Is this possible!

[Emc209i]

So I will finally be replacing the faulty(?) cam sensor next week. Lately though the check engine light has been staying off, which got me thinking...

Before the cam sensor went out for GOOD, the ALDL reported the sensor pulse on/off/on/off/on/off. I figured the sensor sent a pulse every time the cam lobe passed it. Maybe the cam was intermittent the entire time though??

Does the engine go into safe, or limp home, mode when there is no pulse? If so, could the engine have been switching between safe modes? When I fix this will the flood gates open with power or is there no safe mode for a missing cam signal?

[dohcfiend]

IIRC, the SFI system is not all that. it is not full time SFI, when you go WOT or exceed 3000 rpm it switches to MPFI mode.

it is mainly there for idle quality and gas mileage in cruising. i guess it would be jerky/hesitant under 3000.

[Emc209i]

Alright.

[FieroWannaBe]

so i take it now it is no longer hesitant with the replaced sensor?

[IsaacHayes]

What ECM are you running? If you are running the 2.8 ECM and not a 94+ SFI ECM, then the cam sensor doesn't do anything for you since you're not SFI!

Do you mean crank sensor? When it finally goes out totally, you have no spark. I've replaced mine twice. Don't get one from autozone, it will last you less than a year.

A SFI ecm will still run the motor with the cam sensor dead. It just won't idle/be as smooth. It will default back to mpfi or something. If the motor isn't running at all now, it's probably something else. Disconnecting it will tell you for sure.

[Emc209i]

So I will finally be replacing the faulty cam sensor next week.

I haven't gotten to it yet.

Isaac, I'm using the '95 OBD1.5 BKLL PCM, which is SFI.

[FieroWannaBe]

I apologize for my lackluster reading skillz.

[Emc209i]

An update - three years later! What I thought was an intermittent cam signal developed into a frayed and grounding cam signal wire. After patching the wire the engine went back to normal operation and hesitation fell to a minimum albeit not disappearing entirely.

[bob442]

three years later, wow. i dont know which is more surprising, that the car is fixed, or you still own it...

[pocket-rocket]

three years later, wow. i dont know which is more surprising, that the car is fixed, or you still own it...

Or that he remembered this thread (no offense Emc)

[Emc209i]

Or that he remembered this thread (no offense Emc)

None taken. I found this thread with google actually and didn't want to leave any mis-information or an undetermined solution. It's quite entertaining/horrifying reading over posts that I made only three years prior, my understanding of automotive dynamics and social etiquette have developed so much that I look back and wonder what I was smoking.

Bob, the DOHC I was trying to fix spun a rod bearing later in the year. It was totally my fault for putting the front cover gasket on backwards while replacing the front cover with the engine still in the car (not a lot of room). The synthetic oil mixed with ethylene glycol and turned the inside of my engine into a soda shop root beer float. I replaced the DOHC 60* with a boosted 90* V6 (shhhh its taboo here). I still have the car.

[pocket-rocket]

None taken. I found this thread with google actually and didn't want to leave any mis-information or an undetermined solution. It's quite entertaining/horrifying reading over posts that I made only three years prior, my understanding of automotive dynamics and social etiquette have developed so much that I look back and wonder what I was smoking.

I've done the same... Believe me, I've done the same, lol.