Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Check Engine.... and Ford Service Department

I have a 00 SVT Contour. Last summer I took it to Ford Service to get the A/C repaired under factory warrenty. They had to reinstall all new lines for one reason or another. So about two months ago my check engine light comes on. I take it to Autozone (cause Ford Service was gonna charge me 75.00), and they told me it's the Cam Shaft Senor (wich happens to be right next to the A/C lines). So then I bought a new one and check engine light "was" off. So about two weeks later came back on again, and so problem with an engine miss. So I knew it was the same senor. So I decided to get a Ford part. Put the sensor in and reseted the check egine light. 4 days later the check engine light is on again. And I'm almost sure for the same problem. So has this ever happen to someone. I think it's the wire not the sensor that is bad, but there is no way for me to check it... I would hate to have to take it to Ford Service cause they will charge me an arm and a leg [(pitty to cause I work at the dealership as a salesman)(I would hate to see what they do to reg people)]. I don't think two sensors could go bad in that short of a timespand.
So is there a way I could narrow down the problem or did this happen to anyone on here... Shoot didn't do a search will do one right after this.... Thanks for all the help!

Trouble codes do not pinpoint the cause of setting the check engine light. They only point you in the right direction. Someone that knows what they are doing needs to pin down the cause with a bit more certainty. If you are unable to do so yourself, you will either continue to guess or you will need to seek professional services.

I decided today that I would take it to Ford Service. At least they will know what there doing... But, I don't want to pay the for them to find the problem. So, this is my thought on the subject. I think it's intermitent, and goes and comes. So my understanding of electronics is that it is a loose wire. Cause the check engine light is always on
but it has to be reset. So my question is, can Autozone find the deeper root of the problem. Like for instants:

{-- CID circuit open.
-- CID circuit shorted to GND.
-- CID circuit shorted to PWR.
-- PWR GND open.
-- VPWR open.
-- Damaged CMP Sensor.
-- Damaged PCM}



{ } Provided by GeoPappas

It is extraordinarily unlikely that an AutoZone person will 1) be allowed to perform that level of diagnostics on a customer's car and 2) have the necessary training and experience to actually pull it off sucessfully.

This is not to disparage the people that work at AZ, but simply to point out that, for the most part, they are not technicians who have training and experience to perform tasks beyond the basic reading of coses with a scanner. You might get lucky and find an AZ'er who is a moonlighting mechanic or has worked as a mechanic, but they are much scarcer than you want. You are much more likely to find a young person who is just starting out in the work force and simply does not have the experience to perform the task you need.

BTW, don't bet that the Ford dealership will be sucessful the first time unless you are able to give the technician a full history of the service performed on the car. Try to talk directly to the person that will perform the work, don't rely on the service advisor to relay important info. The better the info that the technician has, the more things he/she will look for as a possible cause.

Good luck.

Steve

You might want to review this current thread which is about the same CEL code (P0340) you seem to be having, in particular note post by GregH:

http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=trouble&Number=155686&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=1#Post160350