moabdee

To all it's been a while since I've posted but I need some help. Yesterday after leaving the resturant for lunch my car acted like it didn't want to start. I tried to start it again and it started up fine but the Service Engine Soon light came on. The car rode smoothly but the engine light never went off. When I got to work, I turned it off and tried to turn it on again and it did the same thing. Tried to start but quit and then I tried it again and it started up. I thought it might have been the filter on the cold air intake due to me splashing in a pool of water because of rain but I realized that couldn't be it because of how high the filter is and it's location. So I took out my SCT tuner and looked up the error code P0340 which is a Camshaft Positioning Sensor fault. I called AutoZone and bought the part for $18 and installed it. It wouldn't act right the first 30 or so seconds but afterwards I was able to rev the engine without it cutting of. Anyways, I erased the code and the SESL went away. Today the same thing happened after lunch so I looked at it with the tuner again and had the same code. I decided to disconnect the battery for 2 hours to allow for it to reset itself. I did that and of course it went SESL went away. Everytime I start the engine it starts up strong. I drove an hour away to Greenville and no problem but on the way back while driving the SESL came on again. So I solicit your help so that I don't have to spend $75 for the Ford dealership to look at it.
I did look at one of the post on here with a guy having the same problem a year ago and didn't know if because I didn't buy the part from Ford, that the problem is still showing????
Any suggestions would be highly welcomed..
Specs:
02 Mustang GT
57,000 miles
BBK CAI
Aftermarket TB
3:73 gears
Aftermarket Plenum
Aftermarket Spacer
SCT Tune
(The TB and CAI was on the vehicle when I bought it, the gears, plenum and spacer as well as tune a month after I bought it, bought the car two years ago)

Intruder505

I just had that sensor replaced a couple of weeks ago too. I took the car to my local shop, and they replaced the cam sensor, and the the crank sensor. After replacing those two parts, the car still would not start correctly and would bog out when I would start the car. Theytold me it was the PCM (Powertrain Control Module) and I might have to replace that part. I looked up PCMs on the internet and they said it would run a couple hundred dollars. So,I bit the bullet and took the car to a Ford dealership to get their opinion. They said they had to run a diagnostic on the car. It sucked to pay the 90 dollars for the diagnostic, but its the only way to find the problem out. The mechanic there said that it was an alternator issue with bad diodes. Baiscally, the alternator was not sending enough electircal current to the cam sensor, causing it to not start correctly. So I had Ford replace the alternator at a cost of 325 dollars, plus labor. The car has been running smooth ever since. I tried to see if I could get an alternator cheaper at places like Rock Island Auto, but it was like five bucks cheaper than the 325 ford was selling it for. So my overall advice would be to take the vehicle in to Ford, bite the bullet and get it fixed. I took myself out for a steak dinner at Outback afterwards to ease the pain of this costly issue.Good luck with getting the car fixed.

moabdee

Thanks for the information. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and take it to the ford dealership. Didn't want to but I will.

contentsunderpressur

If you want to try an avoid the labor of a dealership you could remove the alternator yourself and take it to a auto parts store. Most of them will test it for free. Low voltage will make problems like this accure all the time. It's very common.

livefast1

low voltage will sometimes throw the cam sensor code and cause malfunction. as a matter of fact this happen to me to day on a friends cadillac. his battery was dead and it threw the intermittent cam sensor code.

moabdee

Thanks for everyone's input. Does the alternator need to be taken off for AutoZone to test the alternator? I thought it could be on the vehicle while they tested the alternator??? Thanks again for the input.

contentsunderpressur

There is a tool made to check it on the car but I'm not sure Auto Zone will have the kind of tool. I know they have the bench inside that they can put it on.

oxfordgt

Yeah I'm placing my money on the alternator. I've seen this lots of times.

moabdee

I went to AutoZone and they checked it and I had bad diodes in my altenator. So thanks for the input about AutoZone. Okay the next question is should I by a Ford OEM altenator or should I go and buy an aftermarket high performance altenator? If so any suggestions? Thanks for the help once again. This is saving me time and money.

Side note:
How do I put my picture in my sig?

GT03 TJS

haha same thing happend to me a while ago. I must have replaced the camshaft positioner sensor 4 times...I asked the forum...everyone said alternator....my dad and my mechanic said "that makes no sense...what does an alternator have to do with the camshaft sensor..."

then driving one night my car died on the highway....guess what? DEAD ALTERNATOR haha

I ended up getting a higher amp PA performance alternator just because I'm young and stupid and put a giant amp/subwoofer system in my car. If you dont do that, a stock one would suit you just fine....