P0340 - I'm stumped

[Hector]

Hey guys well I finally got the master chains, water outlet along with various other fun filled stuff installed but now I have a bit of an issue. The car runs perfect while at idle and under load except I keep getting the camshaft sensor malfunction code. This car jumped timing a while back due to bad secondary chains and it ran horrible, sounded worse so I parked it until I had time to dig into it but even back then it didn't trigger a p0340 as now.

Is it possible to be slightly off time and not be noticeable ? I used the locking tools all 4 flat parts of the cam were facing up and the crank was pointed at 6 o'clock with the tool. The chains were tight on the straight guides and loose on the curved guides until I put the tensioners in. Any ideas? I've checked and rechecked all connectors. Some have commented about making sure the battery is juiced up and that the alternator is putting out correctly.

I've only driven it around my subdivision a couple of times and planning to take it out on a test run tomorrow night and get new gas into it as well. Perhaps this is the end of my journey? throw in the towel and abandon this beast? lol I need to install various new suspension parts and a windshield just thinking it might not be worth it anymore. haha I really don't want to tear it alllll the way back down again.

Truth is I hate this damn car but I just can't seem to let it win! I've owned Eclipse GSTs, Mustangs, 05' 745i among others you'd think be a real nightmare but this car takes the prize, maybe I'm just getting old. Its now just my personal toy since its reliability is quite low. I never drive it anywhere? not sure why I still keep it around sometimes I think I should just smack a $500 sticker on it and let it fly away but when I was in a tight squeeze in the past it was there for me.

 

[jrand]

if it were me i would let lincoln/ford dealer do diagnostic on it and go from there. $100 or whatever, plus the tow, but at least you know.. oh and a AAA membership might pay for itself if you get the one with free tows

 

[firefighter787]

You might try taking it to O'Reillys Auto Parts and have them reset all of your code that might fix it.

 

[sid]

If you are getting a P0340 and you just did the timing chain, chances are the timing is off or the sensor was damage.

 

[Hector]

Yes taking to the dealer may be an option just unsure if its worth the dumping more money and time into. I've reset the code with my scan tool and it returns after a idling for 20 minutes or so.

I fear it may be out of time which would mean I need to tear it back down. I'm going to test the sensor to see if its within the parameters allowed, perhaps its a bad sensor but where it sits on the rear drive head under the intake makes it a real sob to remove. Guess I have some decisions to make about this car.

 

[jrand]

how many miles on it? looks nice in the pics. based on looks alone i would probably throw the $150 <or whatever it costs> at it for a professional diagnostic before i scrapped it or sold it for next to nothin

 

[Telco]

The chains were tight on the straight guides and loose on the curved guides until I put the tensioners in.

Without seeing the car, I'm going to guess that when you put the tensioners on that you might have moved one of the cams a bit. I would suggest pulling the covers off and see if all 4 cams are still showing the flats on top. If one is shifted, there's the problem. If not, you can rule out the cam install job as being the problem and start looking into other problems. I speak as one who has inadvertently not quite lined cams up before even though it looked right initially.

In the future, when doing such a job, it's a good idea to rotate the engine a couple of times by hand (making sure to turn it in the direction the engine normally runs) then recheck camshaft alignment according to that engine's check procedure before buttoning it up. This applies to all engines, not just Lincoln LS engines.

 

[Hector]

It has 149xxx miles. Its a decent car for 15 years of course has paint chipping in certain areas, I had tires installed and they have maybe 5k miles on them if that. Interior is great except for the cd changer doesn't function.

I will remove the covers to further inspect the cam positions. I did rotate it by hand in the direction the engine turns and no issues were noted which kind of blows my mind. I then put the timing cover and harmonic balancer on to run the engine for a little while to ensure I didn't blow anything and it ran like a champ so I proceeded to install everything else. The hardest part of the job I'd say is the power steering pump feed line which takes a while due to the limited space to turn it but other than that its just leaning or being on your back for long periods.

I did some research and other ford people wrote about how they had the same code and it turned out to be a fried alternator or bad battery so I figured I'd reassemble everything and recheck to see perhaps running it without the alternator was causing it.

 

[LS4me]

Check this out..... I read this as an electrical/sensor issue.

 

[1LoudLS]

You might try taking it to O'Reillys Auto Parts and have them reset all of your code that might fix it.

I dont see clearing the code making the problem go away.


I would also assume since the OP said that he KEEPS getting the code, that he means that it keeps coming back after it has been cleared.

 

[Hector]

Thank you LS4me. I will check into that.

No clearing the code almost never works for me, but I did try it and nada. I took the car out for an 8 mile trip filled her up with new gas and she ran like a champ! Of course the on board MPG reads 10MPG but its always been flimsy so who knows. I do wonder if there is a certain parameter for ignition timing reading since my scanner has the ability to view this data.

I'm taking the valve covers off tomorrow to verify if the flat parts on both heads match up as they should. Really not feeling taking it off all again but if I do this time I'll replace a bunch of parts when reinstalling....hopefully for the last time.

 

[RigsLS]

2000 Lincoln LS

TSB Number: 16045

TSB Date: July 1, 2002

Summary: Some 3.9l v8 engines may exhibit a malfunction indicator lamp with diagnostic trouble code P0340 (camshaft position sensor) stored.



= Test sensor voltage and resistance test the wiring, inspect sensor and connector, ELSE replace sensor. There is only one CAM pos sensor on the 1st GEN.

 

[Hector]

Thanks BigRigLS.

I have noticed that when in idle if I press the accelerator fast it falls on its face for a few seconds. Under load no issue or if you accel normal it goes up to 3k which I believe is when the rev limiter strikes. Its just hard since the car has been sitting for a long time in my garage it could be various things. I'm recharging the battery to ensure its at 100% or close to it then testing the alternator, battery and I've put a full tank of new gas in it driven it 8 miles. Spark plugs have been cleaned, all coils/injectors connections have been double checked.

I plan to put new spark plugs since these have been in the car for probably a year but have 0 miles on them, I just turned the car on every week since it just sat in my garage. The brakes are toast from sitting so it needs all new brakes, windshield and a front ball joint so far. Probably shocks soon. Money pit but I'm focusing on getting the engine correct before spending anymore and with the CEL on it won't pass our Metro area emission inspection which is funny because when I took it in Dec 2014 it passed emission even though it sounded horrible but failed safety, lol. I'm removing the valve covers to verify where the flats are, if they are correct I don't think tearing down the engine will be my next step.

The dealer always says new engine, that seems to be their #1 solution to everything on this car. The service technician says most people just trade them in when they see the quote for repairs on the 3.9L. Lol

 

[Hector]

UPDATE.

I checked the alternator and battery all was good. I also followed the guide and checked the CPS, all was good. I took the valve covers off and the driver side was slanted a little off in comparison to the passenger side.

After cursing myself out for a few minutes I took everything back off again and readjusted the driver side cams without touching the passenger side which sits in front. No tool needed just a handy friend to crank the cam into place as I sat the chain, guide and tensioner in. Got it up and running a few hours ago and no CPS light, so far.

I took a photo and you an barely tell its a little off but it was...somehow I managed to screw it up before. Its up and running great again as never before ;/ Putting new ball joints, brakes/rotors and windshield in this week. Ready for the next repair it throws at me, another LS8 saved for now. Thank you all for the information provided The sad thing is I've torn this thing down so many times that if I run across a new LS8 for a decent price I'd buy it.....stupid me.