I have a 1998 Ford Ranger that gives me a camshaft positoner sensor malfunction. I replaced the sensor twice. Still the same error. Autozone says it's could be the timimng belt. Has anyone else seen the same typed of failure? Ford says the timing belt should be changed at 120,000 along with the tensioner and the camshaft positon sensor. None of this is stated in the owners manual. I performed a tune up on it along with replacing the plug wires because it was about 8k miles from being due. The truck runs better but the tune up didn't help the error code. The serpentine belt for the accessories has never been changed. I wouldn't think slippage would cause the error. The original sensor had a lot of small debris on it since it's a magnet everything was attracted to it. I clean it off and took some resistance measurements and it measured the same as the store bought sensor. I reinserted it and the code came back after multiple starts. The first store bought sensor kept coming on and the off and stayed off for about a week in a half and then came back on. I can't get it to pass the emissions testing with the check engine light on. I can reset the code but it will come on every 3rd start. I hear the truck needs to be driven at 100 miles to clear the computer totally. Any help will be appreciated. I'm getting ready to replace the timing belt and tensioner. I'll check the water pump and most likely replace it also.
Apr 5, 2009 at 9:01 PM