My HX line is Blue, so it almost fits here.:-)

 

Thread started 12/28. Its been a month. Maybe the next thing regarding this blue cps should be a poll. I havent even had mine in for a month yet, so I am still figuring mpg difference. Other than that, I am glad I did it. I didnt reset the puter when I first put it in. I did it yesterday, and when I restarted it, it did this weird stutter a couple times and then came to idle. Seems to be just a bit smoother now.

 

I installed the blue CPS and the engine idle noise changed but by no means did things get any quieter. A week later, I disconnected the batteries and the engine noise changed again and now sounds more like it did before I replaced the CPS. Most of my driving is in city and I have not noticed any change in MPG. However, MPG dummy gauge on the console did decrease by 0.1 MPG. To bad someone hasn't made an aftermarket part for the Console so it can do something more constructive such as make toast.

I took apart the old failing Ford CPS. Looks like a the internal parts of a cheap digital watch with a small pencil erasure sized magnet in the center. I think if we were to witness the sensors being made, we would cringe as the hot plastic exterior was pressed cast around the fragile electronic/ solid state parts. When the IHC CPS fails, I will rip that one apart as well to see if the innards are any different. I'm no expert, but I don't think a lot of engineering went into the design of both sensors. It is simply an achilles heel. I'm just glad the thing take a few minutes to swap out. I bet a lot more engineering went into making the sensor easy to replace and as a result makes more money for Dealership, Ford and Parts Manufacturing Subcontractors. I wonder if temperatures and rapid temperature changes experienced by the sensor (ambient or engine) cause enough expansion/contraction on the plastic housing to jeaporidize the internal parts.

The blue CPS was cheaper at IH Dealer than the stoke unit at the Ford Dealership so it was an obvious choice. I also think that the family that owns the Ford dealership here in my home town are a bunch of dunces and don't deserve a penny out of my pocket.

-Alex

 

I've had mine in for over 4 months now. I still like it. Put on just over 2000 miles last month with a mix of city, 2- 300 mile trips doing 75-80mph highway, 100 miles towing 9000lb. boat and a couple trips over the mountains to the coast with a kayak strapped to the roof... ave 16.4mpg

 

I didnt take the old cps apart, even though the thought had crossed my mind. I replaced mine with a stock one just to carry the extra in my glove box. Then all this hype came about the blue cps, so i changed it again. I am running old blue and have the two stockers in my glove box. I paid $100 for the blue, but got the stock one for $35. Can you take some clear hi-res pics of that cps you took apart GLASSATTACK? I would be interested in seeing that as I am sure a lot of other people will as well.

 

So, I bought the blue one. First they gave me the black one. I took it home and checked with the board and brought it back and gave them the part number. They said the blue one was for a 6 cyl and the black one was for a 444E. Anyways, I also noticed that the units look similar except for where the plug goes. Looking at the unit, I see that there is a slit on both sides of the rectangle and in the middle of the rectangle, there are 3 pins. The blue one has a slimmer slot on the left side but seems to plug into my CPS plug. So, I suppose next week I will be committed and pull out the old one and try it out.

Anyone want to comment on it?

 

try it, give us your feedback. that is what we are all here for.

 

That's what this whole thread (well, most of it anyway) is about -- the comments on the Blue CPS. I know it'll take some time, but go back to the first page and start reading from the beginning. You'll find everything from MPG changes, to dyno runs, to where it is on the engine, to how the truck runs at idle. Not that we don't want to comment, but most of us already have.

 

Just getting confused after reading those pages. It seems some find it good and others find no difference and a few have said it is junk.

 

And that's the way it is on any forum....opinions. You can glean a LOT of information on here and sometimes it is contradictory. No one seems to truly have the answer on the Blue CPS issue and it seems to vary by vehicle. If you've got an extra hundred bones, try it and add your own fuel to the fire.

 

Finally installed my Blue CPS a few weeks ago, and this is what I have noticed thus far.
After a day or two, did notice the normal chatter quite up a bit, and somewhat smoother running. After close to a week of driving I gained 1.5 mpg, which isn't too shabby in my opinion. Can't really tell if I gained any power with it, as the truck is already fairly modded. But, all in all, I am fairly pleased with the results.

 

Well guys, here's a resurrection of an almost archaic thread.

I finally got around to testing the 'blue' CMP sensor against a 'stock' sensor with my Fluke 97 lab scope.

The pieces and parts finally came in for the shop's optical tachometer so I took about an hour after work, brought the truck in, and tested it.

