d.bright

Hey all,

2006 Mustang GT AT, I just installed an aftermarket Clarion VX401 double-din stereo for the car, I used the PAC harness for the car and from what I thought I got all the wiring done up properly, the radio seems to be working fine. However after about half a day of driving around, I saw the check engine light come on, I used my nifty bluetooth scanner/torque app for Android and it pulls up this code:

P0340 - Powertrain Camshaft Position Sensor "A" Circuit (Bank 1 or Single Sensor)

After reading around, apparently this can be caused by the alternator? I'm wondering if this new head unit is pulling too much power or something, any suggestions? I'm not sure if I should let my wife drive it to work tomorrow.

Thanks!

d.bright

I went ahead and cleared to code and drove it up the street with the radio ON to see if it came back, and it didn't on the first drive, however I am worried that if it is the alternator, my wife won't have much warning before the car just dies on her, any comments? Bueller?

wayne613

Bueller...Bueller..

Doubtful it would die. According to what's stated, this is due to the diode in the alternator that's dead or dieing that gets this oddball code thrown for the actual problem. Not necessarily killing the output any substantial amount, at least not right away.

If your not noticing anything else, then just get it looked at and/or replace the alternator within the next few days would be my personal opinion on this. Assuming you're noting no drop in engine performance, or idling issues, it's likely a solid bet, the TSB issue you're mentioning is the problem.

Here is the specific TSB to hand whomever you get to look at this. Hopefully this is warranty work, but as it's a 2006, I'm guessin' not..

d.bright

Wayne, thanks for the info, I cleared the code last night and told my wife to call me if it came back on today, and it didn't. I'm still thinking I might go ahead and replace the alternator just for the heck of it (it looks pretty straight-forward, and I used to be a Ford mechanic ). The stock alternator is rated at 135amps, however I have cruised the forums and seen people installing 200amp alternators, would I gain anything from that? Or could it actually cause problems? They are on eBay with a 1-year warranty for about $150, which seems kinda cheap when then stock amp ones cost $199-$299 at Advance or Autozone...

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks for the help already!

Blacksmoke

I had the same thing happen to me not too long ago.
A week after install and got that code.

Took it to ford. Found out it was the alternator.
Ford has changed its alterators four diff times because of this problem.
If you are under warrranty you should get it free.
If not im not sure what they run. But you need to ask them to get you the most recent alternator out there so you dont get one of the bumber ones.

wayne613

Think of the alternator as the potential to draw from for re-charging your battery on the fly. Significantly more than you're drawing on average isn't going to be of benefit to you, but it will harm nothing, and allow for future expansion. Unless this is warranty work, my opinion is to treat the OEM alternator as the super-stinky guy in HS, avoid it/him unless otherwise forced to.

If I personally were going to replace mine now that it is out of warranty, I would go with the one that's toted as one of the better ones..PA performance. Of course unless you have a decent aftermarket audio setup going the one I list in that link is a bit overkill @100amps at idle, and 200 at 6000rpms. But I like overkill...And I'm fine with spending a bit extra to do something ONCE the right way.

d.bright

Before I plunk down the cash for a new alternator, I would really like to make sure it is the problem. Other than the CEL, I see/feel no signs of the alternator going bad. I had Autozone do a battery/charging test and it all showed fine... I'm curious if something I did with the radio installation could be causing the CEL, there is a HUGE mess of wires now behind the radio whereas with the stock radio everything was neat and tidy, is it possible some of the radio wires are interfering with the stock wires? Also, I wired the negative wire from the new radio to the negative wire in the PAC harness, should I re-do this and ground directly to the body of the car? Suggestions?

Blacksmoke

Had the SAME thing happen to me bro.
Odds are it is the alternator.

Nothing before the radio was installed and VERY shortly after I was hit with the CEL.
I'd say this is as close to be as certain as possible, without being 1 billion percent certain. If that makes sense lol!

I had the same questions as you as well. Both forum members and the dealership said they were pretty darn sure that was the problem and sure enough it was.

wayne613

Blacksmoke's dead on. This is feedback from the diode in the alternator, RFI, a crossed wire, defective PAC unit, or a bad ground from your new radio will not throw this code. It may have shown up do to this inadvertently due to a slight increase in draw causing it to show this issue, but that's it. If you think the ground is inadequate for the draw, by all means re-do it, but only because of the benefit to your equipment(and car if it's crappy enough), not because of the code thrown.

If it doesn't show up anymore, great, you can probably just ignore it for now, but once that code being thrown becomes chronic I'd personally replace that alternator.

By the time you're done you'll probably spend a good chunk of change any way you go, but I'd opt for the route to avoid a tow in addition to that price-tag when the time comes.

EDIT: really, if you wish to talk abortion of wires, see my dash center console with a higher-end PC installed in there, with an LCD screen, TV/FM reciever, ODB-II, wi-fi, etc.. I have all kinds of RFI going with 320 watts being drawn in that section alone. Not counting the amps. I have never had a code of any kind thrown. Gone though 2 batteries so far..but no codes.

Blacksmoke

Wayne broke it down much better as far as the explanation than me lol!

I was just throwing in the source of the problem lol