[MoonAndStar]

Yesterday was a very bad day for my Car. The old girl began to act very strangely. The EML came on and off. I initially thought it was my camshaft sensor which is sometimes a bit funny (and a very well known Ecotec problem). I decided to get home quickly before anything else happenned.

While driving home the rev counter went absolutely spare. It rapidly read from 1,000rpm to 6,000rpm, back down to 2,000rpm and back up again to 4,000rpm (all without the engine revving) This then lead it to cutting out. Once starting it up again it didnt want to idle or rev.

I called the RAC and the gentlemen had a look. He gave everything a blast with his carb cleaner and made sure everything was pumping clear. The car started up and was fine. He followed me home just incase it cut out again but before I could get there the rev counter dropped to 0rpm and no matter how much or little I used the accelerator the engine would not budge. I pulled over before I lost momentum. I had called a mate up who is very familiar with car mechanics and electrics. He immediately said that my crankshaft sensor was dead. He had experienced this before and it was a quick fix. I mentioned this to the RAC guy and he said it's very likely.

Anyway I finally got home last night. This morning I quickly did a fault code check and no faults are coming up. After doing the fault check I decided to start the car and at least straighten the car on the drive. But the car refuses to stay on for more than a millisecond. As soon as is starts it switches off :shame:

I have bought a crankshaft sensor from Autovaux for £32 delivered which is a fair price. I hope it will sort it out. I have family from cyprus visiting me this week and I have taken time off work to take them out and about. It's all kinda come at the wrong time!

 

[Turbodel]

Thats cheap for a sensor mate, try buying it from vauxhall next time.

 

[spookyman60]

autovaux usualy send out genuine gm parts ive always got genuine parts from them anyway, and yes it does sound like the crankshaft sensor

 

[Dom]

Does sound very like the crank sensor.

 

[MoonAndStar]

Evening guys. Thanks for any comments made. I appreciate them very much.

I tried Vauxhall and they wanted approx £65 for it. So I guess I got a cracking deal. Autovaux are meant to sell quality parts so I'm happy with it. However the flip side of everything is that I don't think I need the sensor now, which in fact arrived this morning.

I was very happy to receive it so quick. So I immediately ran out, popped the bonnet and tried to find where it was located. Upon my intergelactic search I noticed that a wire seemed to be hanging loose on its own. I checked the end of the wire and it was a bit greasy. So I looked around to see where it came from.

I noticed that behind the distributor cap there is a small unit with a sensor. And there are 3 rubber plugs where similar wires fit into. Surprise surprise, this is where the wire was meant to be connected to. So I simply pushed it back in and made sure it was nice and secure. I put the ignition on and let all the check lights dissapear and turned the key with my fingers crossed.

The car started perfectly. It revved at 1,200rpm at first until it eventually dropped to approx 750rpm - 800rpm. I left the engine warm up to 90degrees and the rev counter didnt budge. I was surprised to how well it was running (much better than before).

Ive decided that I will now drive the car up and down the road to see if anything happens. At the moment the problem is fixed and all because of one stupid wire which wasnt plugged in.

If you look at the essential details of how the car was behaving and specifically where this wire plugs into and where it leads to from where it plugs into (into the firewall - rev counter perhaps ) it all makes sense. Im not counting my eggs just yet but it's a reassuring result. Maybe I spent £32 for no reason but at least I've got a new sensor just incase.

So if anyone has any similar problems, please check all small wires and connections. It can happen, and if it does you don't want to spend unneccesary money on new sensors and what not.

It's all good for now. I'll update tomorrow and let you all know how the girl is behaving.

 

[TheMorphiuz]

Thats cheap for a sensor mate, try buying it from vauxhall next time.

Why?

autovaux usualy send out genuine gm parts ive always got genuine parts from them anyway, and yes it does sound like the crankshaft sensor

As he said. Nowt wrong with Autovaux IMO.

 

[MoonAndStar]

Drove the car properly today. All is well with no problems

 

[John F]

Drove the car properly today. All is well with no problems

Good result then :Cool2:.

 

[MoonAndStar]

Bad news guys. The rev counter dropped again after 2 days of smooth running. I turned into the nearest road. It wouldn't start up again at first. I left it for a few minutes and it started up again. I waited for the RAC to turn up. When the guy arrive I started the car up and explained to him what happenned the other day. Fortunately there was a garage near by which I have used before. I gave them a call and they said they would install my crankshaft sensor for me. I drove down with the RAC guy behind me.