The results of my testing are right about on par with what I thought might happen. I'll give a little refresher course on what is actually going on with the sensor and how the engine's computer deciphers the information before getting to the results of the test.

The CMP/CPS/camshaft position sensor is a "hall effect switch". It uses a transistor to switch a voltage on or off depending on the presence of a magnetic field interruption. It creates a digital signal (only on or off) by "detecting" the presence or absence of a slot in the camshaft drive gear. There are slots in the drive gear spaced 15 degrees apart (same size) with the exception of one narrow slot. In all there are 24 slots.

The ECM (engine computer) is constantly monitoring this signal. This signal is the ONLY signal the ECM gets that tells what cylinder is firing (or supposed to be firing). The accuracy/timing of this signal determines base timing of the injection pulse. The ECM is clocked, meaning that it KNOWS how to calculate the time of a specific event with a physical location. Thus, we get timing advance. If it knows for a certain RPM that it should take "x" amount of time for the next slot in the camshaft gear to pass the CMP sensor then it can easily determine where the piston is in each cylinder.

The programming in the ECM is designed to watch for the "falling edge" of the signal from the CMP sensor. In other words, when the sensor turns off. This signals the passing of a slot (a reference point). The computer knows too that there is supposed to be a narrow slot (narrower=shorter amount of time ON vs. the other signals). This is the actual REFERENCE signal. This signifies WHICH cylinder is on compression vs. exhaust (since there are pairs of cylinders at TDC).

Since I have completely baffled everyone who is reading this, I will move on to the test....before you all revolt in confusion. I confuse a lot of people with the way I think...get used to it.

Test 1: Blue CMP sensor (since it was already in).
Warm truck (185 degrees)/750-760 RPM
Waveform is a sharp digital image (square wave) on and off. Yep, there's the referece signal easily distinguished by it's very short on time.

No real distinguishing characteristics yet.
I recorded the image. Man, I haven't used the "record" function forever on my scope (not since college 6 years ago) and I had a heck of a time remembering how to do it. I usually only use my scope to graph fuel pump waveforms these days...oh well.

Test 2: Stock CMP sensor:
Again, a sharp waveform of on and off digital signal.......
Same RPM/temperature. However, something looks different. Yes, the reference pulse is still there, but it's larger. All of the on timesare LONGER (time wise).
Double checked the time base on my scope (sample rate as well) and it's the same as the first test.........hmmmmm.

So, I recorded that waveform too.

Set up the recall function and overlayed the two waveforms.

Frequency matched almost perfectly telling me that the ECM has very good RPM control. However, the duty cycle (percentage of on time vs. off time) was very different. The 'blue' sensor creates a lesser duty cycle. For comparison, the reference pulse width with the 'stock' sensor was about the same length as the "normal" 23 pulse width with the 'blue' sensor. The 'blue' CMP sensor turns on LATER and turns off SOONER.

Keep in mind that the ECM really doesn't care about when the signal turns ON or how long it stays on, but when it turns OFF. Since it turns off earlier, the ECM recognizes that and references the injector timing off of that signal. This results in an ever so slight INCREASE in injector (ignition) timing. That explains the extra noise (clatter) I get under a light load condition when warm and the quieter idle/much quieter cold start I get in the mornings.

How much extra timing? I don't know. I haven't sat down with my trigonometry book (yeah right) to figure out angle/time with the camshaft gear. Just keep in mind that one degree on the camshaft is TWO degrees on the crankshaft. I think that two degrees of injector timing might be detrimental to some engines, so the actual advance is probably a fraction of a degree (half a degree or so at the most) at the camshaft.

I'm still fiddling with the wafeforms and time setting on the scope. Hopefully I can find a way to print out the results so I can scan and post them.

Cody

 

Wow Cody, thanks for taking the time to perform these tests! Sounds like you know your stuff. I guess we need to find out for sure if this slight timing change will be detrimental to the engine in the long run.

 

Man Cody, all this and transmissions too? Got a sister?"

 

Cody,

Good data. Understood completely.

So now we've got to determine if we will be getting any real significant "pre-ignition" with the use of the Blue. It's something we don't want to see when hauling 15,000 pounds up a LOOOONG grade in August.

Can you take a long exposure shot of the screen with a digicam?

I'd bet that the pulse widths could be changed by selectively shimming the air gaps.

However, with this data, I may re-think my use of the Blue.

Again, good job.

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