Ford Enthusiast

[Flyingjackal456]

Ok, I'm sure some of you regulars are wondering about the title on this thread.

Yeah... about that... So I've been having some wierd issues with P0171 and stalling that noone could figure out, I replaced a bunch of things (those parts were old and near-dead anyway) and eventually got it fixed. (2 hours and $300 at the Ford dealer, kinda pissed I didn't do this earlier)

They diagnosed that the Crankshaft Position Sensor (CPS) was not aligned properly, they realigned it and it ran great. However the P0171 code kept coming on, shortly after, the P0171 became a P0340 (Cannot Read CPS) and the oil light was on. I immediately stopped the van and called AAA. I had it towed to a wonderful, but expensive mechanic in NY (I was away at the time) after about 1-2 hours he pulled me into the garage, and shoved a camera in the engine and showed me the camshaft gear, that drives the CPS, which then drives the oil pump... He told me he will order the part, and put it in, but it is only a temporary fix, and the new CPS will wear down shortly after (he said maybe 200-500 miles).

So $400 later, I took the van to my installer, where he pulled out the new CPS bought the CPS alignment tool, and a camera, and looked inside the engine. However they could not see any wear evidence on the gear on the camshaft. He put everything back together and he said we'll look again in 7,000 miles, and if we can prove there is damage to either gear, we'll replace the engine.

So last week, the van started showing a couple weird signs... When I started it (cold) on Thursday morning, it cranked but didn't fire right away, hesitating to turn over, but then started up. After it is running it seems fine. Maybe 2 days and 160 miles after that at 2AM and 150 miles from home, the van decides to pull out a P0340 and the oil light. (...ahhh, what a night, good thing I just came from McDonalds drive-thru.) So after spending most of the night calling AAA and waiting for an Interstate tow to the installer, I finally got back, and finally went to sleep 10AM Sunday morning.

Monday late-morning, my installer already pulled the engine out, called the company, and began the warantee claim. He has the timing cover off and he said the gear on the Camshaft is definitely toast. I saw it too, it really got worn down. (Sadly, I didn't take pictures)

Hopefully I will get the van back soon, it's been just over 1 full week. I'm also hoping that my P0171 will leave with the engine, guessing a faulty Camshaft was the cause of the code.