When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My 2001 Excursion has had an engine stumble in the past few weeks. On two seperate occasions both rainy days at 73 mph steady state highway driving my truck had a hard stumble. The tach drops around 500 rpm for a nano second. I had it checked out and it set a code P0344 cam position sensor intermitent. Could this be the problem? How difficult is it to change the sensor? Please help. Thanks.
Sounds like it. Changing the sensor is not all that bad. After removing the bolt, you may have to twist it to break the O-ring loose, then pull it out. I had to pry slightly on mine to get it out. Be sure and lube the O-ring with oil or petroleum jelly before you install the new sensor.
Don't let it make you apprehensive. I am just a so-so mechanic and it took me longer to round up the tools than it did to do the swap, literally. There is a page with some pretty detailed instructions that I used and it was a breeze. I will search and see if I can find them.
Thanks for the quick response. It is in the shop for a bunch of other over 110k items and I told them to change it. The sensor ran over $150.00 and labor, is outragious. Do you think this is causing the stumble?
Cam sensors are known to cause intermittent problems. The code is even pointing to it. I think it should correct your problem. Better to change out now or than when it fails out on the road.
Since it occurred in the rain (It could just be coincidence) have them check the harness and connector for any cracks or breaks that couild cause a wet weather shorting issue
When I had to change mine it was causing the truck to just shut off for no reason and yes, it stumbled a couple of times while on the freeway. It really gets your attention when it does it. I came to this forum, read up on it and changed it out. No more problems. I paid $90 for my last one but have since bought a spare of Ebay for $50. If you look on there you can find them cheap.
If it's available use a Ford OE CPS part # F7TZ-12K073-A... I put a CQuest CPS in one recently.... and still got a P0344 code. P0340 and P0344 are both CPS codes indicating an intermittant or something other than a clean signal to the PCM. When I took the new CQuest out and installed the Ford part... cleared the codes and started the truck, shut it off and retested for codes... they didnt come back. Ford is Better ! I've had new C Quest ones that worked fine and others that didnt...I've had a much higher success percentage rate with the Ford part.
mine died once while idling, and stumbled twice under acceleration. That stumble wakes you up.
Took me longer to decide if I should try to get it out from above the engine, or below, than it did to swap it.
Thanks for the reply. I had it done at the shop while it was in for a bunch of over 110K stuff. Drove it on a rainy day Saturday and it did not stumble. Hope I have found the issue. I plan on getting a spare.