7 Symptoms of a Bad Camshaft Position Sensor
Many people confuse camshaft position sensors with crankshaft position sensors because they look similar. However, there are significant differences between the two as the two types of sensors perform completely different functions. A faulty camshaft position sensor can cause your car to sputter or stall.
What is a camshaft position sensor? Every modern vehicle has a camshaft position sensor. This sensor is a very important part of any vehicle as it helps in the proper operation of the engine.
Looking under the hood of your car, it can be difficult to find the sensor. Usually, each car manufacturer has their own unique location near the engine where the sensor is mounted.
The purpose of the camshaft position sensor is to measure the position of the camshaft relative to the crankshaft. This data is sent to the powertrain control module (PCM) to control the fuel injectors and ignition system.
Symptoms of a Bad Camshaft Position Sensor
1) Check Engine Light Comes On
If your camshaft position sensor is faulty or causing problems, the first thing you should notice is the Check Engine Light on your dashboard. Of course, the Check Engine Light can indicate a variety of issues and doesn’t necessarily indicate a defective camshaft position sensor.
In this case, you’ll need to use an OBD2 diagnostic tool to retrieve any diagnostic trouble codes stored in your car or have a professional mechanic check your vehicle’s engine control module to determine what’s going on. It also scans this module to get a set of error codes that indicate the actual problem.
If the engine check light comes on, do not ignore or postpone scanning or inspecting your vehicle. Otherwise, your engine may be seriously damaged. It may even cause a complete engine failure, requiring repair or replacement.
2) Ignition Problems
When the camshaft position sensor starts to have problems and becomes weak, the signal it sends to your car’s computer also becomes weak. This means that the signal will eventually become so weak that your car will not be able to start because it will no longer produce a spark.
3) Car Jerks or Wobbles
When the camshaft position sensor fails while your car is being driven, your engine may lose power and your car may jerk or lean forward erratically. Both are the result of the PCM receiving incorrect information from the camshaft position sensor causing the wrong amount of fuel to be injected into the cylinders.
4) Engine Stalls
An even worse scenario than not being able to start your car is when your engine actually stalls or stalls while you are driving because the fuel injectors are not being told to inject fuel into the engine cylinders. I don’t think I need to explain how dangerous this situation is.
5) Poor Acceleration
Apart from the twitches, a failed camshaft sensor will also prevent your vehicle from accelerating very quickly. In some cases, you may get lucky if you accelerate above 30 mph. Poor acceleration is again caused by incorrect fuel delivery from the injectors.
6) Shifting Problems
In certain car models with a defective camshaft position sensor, the transmission may get stuck out of gear. The only way to get out of this gear is to shut off the engine, wait a short while, and then restart it. This is only a temporary solution and the problem will return, requiring a sensor replacement as a permanent solution.
7) High fuel consumption
This is the opposite of the engine running out of fuel. In this case, the faulty camshaft position sensor gives inaccurate measurements, so more fuel is injected into the engine than necessary, resulting in poor fuel consumption.