camshaft position sensor

oceanman · Post by **oceanman** » 18 Aug 2009, 16:26

its been a while since my last post- so here's what i have done...
timing belt, serp belt, water pump, intercooler hoses, vac hoses, new radiator, expansion tank, coolant hoses, heater core, t stat, strut hardware (mounts, boots, etc, i kept the old struts they were still good), rear shock mounts (shocks were good as well), distributor and rotor, plug wires, plugs, i'm sure i'm forgetting something...
the wagon has about 230k miles

i have had a problem with starting, its random but becoming more and more frequent.
most of the time it will start if cold (overnight), but if i drive for a while and then stop, it wont start. i have never had an issue with it cutting out while driving.
i thought it might be any combination of the fuel pump,relay, fuel pressure regulator.
the codes pulled have always been 212, and 153 (front and rear o2 signal) which i suspect to be from some small as of yet not found vacuum leak. but i recently got 314 which is the camshaft sensor signal.
i checked the wire for the sensor and discovered the plug end of the wire has deteriorated and broken off in the connector, and i can only assume that it is arcing across the pins after the engine heats up and the heat expands the cracks in the plug. i have tried to remove the broken part out of the connector, but it is stuck in there.
my question is: with the connector buggered up as it is, and assuming the sensor is good, would it be ok if i cut the connector end and the plug end, and then spliced the wires together? i have priced a new sensor, and that isn't too bad, but i wouldnt be able to plug it into the old connector. is it possible to replace the connector?

any input/info/advice will be helpful
thank you all...

p.s. i'm an electrician, so it's not difficult for me to splice 3 wires...

redrider_64 · Post by **redrider_64** » 18 Aug 2009, 16:50

Hey - Mine did the same thing on my 1994 850 Turbo. I used an eyeglass screw driver to gently pry & pull apart the cracked connector. I used electric contact cleaner on both plug end and pin end then dielectric grease. I pushed them back together and tested before I used shrink wrap tape and also used a couple very small tie straps to hold the 2 ends together and then tie wrapped to the mount post. So far so good as that was about 3 weeks ago.

oceanman · Post by **oceanman** » 18 Aug 2009, 17:13

awesome!
thanks, i'll try that tomorrow- it's supposed to rain this evening...

milesursogood · Post by **milesursogood** » 24 Jan 2010, 22:35

Where can I find the cam position sensor in the engine bay?

Post by **jblackburn** » 24 Jan 2010, 22:47

Cam position sensor is just behind the distributor cap on the right side of the engine block.