I had to replace the Camshaft Position Sensor. Once that was done, I have a rough engine idle, and running a bit like a misfire. Any ideas as to where I need to look now? There is no CHECK ENGINE light on.

 

Have you tried to put a code reader on it yet? Could possibly get a code. If you do, i can look it up in my book. When you say "like a misfire" is it slight or is it causing the truck to run down right horrible. My moms 5.4 had a misfire on cylinder four, and I couldn't merge on to the highway; which would be runs horrible. For the idle, could be related to "misfire," but not sure. If it is not related, first place for idle problems would be the IAC valve. Not sure where on this motor it is. Could be gunked up, or need replaced. If you could, try to give me a little more info and I'll do what I can.

 

The misfire is idle and during driving at all RPM's. The closest Autozone is about 5 miles away. Is that a bit far to drive with a misfire? I asked the previous owner about the plugs and wires and he says about 5k on them. Then I asked about the coil pack, and he said, "What's that?". So I assume the coil pack took a fry job. I somehow fried the Camshaft Position Sensor when I cleaned the connector with an electrical degreaser. I believe the can had ether in it. When I tried to reconnect the wires back, the connector was 'melted' away from the 3 wire connector and all the wires were touching each other.

I guess I should have known better than try to start the motor up with those wires all meshed together. But.... I replaced the sensor and the connector, but the only difference was the connector GROUND wire seemed a bit smaller than the original when I spliced it (like 22 to a 24). Would that cause the PCM to send a misfire signal?

 

I just changed the plugs with the Motorcraft Platinums. I still have a bit of misfire. I checked the coil pack with the Ohmeter, and we have no problem there. Is it possible that I damaged the PCM? The damaged Camshaft Sensor looked a bit melted on the inside of it before I replaced it. The older plugs looked a bit fouled, due to the misfires.

The Autozone is 7.5 miles from home (15 roundtrip) and I guess I have no choice but to drive there for a code read. There is no CHECK ENGINE light coming on.

Any clues?

 

Again.... the spliced 3-wire connector may be the problem. I'm pretty sure that when you splice a 22gauge wire onto an 18gauge main wire, the electrical conductivity must be constricted enough to send the wrong message to the PCM. As in such a fine amount of output (amps and micro amps) to screw up the PCM message to the fuel injectors and timing of the output to the firing order..... or something like that!

I read the entire repair manual and don't know where to look or even guess what to do now. I'm not looking into driving 7.5 miles to Autozone to get the codes read, but what else can I do? The alternative is to tow it to the dealer or good diagnostic shop and then having to pull the plugs again and clean them once I discover the problem and what to do next.

Got any clues?

I just hope it is NOT the PCM

 

That doesn't mean anything. My coil pack was causing an intermittent miss, no CEL, no codes.

 

From reading the manual on testing the coil pack, everything was just as it stated. Is there something I'm just not speculating enough about? Like what makes the PCM send the wrong signal to the injectors to be so out of whack?

 

Same here. It took 3 trips back to the dealer before they swapped out the coil pack out of frustration, and it fixed my miss. They had a lot more than just an ohmmeter to test with, and their equipment couldn't find a problem. Unbolt yours and examine the underside carefully, you may find a crack.

 

Everything worked fine until I fried the Camshaft Sensor and 30 amp fuse. Why would the coil pack go bad like that?

 

I finally bought a code reader. IKt came up with P0102 and P0113. It says in the Haynes repair manual that the "MAF sensor, low input" and the "IAT sensor, high input".

Here I go with the 3-wire splice issue again. The middle wire (bl/white), ground was smaller in guage than the harness side that I spliced. Would that slight indifference cause this error?

In any case, I ordered a new 3-wire connector and will re-splice it when it gets here and recheck the codes before I get those sensors! The MAF is expensive!

 

I know the reply is a bit late here and you never stated if it was repaired or not, but did you use the special tool to install the new cam sensor? I had a guy change mine out to find out he had it in 180 out and had to have a real shop fix it. If you dont have that special tool, good luck in actually getting it in back like it supposed to be.

 

All I replaced was the sensor itself, not the whole sensor shaft. As for the repairs, I no longer have any error codes, but my engine still won't run right. It still has the misfire and running rough. I suspect that I fried something in the PCM, which only a dealer can detect and repair. Everything else tested OK!

 

did you use the right tool to install the css because when you install it you got to have it at the right degree for it to line up... it will run like crap if its even a hair off

 

I never moved the shaft itself, just replaced the camshaft position sensor. It only takes 2 screws to remove and replace it. My best guess is that the PCM got fried a bit, so I'm just going to find a used one at a parts place and see if that is the problem. If the misfire still happens, then I'll know that the PCM is ok or not. Any suggestions?