Anyway the car went in, they installed the new crankshaft sensor. But they were unable to fire her up. The guy then inspected my camshaft sensor and said the wires were touching (I have had trouble with it before - it sometimes flashes up my EM light. I tend to move it around and it sorts it out). The guy then said he tried to sort the wires out with no successful result. The car is now staying there over night. Tomorrow they will call Vauxhall and get a quote on a new cam sensor and will let me know.

I'll most likely be excepting it and get them to put it in. And hopefully it will sort everything out. I've known dodgy sensors to go when you change other ones for a new one. It's all really become a great inconvenience to me. Im extremely annoyed but I hope tomorrow I'll be back on the road.

Wish me luck

 

[PaulMarchant]

Something that happened to me, in terms of symptoms, particularly including the funky rev-counter behaviour.

My cav, 105k miles occasionally complains about the camshaft sensor. The previous owner used to replace the cam sensor about every six months. I bought it a new sensor the first time, and then, being of an inquisitive mind, smashed the old one open to see what it actually contains. It came as particular annoyance to find that sixty quid down the stealership buys you a coil of copper wire cast into a lump of epoxy resin. I can't believe that these sensors genuinely fail as often as people report them as doing.

Initially, I suspected tarnished pins on the plug and sensor, and gave both a good spraying with battery terminal protector (spray snot, fiver a can, from Halfords). This seemed to fix it for some months. However, when the problem came back, the connection was still greased-up when inspected.

The former owner of the car (guy I worked with at the time) told me that the issue is with the first foot or two of cable coming off the sensor, which suffers from insulation failure internally over many years of being baked by the top of the engine. A good flexing and bending of the cable (on the side of the road) seems to fix the problem for me promptly every time it happens (a couple of months apart). The bending and flexing the cable gets during sensor replacement (timing belt cover off) might actually be the fix that fitting a new sensor appears to bring.

Apparently there's a Vaux spare (or so I'm told) which is a kit of: One new (probably totally unneeded sensor), one new connector and short length of attached cable to splice onto the end of the factory cable once you've cut it back a bit, and apparently a bill for (if I remember) a hundred and thirty quid.

It might be worth giving the cable a bit of GBH in the form of bending it about a bit between your fingers (unclip it from where it's routed down the back of the cylinder head - no need to unplug it from the sensor) and then clip it back. It works on my cav every time...

Paul

 

[MoonAndStar]

I ended up changing both camshaft sensor and crankshaft sensor (both sourced from Vauxhall). Parts and labour cost me £160 and the car is all good now

Just need to sort my ABS out now in order to get my MOT :lmao:

 

[Jaybooze]

The first thing to check is the battery.
Erratic battery voltage effs up the electronics and causes all sorts of probs.
The battery is the first thing to check.Yes,again.
Then check the main chassis to engine earth lead.
This is a permanent rant of mine but I am almost sure its the first step to a low cost cure to many probs.Jerry

 

[MoonAndStar]

Well after about a week and a half of waiting for the car to get an MOT I finally got it done today. The only advisory was warn bushes in the suspension.

Anyway picked the car up early this morning and went straight to work from there. Car did cut out but I thought my idle control valve was the problem. When I finished work at 1 I started the car and it cut out immediately. I thought again "idle control valve". So I started it up with a bit of help with the accelerator and it was fine. When I got home I switched it off and realised there was a judder when the engine switches off. So I started it up again, did it again with the same results. Then I gave it a bit of welly to about 4,000rpm (thinking maybe its a bit clogged up) and it falls to idle revving and cuts out.

By this point Im getting really annoyed. I started it again and the rev counter is fluctuating AGAIN :grrr I checked where the garage was meant to insulate the earth wire on the cam sensor and find that they have used electrical tape which felt very soft (due to heat) so Im guessing it is probably this. I've just had enough of this mess. I want the good car it is to work without problems.

After inspecting the wire I did put it back and it started up ok. Surely those wires need to be insulated with a better method than electrical tape. It doesn't last with the heat from the engine.

 

[MoonAndStar]

And by the way, I am getting no EM light when these problems are occuring.

 

[MoonAndStar]

Additional: Just done fault code check and no codes are flashing up.

 

[Graham8V]

dunno much about the 16 valve engines and their wiring, is it possible to get some heat shrink tubing onto the wire you're talking about? if so i reckon that would be your best bet

 

[MoonAndStar]

Ill consider that mate.

I think its possible to buy plastic insulation which is like a cap which seals any loose/exposed wiring. Its definately got something to do with the electrics. Either the earth on the cam sensor is shorting out again, or there is an earth somewhere around the engine which is loose.

Just wish I knew exactly what it was and sorted it without any more damn problems :shame:

It just makes you want to buy Japanese I tell ya!