p0340 camshaft position sensor AFTER:oil change/coolant sweat/seal loose bolt

[noskyhook]

Can't afford major repairs this time around
...am trying to begin looking at diy for this old van...(<150,000KM)
looking at some training to find my way around under the hood
(got the Haynes manual/obdii reader).1995 3.8L Windstar (with a Continental 3.8L dropped in 2yrs ago)
-Today check engine light came on (obdii p0340).
Did an oil change yesterday(every 3months/ mileage:15,000 KM/Year).

Yesterday also noticed sudden low coolant (eyeballing the resevoir/checked weekly) searched then found coolant sweat (wide area) under what I think was the water pump (between rad and engine at front underside) tightened what I thought was a water pump bolt to stop the sweat -nearest where a miniture bead was starting to form.
I had a similiar sudden tran pan sweat around bolts couple months back found 3-4 loose bolts (and a pool on the ground at the time) tightened pan - no leaks since)(I think I have bolts that loosen themselves overnight in the driveway
No leaks under car today/yesterday.

Drove about 20km to a store. Parked, came back 40min later started van.
When put in drive after easing foot off brake, some kind of unusual momentary jerk or hesitation occurred. Switched to reverse, backed up smooth, noticed engine light went on, back in drive smooth again and off I went back home no other jerkiness.

Only odd thing in oil change was the filter in the box did not appear to be the usual
kind - normally I get a Quaker State qs3600 (which is green) in bilingual packaging
(English/French). This one came in a QS paper box with no shrink wrap (and not green but white) with English/Spanish on it. I noticed the new filter had a little pulp like substance sitting on the threads of the filter, also noticed the new filter had 3 threads instead of 4 on the old one. Bought it at the same national auto retailer up here as I always do. The no shrink wrapped scared me, but what to do once you've drained the oil?

I had an engine replacement done 30,000km and 2 years earlier -
by a trainee at a ford dealership -- After a 3 week wait,the van was "ready" - my wife ended up driving off with the coolant return hose completely detached back in 2002, contaminating the compartment - smoke pouring out from the hood. After getting the van towed back to the dealership, had to ask them twice to clean the coolant out of the engine compartment - not sure if they ever did this properly. As I recall still having to do additional coolant cleanup at home when I got the van back-- That experience prompted me to want to do a little more myself.

Also had a 1407 (egr valve no flow) a couple months back. It was reset and it never came back on- went on when I turned the engine over from cold, turned it off and then turned if over again in quick succession.

Question(s):
1)Does the water pump need to be resealed or replace ? Was this something the trainee didn't do properly in the engine replacement ? Or will tightening do the trick?

1b)Did he forget to tighten everything when he put the engine back in -- besides the tranmission pan and the water pump should I expect some other component bolts coming loose anytime soon?

2)Could tightening the water pump have somehow caused this code to trigger?
I recall someone somewhere replacing a water pump on a windstar and having this code come on.

3)Should I race back to the auto store and ask about the filter without shrink wrap and in the wrong language/color? and redrain the whole system and replace with a filter I'd recognize?

4)I'm tempted to note the code and reset it and see if it triggers again as there appears to be no roughness. Is that a bad idea?

5)Got to do a 300K trip tomorrow soon should I lose sleep over the code? Dont really have time to take to garage for the usual one/two day wait. Should I risk it?

6)I Will be doing a mandatory clean air soon (next week), is there anything I can do in the driveway to minimize the $$ when serviced --I don't know a mechanic I can trust right now - I will have to ask around.

[sahib]

I think all Windstars came with the transverse engine and that would put the water pump on the passenger side of the engine compartment facing the inner fender well. Wouldn't hurt to check all fasteners for tightness as long as you don't over torque, especially when they are threaded into aluminum. Doesn't sound like you're having an oil problem so I wouldn't be to concerned about the "odd" filter. May want to check with the auto store and ask what they sold you. Resetting the code shouldn't hurt either. As long as you note it and if trouble arrises you can relate that to the mechanic if you need to. Doesn't sound like your dealer is going to win any customer appreciation awards anytime soon.

[noskyhook]

How often should one check the fasteners and for what parts?

When engine was replaced I mentioned to the service advisor that it seemed to vibrate
more than the old one (even when it was damaged). Could this be loosening those bolts - Its not banging around but it vibrates (hand on the engine) more than before
(no unusual noises accompanying the vibrations).

After engine #2...
I too had a black oily air filter(probably starving the air) last winter or the one before
(replaced yearly (only req'd every 2yrs)-get lots of tree pollen & fireplace smoke settling on van) (discovered and replaced filter a couple of iterations ago -no repeat),
At the same time as some engine oil leaking was leaking out of the circular rubber grommet/tube (tube) sticking out vertically and immediately making a right angle
from the top of the valve cover(?) nearby the engine oil filler cap (don't know if it was a one time eruption or not). That too doesn't seem to have repeated (I did not clean out any related parts)
Someone mentioned a valve cover replacement bulletin -oil backing to the air filter, maybe my new engine has the old valve cover. (I should post a picture once I get my hands on my camera again - of the whole engine compartment..)

I do notice that highway mileage is slightly poorer with new engine instant mileage (from the day I drove off - I know its not very accurate - but it's a noticeable pattern as I frequently check it on my trips) usually settles on 10-12L/100Km versus 8L/100Km of old (during flat highway driving).
Recently low speed mileage (fuel consumption) much worse than before. Often registering on gradual accelleration(not hard) 50L-100L/100km from stop to 40Km/hr than settling down to 20L-40L/100Km until I hit a speed of about 100Km/hour (highway) which then settles down to about 12L/100Km (could that be a sign of tranmission trouble? fuel line issues? egr? time for plug replacement?) Brakes binding? (after new engine I noticed immediately that the parking brake warning lights never went on again -was something disabled)?

Mileage was bad like that once before- during the winter, but once I replaced the oily air filter and did an oil change it improved dramatically. Where to start?

Tire pressure okay, not sure about alignment seems okay(hands free driving).
I'm going to change the fuel filter (its due), would this be a likely cause if clogged? or should I look elsewhere for the problem.