Engine management light 2005 4.6 after cam phazer replacement.

Hello from the UK, I hope you are all keeping well during this lock down we are all in. I have a odd problem on my mustang that I hope you can help me with, when I bought the car it had the noisy cam phazer problem so I ordered a pair of new phazers and fitted them. The problem now is that every time I start the car hot or cold the engine management light comes on but only on start up the code reads P0345 cam position sensor a bank 2 and PO349 cam position sensor a intermittent bank 2. I then clear the fault and it stays off until you restart the motor. The car starts and runs perfectly and ive done over 600 miles with it with no problems. The other day the light did not come on at all after start up but as soon as I shut the motor off and restarted it came back on so I cleared it with a code reader and it stayed off until restarted the motor. I have changed the cam position sensor on both sides checked the wiring and also fitted new VVT solenoids both sides but that made no difference so re fitted the ford parts as i figured they would be better than the Chinese ones. The car had a new genuine alternator fitted last year as it threw the same fault codes and sounded like a bag of spanners when running the new alt sorted that problem. The car has covered 75000 miles any help or thoughts would be great and please stay safe. Thanks Russ.

Those codes are from the driver's (left) side so you might want to remove the rocker cover on that side to verify that the phaser isn't a tooth off.

Ok thanks would the car run ok with that problem thanks Russ.

I think you might be a tooth off too... Given everyone's "extra" time lately I think it would be a good idea to take off the front cover and reset all the timing components from scratch.

If you are unfamiliar... YouTube Ford Tech Makuloco... He's got some good videos on how to do it.

The engine can still run "fine" with one tooth off on one gear. The computer will be trying to adjust the cam timing independently for each side though and is likely sensing the difference in the amount of adjustment, or the VCT system is maxed out on that side trying to compensate, which is causing the dash light to come on.

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Thanks for the info I also think its poss a tooth off but hoping not if you see what i mean I will have a look at the ford tech advice. thanks stay safe Russ.

Hello i have spent the morning on today and checked the marks it was one tooth off so reset it but still have the same problem after about two seconds. sorry for the late reply on the prev post i didn't hit the reply button. Thanks Russ.

Did you disconnect the battery to reset the ECU after you fixed the problem?

An alternator starting to go bad can do this. It has happened for me on my 08 several times after after I put in an under drive pulley. I went up to the 2010 model alternator (or go up in power) and the issues went away. It could also be that the phasers are still moving when they shouldn't. I changed my entire drive train a few months ago (chains, guards, tensioners, solenoids, phasers) and still had the knocking issue and codes upon startup and running warm. I then locked out the phasers using the Livernois kit and ALL of my issues went away. Considering that your car has run good for 600 miles now, I'd guess it's not the VCT system and would suggest that you take a look at your alternator power output loaded and unloaded first.

If the alternator is causing the codes, the problem is at least one faulty diode (rectifier) allowing a small AC current to leak into the wiring harness. The alternator output may be normal if the voltage regulator is working properly, but you need to perform an AC ripple test to reveal a faulty diode.

Thanks for the reply's guys, the battery was disconnected when I was resetting the chain and it was a tooth out! but I will try that next. How long do I need to disconnect the battery for? I fitted a new gen alternator last year as I had the same problem throwing the same codes and that sorted it. The problem only started after I fitted the new cam phazers, Im a bit stumped to be honest. I suppose It gives me something to do wile we are on lock down lol stay safe. Thanks Russ

The alternator you need is from a 2010 Mustang GT. That's the Denso unit that everyone is referring to. You'll just have to tell the parts person whether you have an automatic or a manual transmission to get one with the correct pulley.

If you get that alternator you may have to make the eyelet on the power wire just a touch larger to go over the post on the new alternator.

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Make sure all the fingers on the Cam Phaser are straight. If they are not the cam position sensor will not read correctly.