im currently trying to fix my 2001 dodge stratus. It plain died on the freeway one day so i had it towed to the mechanic who diagonosed it as a bad ecu. After the mechanic couldent fix it without the cam sensor disconnected i told him to put the old ecu back in and got it towed home. On a whim i tried to start it and the engine starts allbe with a tapping noise coming from the front of the engine and no cam sensor plugged in.

ive taken the cam sensor out which had a milky residue on it much like the oil cap. my question is that

A. Could the milky residue be due to a failing water pump?
B. what would cause this car to only run with the cam sensor disconnected?

thank you in advance

Patch

 

Welcome to DF
If you are getting coolant or water in the oil. You may have head gasket problems. Sure it could be the water pump. Without the cam sensor the engine wouldn't run very well. Have you tried a new cam sensor? How often does the oil get changed? Because the milky residue maybe from a lack of oil changes.