Camshaft Sensor - Count the pieces?

[IgotTwo]

Someone help me feel better about this one!!!!

97 SOHC with all the engine recalls - 58K
The vehicle has had a slightly rough idle (what a surprise) for a about a week, but tolerable.
After a 3 mile run to to the gas station, I started it up and accelerated on to the highway, the thing dies after 200 feet and won't start. No bang, no clang..the dash lights up like a Xmas tree and the car dies So I get it towed home. It was one of the first colder days of the year.

At home, I tried to start it. It just cranked and would not start. (I didn't listen for the fuel pump to kick in cause I read all the past posts later)

Tried it again about a half hour later and I heard very "unfriendly" rotary noise after a short crank. Now, I know the drop light hit the floor and not the fan , but I think it was only wishful thinking that is what I heard. I cranked it a few more times and could not repeat the same noise.

I read a lot on the camshaft postion sensor with "hard" and "no starts". Can anyone enlighten me. Should I be concerned that little pieces of this could be floating around inside the block?...or doesn't it work that way.

Help! Diving for chips wouldn't be my first choice!!!
You can tell me the truth.....even if it ruins my holidays, I can take it.

Happy Holidays to all & God Bless America


(thinking) Ford did put recalled cam guides in a while a back? ......then its isolating that as the problem before towing it back to them

 

[jimmiecakes]

Personally, I'm very **** about flotsam and jetsam in my oilpan. I've recovered all manner of things from oil pump screens - one big offender being those tinfoil safety seals from motor oil containers.

Bottom line is how lucky you feel. If your motor has been open more than once, if the mechanic that fixed it uses roloc discs too much..... I keep hearing about Chevys expiring after intake gasket replacement caused by rolocs.

A small amount of detritus on the screen wont cause a problem, but you can't see unless you take the pan off. Your earliest indication will be oil pressure that falls off as RPM rises but Fords latest take on oil pressure guages is NOT a good indicator.

 

[victorysail]

I wonder if this is your cam chain tensioner problem. At 58K miles it seem low for the camshaft drivechain to give way, but who knows. I have the same engine/year and and once a while I hear a "clickling" noise at the start, but it goes away ususallly after 15 seconds.

Ford has the extended warranty for the SOHC cam tensioner. I plan to take my Exlorer to the dealer after the new year and demand a replacement on the tensioner according to the extended warranty by Ford. I don't trust the original part.

Search on "cam tensioner" at this site and your should be able to finds a lot of infor on this problem. Pls let me know what reallly happens to your X when you find out.

 

[IgotTwo]

Thanks for the "get backs" guys

This SOHC has been a royal PITA and I think that has a lot to do why I over think everything when it comes to working on it.

I did have all the recalls done including the cam guides. I don't think there are any recalls left !!! maybe do a few over haha

I think I got off to a bad start on this thread so I did my home work and started and new one.
I'm sure the moderators aren't too happy ..but it keeps em busy trashing the worthless posts.....did I say that?

I "cut and pasted" 7 pages of posts related to "hard starting" to a word doc to read through.

Lets see how it goes, I found a lot of hard starting problems on the site that were long in solving and not aways clear to the solution. fuel relays, keyless systems!!!!( I had to think about that one) sensors, some with no or incomplete odb codes generated. Some of the stuff is hard to find how to test.

Forget all the tech stuff, I guess you always have to be "ONE" with the car to find out the problem.