I have recently posted the check engine post and the dealer said it was CMP failure, camshaft position sensor, so we tried resetting the computer and the light never came back on. Well last week I went to start my Explorer when it was -5 degrees out and it wouldn't start. I tried three times and it wouldn't fire up. I just assumed the sensor finally went bad but the light never came on again.

Got the sensor from the dealer and bought a Hanyes Manual and after looking in the book the dealer gave us the wrong sensor. I took it back and the mechanic of course told me I was wrong and I tried explaining I had the 4.0L SOHC and not the V8 and the sensor I had was the magnetic one (the easy one to get at and replace) and not the other type (looks like a cap that sits on the syncronizer). I even brought the sensor in we took out of the truck. Well he sent me home with the same sensor and said it was in fact in the engine, we were just looking in the wrong place. The magnetic one I brough in he said he's never seen go bad. Okay. Told my boyfriend and he called down there and told them the deal and then of course they said they were wrong. Hmmm....anyway, they had to order the new sensor cuz they didn't have it in stock and in the meantime he just stuck the old one back in and tried starting it and it started after giving it some gas but spluttered a bit. Now we don't know if it's the sensor or cold weather. He did reset the computer before he tried starting it if that makes any difference.

My question is, if this sensor went bad would it still run or would it totally disable the vehicle? Even the dealer couldn't answer the question but at this point I don't know what to think of them. The sensor is only $20 so we're going to replace it anyway as we tested the other one with a voltmeter as shown in the manual and it didn't register anything so now we're questioning that! We're just assuming it's bad because that was the original code it gave us in the beginning of all this. The dealer said it eventually would not start. Cold weather or sensor or both?

I guess I never considered the cold weather to be a factor as far as it not starting when my 14 year old car started with no problems.

Thanks for any info!

Heidi

 

OK, I'm no expert, but that is the same part my father had fixed on his old '97 SOHC. His started to randomly not want to start and then finally one day it just quit starting all together. He took it in (under warranty still) and they installed that sensor and he never had a problem again. His problem occurred during the summer though.

Now as far as cold, my '99 SOHC hates it. It always startes on the first crank, but it sure don't want too. I never had the problem with my old '98 OHV. Just my $.02. Hope it helps in some small way...

 

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm hoping its the same problem your dad had. For only $20 it's worth replacing and not worrying about it. That was our biggest dilemma was once we replace the sensor will it not start when I'm away from home or was it just a fluke of cold weather. I bought it last March when it was above 20 every day so I didn't notice cold starts.

I guess I better stop assuming that just because it's a 97 that it won't have problems starting. My '89 Probe starts every morning but starts pretty hard! People laugh when I tell them my old car is more trustworthy than my Explorer. Ha ha!

Oh yeah, I was looking through my Haynes manual last night for the door lock section and it wasn't even in there. When they made the book they didn't insert like 20 pages! Now I have to take that back to Napa! Ha ha! Talk about a bad day. At least it wasn't on the section we needed.

Thanks!

Heidi

 

FYI, while your under the hood you may as well clean your MAF and IAC. 02 and varnish safe carb cleaner work great. When I did this, it improved both my idle and my throttle response.

 

Okay. Thanks. I'll let my boyfriend read this when he gets home and he can do it. I don't know anything about that stuff. Ha ha!

Heidi

 

Well we replaced the cam position sensor for only $20. Thank god for Haynes manuals, even though it was in an easy spot. Now my Explorer fires up on the first turn of the key. Before it was rolling over and over but not it starts right up. This morning it was -12!! Burr!!! Could barely turn the ignition but it fired right up! Sweet!!!! Hopefully that was the only problem. After hearing it start up so quick the last few days I realized that before this problem it was turning over a lot more than now and that's when that check engine light started coming on.

Minnesota winters suck! Tomorrow it's supposed to be 5 above zero. I can't wait!

Heidi