Cam Phasers- info & tips?

My first post- let's see how it goes..

Looking for some advice cam phasers in my '05 S-197 GT- seems like I get a cel every 1,000 miles or so- DTC says it's the cam position sensor circuit fault. The first time, I replaced one sensor, and the code went away. When the code came up again, I got the same DTC. I actually removed the plug for the other position sensor, and found a little plastic piece may be shorting the circuit- unsure if that's the case or not. Plugged back in, and the code went away.

Anyone got some advice or info on this? I can't tell a difference in performance, but if it's throwing a code, surely it affects something.
I change oil every 3,000 miles with pure synthetic 5W-20.

Thanks!

How old is the alternator? These cars are weird in that when the alternator starts to act up it throws a cam sensor code.

Bo Young said:

My first post- let's see how it goes..

Looking for some advice cam phasers in my '05 S-197 GT- seems like I get a cel every 1,000 miles or so- DTC says it's the cam position sensor circuit fault. The first time, I replaced one sensor, and the code went away. When the code came up again, I got the same DTC. I actually removed the plug for the other position sensor, and found a little plastic piece may be shorting the circuit- unsure if that's the case or not. Plugged back in, and the code went away.

Anyone got some advice or info on this? I can't tell a difference in performance, but if it's throwing a code, surely it affects something.
I change oil every 3,000 miles with pure synthetic 5W-20.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

What is the exact code it’s throwing?

As far as the cam phasers themselves, what I use is a mechanic's stethoscope to listen to the cam phasers thru the front of the valve covers. If you don't hear a clunking noise when engine is at hot idle thru the front of the valve cover your cam phasers are fine mechanically speaking. You could use a long screwdriver but a mechanics stethoscope from Harbor Freight costs about the same but works 1,000 times better.

All tools from HB ain't bad...… This IMHO is a good tool investment to make especially for these Ford Modular engines as they are a little noisy operational & it pays to be able to distinguish between good noise vs bad noise as the quicker you can catch stuff going wrong the less costly the repairs will be.

As was mentioned you may need to have your alternator checked for excess AC ripple current as these cam position sensors (as well as the crank position sensor) are a 2-wire analog unit (they make their own low-level AC current pulses to send to the PCM from the cam phaser tone ring fingers passing by the end tip of the sensor during rotation signaling cam degree position so PCM can ensure that cams are in synch w\ the crankshaft & for VCT position control) & AC ripple from a faulty alternator will mess w\ the signal generation from them causing issues & can eventually kill the sensor.

Doesn't appear from your posting that you're having actual cam phaser issues...……..unless somehow 1 (or more) of the cam phaser tone ring fingers got bent back away from the sensor far enough to throw off the signaling or the tone ring is coming apart from the phaser (this can happen but is very, very rare & when it does happen odds are you'll feel & hear it AND you won't be resetting the PCM from just unplugging the sensors).

Hope this helps.

On the 3V engine, the most common causes of cam position sensor codes are a failing alternator diode or a sticking VCT solenoid. Pull the solenoids out and if you find they're gummed up, clean them and see if that resolves the issue.
Cam phasers usually start knocking first when they begin to fail, and will later trigger cam position sensor codes as the degree of slop between the trigger wheel and the sprocket increases.


The cam position sensors themselves rarely fail, and codes are usually triggered by a secondary cause.

On my 2004 F150, the failing cam phasers made a diesel-like knocking sound at hot idle and the sound would clear up after 1500 rpms.
I replaced them before they failed completely and they had not thrown a code yet despite the sound.
If you don't have the noise, it is probably the alternator.

It is kind of unfortunate that those 2 parts are the two weakest ones on the car and when they fail, they usually throw the same code.