Had a 2000 ford taurus 3.0L OHV that overheated...Cause was head gaskets. Replaced the head gaskets and now it wont start. My sister ran it hott till the cart died. Heads are ok no cracks or warping. She says teh temp gauge never went up, I am thinking faulty temp sensor. So I am putting that in right now. Hopefully this is not allowing it to start. My other thoughts are the crank sensor, or possibly the coil pack. I had spark to the coil pack but then lost it. Which I am attributing to the battery getting low right now. Will know more when the jump box gets put on the car.

I have good fuel pressure, Also had and think I will still have spark. I was considering the cam position sensor as a failure but after reading this group from what I see the car will still start with the cam sensor being faulty...Any thoughts?

 

You're right on all those other sensor that could be keeping the car from starting. Also could have the ignition module checked. Tauras was pretty good for those, changed quite a few. located right on the distributer...

Bob

 

ok this one is not looking good. I replaced the crank sensor today...still nada...ive replaced the CTS, the crank sensor....I have fuel but it was mentioned to me to check the fuel reset switch...anyone know where that is?

im baffled on this one...im gonna throw a coil pack on it, perhaps tthe spark is just too damn weak...im at a loss on this one.

 

The thing stuck into the intake that takes the place of the distributor... Cam Position Sensor??? has to be set to set the timing. It tells the EDIS etc where the heck the cam is.. and by implication, where the cylinders are. You have to 'set the timing' if you have one of those. I think a 2000 would have EDIS rather than a dist, and a 6-pack coil thing hanging off the rocker cover... from memory of a friends car.
There isn't much to the ignition. But, you had to pull the intake to do the heads, and all that stuff has to go back together in time.
You can have the EDIS checked off the vehicle, but I'm betting the timing needs to be set. Look for any ground wires that may have been removed, and be sure to ground the bracket that the coil packs ride in.
tom

 

yes it is a cam position sensor. But I did not need to remove the cam position sensor to pull the intake, it actually sits behind the intake on the bell housing.

 

ok just wanted to update this post...I finally got it to get some sort of fire...Problem is it is advanced and back fireing through the intake....I checked the cam relation to the crank...pulled the number 3 plug and brought it to TDC, cam and crank seem aligned on compression stroke.

Now the crank sensor is new...so I guess I am looking at doing the cam position sensor line up...from my understanding on the cam sensor post the cam sensor controlls the injector firing on this model year...(i dunno, DIS reads that way and EDIS reads different?)

If I am mistaken and this is not the problem let me know before I torch teh car and go buy a GM.

 

Number 3 is the rearmost on the pass(truck) rear(fwd cars) side... Number 1 is the frontmost on the pass/rear side. Why do #3??? Frontmost is closest to the water pump and crank pulley.. heh.
t

 

cause the cam to crank timing is relative no matter what cylinder...if the cam is in time with the crank on #3 then every other cylinder will be in time (again cam and crank wise) oops and it was #4 my fault that I checked not #3...did that cause it was just easiest to get to...this is a transversed motor so the back side 1,2,3 are hard to get to.

 

So if the cam sensor knows which is #1, then it must be 'timed' to inject at the proper time, no?
When you brought #3 to TDC, the piston, that is, the crank indicator should not have been at TDC, it should have been 180 out from TDC, but the valves would have gone thru their sequence of opening & closing for #3.
The cam position sensor must then of course be pointing "mentally" to the #3 spot in its 360 rotation. I don't know where that is, and you may need a special tool to set that.
On the 4-bangers, if you lost one of the sensors, it would take a guess at whether it was #1 or #4 at TDC, and if you lucked out, it started, if not, stop cranking and give it a second try.
I am ignorant about the difference between DIS and EDIS, so can't comment. I do know that the cam position sensor can get whiney when it gets old from reading here & elsewhere. I *think* that the CPS needs to be timed.
tom

 

no the reason I checked #4 (i did #4 instead of 3 i just typed it wrong) is to make sure the crank and cam where in time with each other...wanted to rule out a issue with the timing chain, thinking perhaps it sliped somehow..

But I did get the car running yesterday. Oddly enuff I retimed the CPS and it fired off. Now how the CPS got out of time baffles me. It was never removed and there is nothing wrong with it. Another point that doesnt make sense to me about the CPS is if you can run the vehicle with the CPS unplugged and the computer puts it into a base setting...why does the CPS shaft need to be lined up? its not giveing a output at that point as the CPS is unplugged....this system doesnt make any sense. A mechanical device that essentially does nothing once the CPS is unplugged can cause the system not to function....even though the mechanical device(the CPS shaft) controls nothing else....

Am I the only one wo sees the stupidity of this system that Ford has?

 

Crank Position Sensor knows where #1 TDC is. Everything else is some degrees of rotation from there. More than 360 in total.
CAM position sensor knows which TDC is the compressed version. Thus time for spritz, and time for spark about 180 later. Everything else follows that.
If you UNPLUG the sensor, or it sends garbage, the ECM will take a swag. If it is plugged in, but wrong, the ECM will not know that it is out of time, so will use the sensation (heh) that is receives. .. and won't run for beans.


tom

 

yes but do you see what I am saying here, a car will run with the cam position sensor unplugged. but if it is plugged in or not and the shaft assembly of the cam position sensor is off say 180 degrees it wont run. now the ECM goes to a base setting or "limp" mode if the cam position sensor is unplugged. the shaft no longer plays a role in the system because it is not sending any kind of input. crank position sensor still being in time...how can the cam position sensor stop the vehicle from starting when its not plugged in just because the shaft is off...

see where the stupidity of this system is...my guess is when the ECM is in "limp" mode it runs the injector pulse based off the crank sensor. since it nows where the combustion stroke is it does some quick math from a programed equation and determines what appears to be the best time to initiate the injectors...So back to the Cam position sensor that is unplugged...the shaft gives no input of anykind to anything at this point. the only thing it controlls now is the oil pump but thats strickly a mechanical output from the rotation of the shaft. Seriously this system Ford used here is a retarded design to say the least.

 

hey buddy do you have a procedure for lining up the cam position sensor for the 3.0 ohv fords? I dont have the speciality tool and this isnt fun. Hope your still around 1yr later.