Cam Sensor

[88shinin']

ABOUT 4 DAYS AGO MY SERVC ENG SOON LIGHT APPEARED ON MY DASH! MY CAR IS A LIL HESITATANT OUT OF A COMPLETE STOP, PRETTY MUCH, OUT OF FIRST GEAR, THE EARLY STAGES OF FIRST GEAR! I WENT TO THE MECHANIC AND HE CAME UP WITH CODE 41. SO, AFTER JOINING THIS SITE AND DOING RESEARCH THROUGHOUT EVERYONES TESTEMONIES, I AM GOING W/ THE CAM SENSOR! I KNOW I NEED A NEW ECM AS WELL BECAUSE I SEE CORROSION ON ONE PLUG/OUTLET ON THE ECM, BUT I WANNA SAY THE CAM SHAFT SENSOR CAUSE THATS WHAT THE DIAG/TEST CAME UP WITH ON THE CPU! I LOVE MY 88, THEY ARE REALLY GREAT CARS....I am 23 w/ a classic and I will keep her when I get my new car...HELP!

[razr_88]

ok ok don't panic i had the same problem.... before you do ANYTHING you must figure out if it is actually the sensor or if it is the interrupt magnet that activates it. ok.... are you still calm ok good, if you don't know already the camshaft sensor is located underneath the waterpump and above the Harmonic balancer, though offset to the left of the later. it also may be easier if you took the belt off. now you probably won't be able to see it but it is in there somewhere. What i did is i used a mirror taped to the end of a piece of old copper pipe, but it doesn't matter.there should be only ONE BOLT holding it in. I suggest you look at this site it'll help a lot if you don't want to spend in excess of $500, or have to take off the timing chain, cover, and gears!!! http://padgett.performanceresearch.us/cars/cammag.htm oh and before i forget, this worked for me, but youll prolly end up having to dig out a bunch of plastic peices, so i would go buy an oil pan gasket. anymore questions? good luck and don't get frustrated, this'll take a long time to fix

[Alibi]

Ah...the good ole code 41. Before you start to throw sensors or lots of work at it you need futher diagnostics.

code 41 just means that the cam sensor isn't picking up a signal from the interruptor magnet. One of three things can be wrong.

1. Cam sensor is bad. Located above harmonic balancer on passenger side. Accesible by removing the front passenger side tire and then replaced (12mm bolt).

2. Camshaft Interruptor Magnet has flown/broken out of the cam sprocket. A PITA to fix. Remove the aforementioned cam sensor, then spin the cam by spinning the harmonic balancer (you will have to have a large socket and wrench, maybe even a pry bar for enough leverage). Spin untill you either see a hole with bits or no plastic, or a small magnet encased in a black plastic shell. If you see the magnet, then replace the cam sensor and you wil probably be in busienss. Otherwise you have to replace the interruptor magnet. There should be plenty of posts regarding this so just do a search of the forums (olds 98, olds 88, buick lesabre/PA/Electra, Pontiac Bonneville) for interruptor magnet replacement.

3. Short/ground in the wires between your cam sensor and the rest of your electrical systems. Good luck finding that one....but it is the least likely.

If you have recently been in a wreck or over a nasty pothole or otherwise jolted your engine lately, then you probably have lost your interruptor magnet.

Anyway, try that and post back...for your sake I hope your cam sensor is bad and your magnet hasn't flown out yet...

HTH

[olds8894]

What does an interrupt mag. usually cost? I hooked my 94' 88 up to a diag. comp. last night and it said that the signal is intermittent. I really hope its not the mag. because the sensor is easy to change you really dont need to take anything off/apart to get to it.

[razr_88]

like i said before, if you want it to never happen again go to

http://padgett.performanceresearch.us/cars/cammag.htm

this is the easiest way to fix it. the cam mag will be in there even better than b4, b/c of the nature of jbweld. besides, i'm pretty sure you don't want to have to take the timing chain cover and gear off...

my cam mag set me back about 12-14 bucks at napa. it prolly depends on where u are and where u go...