A bit stumped....


96 Avenger, 2.0 liter, 255,000 miles.

Last week at about 65 MPH, it died suddenly without warning. SoI coasted to the side of the road and had it towed home. Put the scanner on it - got P1391 (Camshaft Position Sensor). This was the only fault code.

Went to 3 different part stores - but no one had one with the same connector. They all had the "connector kits" to convert it to the newer style. "Oh, it should not be any trouble, the wire colors match and everthing" I was told. Well, the colors do *not* match. The original connector is yellow, blue and black for the 3 wires. The new is orange, brown and black. I assume the blacks are grounds - both were the middle wire in their respective connector. Holding the connector so thatthe "hold tab" is on top, it appears orange=yellow and the blue=brown. So this is the way I soldered it in (from underneath with a large soldering gun wedged between the block and the firewall, solder dripping down at me - lots of fun).

Anyway, get it all hooked up. It cranks - but does not start. I cleared the DTC - it did not come back. Now no codes at all. All electric on the car seems fine - I assume I am *still* not getting a spark due to the sensor, but have not pulled a plug yet to verify.

What is up?

Just for kicks - I swapped the outside wires on the connector so now blue=orange and yellow=brown. No change. This might have fried the new unit? Someone please tell me that the outside wires are just a "pulse" and all that truly matters is really the black=black?

Anyway - anyone have any ideas what to try next?

 

OK - I felt guilty for not testing for spark. Pulled a plug - and definitely no spark there.

What next?

Thanks!

 

i know on the 2.5 the distrubuter holds the cam sensor and they go bad had it hppen to me. not sure on the 2.0 maybe BV could help.

Joe

 

Check the relays .... or check the CPS for voltage with the tps check procedure above ,,,

 

is it getting power to the ignition coil?

 

Put a volt/ohm meter up to the crank pos sensor tonight -- it is registering 5 volts when I spin the engine....

 

Check the relays listed above in the stickies ...

 

right - I saw your first post on the relays, but had not been able to get out there yet to verify anything.

But since you bought it up again, let me ask a couple quick questions. I do appreciate all your help so far.

1. is there a way to test a relay to see if it is bad? I do not see that in the sticky -- or just replace it and see if it helps?
2. I have a manual trans. so only 2 relays. are the relays themselves identical? I notice the fuel and asd relays have different part numbers - but the reference to Radio Shack seems to imply they are identical after all? Surely I am missing something here....

When I pulled the plug to test for spark - I noticed that I am defnintely getting fuel to the cylinder. So I assume that means that relay is fine. But the ASD might be a different story. Even after the additional testing and more engine cranking, I still do not get any error codes. Does the ASD occassionally go out with out a dtc?

I have never had a relay problem on any of my vehicles - so this is new ground for me. Thanks for your patience.

 

The 30 amp bosch style relays work just fine .... you can either swap them and se if you get a different trouble ie no fuel , or just replace them (like $5) more if you buy the dealer ... or hit the junkyard and grab a couple ...

 

swapped the relays tonight - still no spark.

(not new relays - just reversed positions of the existing two relays)