Motor dies / cam pos error 20 miles after water pump replace

damien381

Member
:
2003 Protoge 5 @ 185K
This is a long shot.. but it won't hurt.

2003 protege5 206k. Radiator died and replaced it then water pump died (water out weep hole) so I went in to swap it. Pulled all the parts and replaced the pump, timing belt and tensioners. Also did the alternator because it decided to seize.

I put the whole thing together and it ran well on the road test. Pressure test was good with no drips and it held temps. The kid drove it last night and said it shook a bit when she was stopped but drove it to school and back today.

On her way back she was driving and the engine just died while going down the road. I got there and it would crank all day.. but wouldn't' try to turn over. It was about 3 cups low on coolant but the overflow had some water in it. i think that was a final burp i missed..

I had it towed home. It never once tried to turn over at all

Error code on the reader is cam position sensor failure.

Did I screw up the timing? Did I mess up the sensor when I wiped out the valve cover? I'm going to start tomorrow with backprobing that sensor and see what it says, but its always fun to see what the internet thinks.

Thanks!
 
Your timing belt may have skipped out of timing.

You can remove your valve cover to take a quick look.
There are timing marks on the back of the cam gears that line up perfectly with the cylinder head when viewed from the drivers side of the car.

They could possibly line up but still be off at the crank pulley but if they don't point to each other then the timing is definitely off.

You can throw a cam sensor code if the timing belt is off.

You may have overstretched your spring tensioner when installing it.

 
Chances are the belt skipped a tooth. I always roll the motor over by hand a few times and check timing to make sure the marks all still line up before locking down the tensioner and putting everything back together.

Also possible you may have missed one of the grounds when bolting back the motor mounts, or check the connection itself to make sure the harness going to the sensor didn't get a bit claustrophobic with the power steering pump pulley or belt.
 
I'm going to go pick up a new sensor, and tension spring, then pop the valve cover and take a look. I did all my marks from the passenger side and never knew to look for the marks from the drivers side! That is a great tip. are those two marks enough or do I also need to pulll the crank pulley and belts to look at the notch on the bottom spoke as well?
 
... are those two marks enough or do I also need to pull the crank pulley and belts to look at the notch on the bottom spoke as well?

You can use the timing marks on the T-belt cover...



BUT ,.. The pulley is rubber mounted to the crank and has been known to slip.




The notch on the crank gear is accurate.

 
I'd say the timing might be just a little bit off. Turned to TDC twice and didn't get the marks to line up anywhere near where they were when I installed it. I'll post pictures of the belt tensioner on my next break.

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So next step I'm guessing will be to fix the tensioner, then put the crank to TDC and manually adjust the cams into position?
 
I hooked up my tensioner spring after putting the belt on.
I didn't want I stretch the spring.


I attached the tensioner spring to the attachment pin AFTER installing the T-belt. The spring is a critical part and can very easily become over stretched while installing the belt. I attached a piece of wire (loosely) (or maybe string) to the spring and draped it up and over the fender so I could pull on the wire afterward to attach the spring to the attachment pin with the help of a small flat head screwdriver (its really hard to reach in there to attach the spring after the T-belt is installed). The wire (or string) needs to be attached loosely to allow it to be removed after the spring is on the pin. [/COLOR]
Install the tensioner spring and loosen the tensioner bolt
Install the idler pulley...
 
So next step I'm guessing will be to fix the tensioner, then put the crank to TDC and manually adjust the cams into position?

Yes,...
Make sure you rotate your engine over a couple of times and recheck timing after the T-belt is on.
 
Thanks to everyone for the help and great documentation, but after putting the whole thing back together, i have a no start condition that may have me throwing in the towel.

Cranks for a bit..trying to turn over. then i heard a POP almost like a backfire.

Pulled the plugs and they were wet with gas.

I have zero idea whats up.
 
It might be worth looking into the CrankShaft Position Sensor.

I had an on going issue where my motor would die, it went on for a while before it just totally died and would crank but no start. I would sometimes get the Camshaft Position Sensor code, which I have read is a "catch all" code and many times has nothing to do with the camshaft position sensor.

When taking the valve cover off to check the timing belt, I noticed the wire to the CrankShaft Position Sensor was really, really close to the AC or PS pulley.

Following the wire, I realized the wire damaged by rubbing on the pulley.

I had a new sensor already and had it installed in 2 minutes, it started up right away.

Here is the thread if you would like to reference it:

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123863047-Intermitted-Power-Loss-Please-Help!/page9
 
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