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Cam shaft position sensor question


harkauto
09-14-2019, 11:52 AM
My 2001 Dakota 4.7 recently displayed and engine code P0340 for the Cam Position Sensor. Even though my truck has been starting and running beautifully, and showing zero signs of a bad sensor I went ahead and replaced it and immediately the check engine light went away and all seemed to be well. After driving for about a week the check engine light suddenly appeared again and when I pulled up the code I found it was the same P0340 code again.
Since the truck was starting and operating perfectly, I decided to ignore the code just to see what happens and after driving with the check engine light on for a few days, low and behold, the check engine light went out again. Now, I've been driving again for over a week and still the check engine light has not re-appeared.
I'm beginning to wonder....if I actually fixed anything by replacing the sensor.
Somebody told me if I replaced the sensor with just an aftermarket, rather than a Mopar part, chances are the check engine light will return again. He said for some reason Dodge products don't like aftermarket parts in some cases.
I was also told, that the Crankshaft Position sensor could be going bad, but I would think if the crank sensor was going bad then wouldn't I be receiving a separate code for a bad crank sensor?
I'm wondering if the experts on this site think any of this is true.
One other thing.....when I replaced the camshaft sensor, I did not clear the engine code. When I started the engine after replacing the part I noticed the check engine light went off all by itself without me clearing the code. Could it be that I keep getting the same check engine code because I did not clear it after replacing the part?

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