Saturn P0341 - "Camshaft" Position "Sensor"
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 8:30 am
Well, in order to get back to milking this sweet twin cam saturn, I need to solve a recurring problem with error P0341. This is a "Camshaft Position Sensor 'A' Circuit Range/Performance" code. I have gotten this code several times over the years, separated by at least six months. But it has become more frequent of late, and inspection is due soon.
Naturally, I should just replace the sensor, right? I would love to, but this car does not have such a thing. It's designers decided it was cheaper, easier, and more interesting to sense cam position in some other way. So they measure the voltage of the spark event on plug wire #4.
The diagnostic procedure involves:
1. Check the plugs (they're cheap, so I just replaced)
2. Check the resistance of the plug wires. The range is something like 10k to 40k Ohms. All four of mine were like 13kOhms and fairly new.
3. Check the resistance of the coils. Same basic result as the wires... Huge range, but all of my coils were very close to each other.
4. Clean all contacts between coils and plugs.
Did this stuff, but the code eventually came back. So I continued through the procedure last weekend.
5. Check some voltages to determine whether the problem is with wiring or the unit. To be more specific, I had to back probe circuit 633, a brown/white wire that runs from the ignition control module to the powertrain control module. Ultimately, the voltage on this circuit with the engine running was around 3.5 volts. The guidance for this voltage was the my problem was "intermittent."
So I've ordered a new ICM (ACdelco on rockauto for about $100) and hopefully that will fix the problem, at least through this inspection period. If this doesnt work, I'll buy it something else nice for the next period.
Naturally, I should just replace the sensor, right? I would love to, but this car does not have such a thing. It's designers decided it was cheaper, easier, and more interesting to sense cam position in some other way. So they measure the voltage of the spark event on plug wire #4.
The diagnostic procedure involves:
1. Check the plugs (they're cheap, so I just replaced)
2. Check the resistance of the plug wires. The range is something like 10k to 40k Ohms. All four of mine were like 13kOhms and fairly new.
3. Check the resistance of the coils. Same basic result as the wires... Huge range, but all of my coils were very close to each other.
4. Clean all contacts between coils and plugs.
Did this stuff, but the code eventually came back. So I continued through the procedure last weekend.
5. Check some voltages to determine whether the problem is with wiring or the unit. To be more specific, I had to back probe circuit 633, a brown/white wire that runs from the ignition control module to the powertrain control module. Ultimately, the voltage on this circuit with the engine running was around 3.5 volts. The guidance for this voltage was the my problem was "intermittent."
So I've ordered a new ICM (ACdelco on rockauto for about $100) and hopefully that will fix the problem, at least through this inspection period. If this doesnt work, I'll buy it something else nice for the next period.