying to advance and then "snapping" back which makes a pop sound. I have no power because the system stays retarded.

I had previously removed the timing belt cover becuase i think its ugly. There are no missing teeth in the belt, it is newer looking and the pulleys look fine and newish

to clear up jump time idea. It had the loud intake, low power and popping at WOT when the car was first purchase 2 years ago. My fix attempts have gotten me half way to being fixed. I feel that if it had jumped time, none of my repairs would have helped.
Click to expand...

You don't want to do resistance check on a live circuit, you can damage the PCM, or the meter or both.

This is what you want to do. With the sensor plugged in key off. Set your meter to resistance (even better if it has audio beep for continuity) back probe (something thin like a paper clip or a pin, slide it gently into the back side of the connector threw the rubber seal) the brown wire with one lead of the meter the other lead to a good ground (any metal or battery post) you should have continuity and that will show that wire is good to the PCM seeing it ties back into it. If it doesn't, make sure your back probe is making contact, or pull the plug and probe the pin directly. If still nothing the wire had a break.
You can safely ground this wire yourself if you suspect it isn't grounding. As a test, you will want to repair it correctly if it start working after grounding.

Next will be the white wire. Setup for voltage test, 5 volt DC scale. Ground the black lead, and make the connection to the white wire with sensor connected and back probe with red lead. Start engine you should have around 2 volts to 1.88 volts, while running. If not then a connection problem with this wire.

Now back to timing, after you get this cam sensor cleared up, if you still have a issue with power and popping threw intake (not to be negitive but i have a feeling you will) you might be looking at redoing the timing job. I know it's new looking and work you've done has made some improvement, but whoever did it might of not done it correctly. The VCT engine needs the locking kit, and both intake and VCT need to be loose to turn freely from the locked cams when putting tension on the belt.
 
Devanmc said:
meh, :(

that is a hell of alot of work. atleast i dont have to replace everything. Just retime.
Click to expand...

Well the wire testing is 5mins of you time. I just outlined it so you know what your looking for. Test brown for ground and white for 1.8-2volts DC. Also make sure you didn't put any die grease on the connection. autozone likes to sell people on this, its not needed on sensor connections because they have a rubber seal on the connector. Do that to a TPS sensor you change the resistance of the circuit and will cause a problem. If you do have to do the retiming, it can take sometime yes.

I've been thinking about this, and knowning the PCM uses the exhaust cam sensor to know what the VCT is at, it could be that it's hunting, causing the erratic commands to the VCT. But has this cam sensor been an issue from the start of you noticing what the VCT is doing, or was this like this when you purchased the contour?

So get your meter and do the test, if your still unsure of how it's done let me know, I can make a quick video clip.
 
I can get the testing done tomorrow in the light of day.

The cam sensor(well the code popping up) has been the problem from the beginning. If you can get on aim right now, i can explain this much better. It sounds like you own either a zetec 98+ contour and a ford with a vct zetec.
 
If you check the cam timing, make sure the exhaust cam is rotated forward toward the front of the car till it hits the internal VCT cylinder stop at same time the cam tool is placed in back end of cams.
 
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