QuestionQUESTION: hello I have a 2000 voyager with 2.4L automatic Trans my
wife had the water pupm go out on her and the temp gauge
never showed hot but when she got to work it was
knocking.... I got the van home replaced water pump timing
belt and thermostat
moved the van to the front of my house checked water level
and found that I had blown head gasket that not the bad
news here it is after running for about 3 min the van just
shut down and will not restart I put a code reader on it and
the only code was cam positioning sensor changed that still
no spark checked all the fuses all are good checked the
relays by moving a couple around and nothing still no spark
mind you I am looking for spark thru the spark plugs. if it
got hot enough to pop a head gasket could I have damaged the
plug wires? but it was running and just turned off do you
have any Ideas Please help I am tired of guessing it costs
too much Thanks for your help
ANSWER: Hi Tyson,
Is the cam sensor code showing 0340 and did you try erasing it by disconnecting the battery for a minute, then reconnecting, and then try to start it once more, and finally verify that you still have an 0340 that is fresh? You will also get a 1684 code due to disconnecting the battery but ignore that one, it will go away on its own.
Assuming that you have the 0340, I would suggest that you measure the cam signal wire to verify whether it is putting out a proper signal. To do that you need a voltmeter which you would measure the dark blue/gray wire as compared to the dark blue/dark green wire either at the sensor (pin 2 compared to pin 3) or at pin 33 compared to 43 at the pcm. You can reach those wires by using fine pins to pierce through the insulation. You would have the ignition in the 'run' position, and then rotate the engine by hand using a ratchet/socket combo on the crank pulley bolt. You should see the voltage oscillate between 5.0 and 0.3V several times per revolution of the crank if the sensor is good. The third wire (brown/pink) on pin 1 or at pin 44 of the pcm should show a constant 8V. {The wire colors I have listed are from the '02 manual, your '00 may have a different set of colors: tan/yellow, black/light blue, and orange, respectively).
If the signal seems to be solid, then we can look for another cause. If the signal is missing or uncertain, then I would reset the sensor so that its tip comes in contact with the surface of the cam sprocket and hold it there while you tighten its mounting screw. There is a paper apacer that is supposed to wear away but leave the actual surface of the sensor very close to but not in contact with the sprocket. You may not have installed it in this manner originally. You can also get a new paper spacer, remove the old one, then try to reset it in position.
Let me know what you find.
Roland
PS Please 'rate' my answer. Thanks
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: hello thank you for all your help I changed my cam sensor
and cleared the code checked spark and spark has appeared I
also changed spark plugs and wires the van does not run it
sound like it is backfiring thru the exaust I have checked
the timing and it is correct. I am not sure were to look bad
ecm bad wire only god know whats else their is that could be
bad if the computer for the ignition was bad would I get a
code???? hope you can help
Thanks Tyson
AnswerHi Tyson,
I believe you said that the engine ran for 3 minutes and then died and wouldn't start, correct? And then you found no spark, and now the spark problem has been corrected. So the question would be what has been changed since then other than the cam sensor? How about spark plug wires: for example are you certain that you haven't crossed two of the wires or something like that which would cause the spark to be really off compared to what it should be on two of the cylinders? You might want to check the compression just to be sure you have it about the same for all cylinders. But other than that, I don't think of anything that would result in backfiring except something with the spark timing or compression.
Roland
