another engine light

[_VVTi_]

So for the past 2 months I have been dumping crap loads of money into fixing the car, ranging from CEL to changing the rack and pinion.
At my last visit the dealership diagonsised 3 CEL, one for EGR system, P0335 Crankshaft position sensor circuit "A" malfuntion, and P0340 Camshaft position sensor circuit malfuntion.
They said that there is a chance that fixing the EGR system CEL will clear the other 2 CEL out. But jsut as we all know, it didn't.... that didn't surprise me at all.

So now, I'm left with the P0335 and P0340 CEL code. THis is the description the dealership gave me.

P0335 crankshaft position sensor circuit "A" malfuntion.
P0343 camshaft position sensor circuit malfuntion
perform diagnosis back probe the ECU. intermittant signal from Cam position and crank position sensor. take closer look at in ECU connector E8 got full of oil in it. check at camshaft position sensor leak oil. that why went throught wire insulator than to ECU. suggest replace cam sensor first.

so then i called another dealership to see if this situation is possible, just as I thought they'll say... "it is possible". and i checked with the parts department to see how much the sensors are, apparently they don't have "camshaft position sensor" listed in their computer.

Now my question is, how can I confirm which part is the culprit? Because I do not want to replace both parts when I only have to replace one.
And also, has anyone else came acros this problem before? And what damage would it do, if i don't proceed to fixing this?


Thanks

[fredk]

get used to replacing multiple parts on newer cars for 2 reasons, some parts are related and there is no foolproof way to isolate them from one another, and the biggest reason is that setting up good foolproof flow charts for the techs to fix cars at the dealers takes big bucks and car makers today get sensors and electronics so cheap nowadays that its cheaper just to replace all the parts in a sub system and get the tech onto another car and that way the warranty isnt so high per car, and everybody stays happy, but when the warranty runs out and you have to pay list on parts and have the dealer do it, they arent worried about if you ever get it fixed

[rusty9]

the cam sensor is located/built into the distribtor. sounds like a faulty distributor module. last time i checked the module itself was 150.50 and the whole distributor was 149.50...go figure

[_VVTi_]

is this distributor a electrical distributor?

[BadChicken]

We actually had a similar problem at work, where one of the ears on the camshaft broke off and was setting a code. This was caused by Jiffy Lube doing an oil change and bending down the little piece of metal under the oil cap. Could be something to look at. I'm saying this is it but there's a chance.

[_VVTi_]

errm.... ears on the camshaft broke off? that sounds more expensive then a new sensor.

and what do you mean by the bending down the little piece of metal under the oil cap??

[_VVTi_]

ka-bump?

[BadChicken]

Most of the newer Toyota cars have a baffle on the top of the valve cover that can be bent down into one of the cams if your not careful