Camshaft position sensor

[ragrim]

I was at holden yesterday getting my suspension looked at and they put the computer on to check my engine codes and apparently my computer is reporting no camshaft position sensor. Holden couldnt tell me why i was getting that error, either the sensor was bung or not plugged in and they couldnt tell me where it is. i was wondering if anyone could tell me where this sensor is, and also could this have something to do with the idle issues i have been having, high and low idles at random times.

Cheers

 

[VrWagz1]

depends if you have a V6 oR V8 and i assume we talking about the vs??. I'm guessing v8 because v6 only has a crank angle sensor, where the v8 has a hall effect sensor driven by the back of the cam. The sensor is inside the base of the dizzy, have fun with that.

 

[ragrim]

its a V6, i have a book for a VS here and it has a cam position sensor aswell, my VR V6 sensor is in the same place as the VS, i unplugged it and made no differance to the car, so i dunno what its ment to do.

 

[VrWagz1]

If is a v6 i cant really comment further as i dont really know a great deal about them, as far as i was aware they only had a cas down on the harmonic balance

 

[ragrim]

i found the cam shaft position sensor just undr the water pump to the left. ill clean the wiring and plug and see if it helps.

 

[Brett_jjj]

VS V6 has a cam position sensor.If the sensor itself is replaced and it still throws up an error code,theres a magnet in the camshaft drive sprocket that triggers the sensor as it passes the sensor pickup.Ive seen this magnet (which is encased in a plastic cage type thing that holds it in the sprocket)come out of the hole on the sprocket.We removed the timing cover and the magnet was stuck to the block behind the timing chain luckily.It a fairly strong magnet.Just had to buy a new magnet and install it.It cost around $80 from holden.Ive seen some USA websites where they glue the magnet in place so it cant come out,so it probably happens from time to time.This one we fixed wasnt glued in but its still going stong today around 100,000 k's after.

 

[ragrim]

what bothers me though is the ecu is throwing out an error yet the car is running, its not running perfectly but it doesnt stall or blow smoke. i just have some irratic idles at times.

 

[Brett_jjj]

This engine still ran,it just idled roughly and would sometimes stall while idling.And it was just generally not running 100%.But still ran and was drivable.

 

[Brett_jjj]

---https://forums.justcommodores.com.au/threads/checking-error-codes-vr-vs-revised.22307---If you dont know how to,heres a link to a thread that shows you how to check your own error codes without having to go to holden.Error code 48 is no signal from the cam angle sensor.

 

[VrWagz1]

You got to remember an ECU controls the car. So generally they can somtimes run a car minus a non-critical sensor, or the sensor may be to fine tune the running of the car, and as such the car will run with a rooted sensor albeit a bit crappy.
If the vs still has the cas aswell, theres no reason why the ecu wouldnt be able to do algorithms based on the cas position to keep it putting along.