92 - Interpretor in Gear Box for Timing Belt

[mysubastas]

Our shop has told us that the Interpretor in the Gear Box for the timing belt is damaged. Therefore, the correct information is not being sent to the gears and it is affecting the timing. It's an $800 repair that would replace the box and the belt, but our car has 200k miles on so we're trying to find out if this is something we can do ourselves and save some cash. Does anyone have some advise? Thanks!

[LMP]

...mmm..'92?...Bonneville?...timing belt??....what engine is this?....supercharger?...At first sight, that sounds a little weird..please tell more about your car, symptoms, codes, and the like.
THe only thing that makes sense is the transmission range switch...that should throw a code...anyway, please post more details.

[mysubastas]

Engine is a 3800, it's the Bonneville SE. I'm not sure what the code is due to the parts stores around here only run codes back on 96 and up. A few months ago it would occasionally act like it was chugging. This ususally happened when we were at a stop light. But it always cleared up and went away once we took off. I'm only guessing that the 2 things are related, but now, the Service Engine Light is on. Sometimes it runs perfectly fine. Other times it chugs a lot and runs very rough. We really trust our mechanic and think they are telling us the truth. They have lost jobs lots of times by telling us ways to fix or live with a problem. We're just not willing to put $800 into the car, but we love the car so would like to figure this out on our own.

[LMP]

OK so please get the codes: you can do it yourself with this OBD1 vintage by jumping A and B.
Instructions here:
www.avigex.ca/xport/readingcodes.jpg

www.avigex.ca/xport/3800codes.jpg
notice DTC codes do not necessarily mean "change that item". Sometime the codes are the result of some other mishap. COme back with the code numbers. What might come relevant with your first post would be 36.
ALso...reading codes like above will not tell specific transmission codes...but it might also be something other than transmission with the symptoms you ahve mentioned.
By hte way , there is NO timing belt on that engine type. ...(Timing chain, yes, but not related to symptoms you describe or conclusions expressed in your first post)...nor in the transmission...maybe it was just about "timing"....anyway...

[richtazz]

I believe he meant the interruptor in the timing cover for the cam position sensor, as there is no interpretor in gear box nor does your car have a timing belt. THe interruptor is a small magnet that goes in the cam gear, and is what the cam sensor picks up it's signal from. When they fail, it will cause hard starting and driveabilty issues.

[mysubastas]

That sounds correct because we just read the code and it is # 41 which is Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit. Is there anything we can do or are we basically out of luck? Thanks very much for your information.

[LMP]

FYI
DTC41
TEST PROCEDURE
CAM SENSOR