DIY: Camshaft Intake Sensor ULTIMATE GUIDE *PICS*

First off, I wanted to make this guide as a compilation of what is available on the board. I used Scott's (Pigeon) and DriftinSequence's guides to help me install this.

I am copy pasting their work here and adding a little of my additions to make this "ultimate" guide.

From this thread made by DriftinSequence: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...amshaft+sensor


SYMPTOMS

Here are some of the things to notice to see if your intake camshaft sensor or possibly your intake camshaft sensor is going out.

1) your car doesn't feel like it has much power.
*now depending on the car and the severity of the sensor, some cars
would not have that much of a noticable decrease in power while
others do.

2) your car has stalled on acceleration or deceleration. how hard you accelerate or decelerate does not matter, usually under 40mph this would happen.

3) your car does not want to start the first time, or, the car hesitates for a bit and then starts. when i say hesitate, i don't mean to say that the battery is weak and thus your starter motor doesn't have the "kick" to turn your car over. I mean that you have full "kick" of the starter motor but the car won't turn on.



>>>>> these are some of the common errors I found and some have personally experienced. Since this is a big problem as it seems on the E46's, I thought I would share my experiences into helping you guys since you helped me on this very issue.


NOTE: these are the most common noticable problems. No check engine light or other dashlights have been turned on. Do not attempt to arbitrarily change the intake camshaft sensor without checking fault codes first!


part runs about $110 plus you need to get a new o-ring which is $1. Stick with OEM since I don't think many other places would have it





DIY INSTALL GUIDE

Mostly copied from Pigeon's guide:
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...amshaft+sensor




TOOLS:
-32mm open-ended wrench to remove/replace the VANOS solenoid
-5mm Allen head socket
-Blue loctite - the factory put it on the bolt holding the sensor for a reason...

PARTS:
-Camshaft Position Sensor (Intake) - Approx - $120
-Replacement O-ring



Here's how to do it:

NOTE: I did the install after a 45min drive to the dealer so the engine was hot, I recommend waiting for the engine to be completely cool but I was impatient.

1.) Remove the airbox (2 10mm bolts after the cover's removed)



2.)Disconnect the tube above the sensor and the VANOS solenoid by squeezing both sides of the connector and pulling straight out (I think this is the PCV recirculation but I'm not sure)






3.) Disconnect the VANOS solenoid electrical connector by squeezing the wire clip and pulling the connector off






4.) Remove the canister holding the oil filter, 2 bolts, which gives you more room to take out the VANOS solenoid and to run the new wire for the CPS.




5.)Remove the VANOS solenoid with the 32mm wrench. Oil will come out, have rags ready

6.)Trace the CPS wire to the connector way underneath the intake, disconnect it and plug in new CPS





7.) Run the new sensor's wire the same way the old one ran

8.) Remove the camshaft position sensor hold down bolt with the 5mm Allen socket. A standard Allen wrench will also do.





9.) Pull the CPS out - give it a twist to help it out. Make sure you clean out where the gasket goes as mine was pretty cruddy there. Get a new gasket with the new CPS, it's a buck and worth it to avoid a potential oil leak

10.) Put the new gasket on the sensor, lube it with a couple drops of clean
oil and install the sensor



11.) Reinstall the 5mm Allen bolt with a drop of blue Loctite. I used a microfiber towel to cover the surrounding area to prevent burns.



12.) Put everything else back where it came from



Total time, if you have everything you need at hand, maybe 45 minutes.


-Richard

Props to Pigeon and DriftinSequence, hope you guys are ok with me posting your stuff

Excellent Write Up Seems like more people are doing well documented write ups lately

Jared

excellent now i know exactly what i'm doing.cheers mate

Ivan,
Scotland

Thanks for the credit, but your writeup is more comprehensive and the pics are worth 10,000 words. Great job!

Scott

Hate to bring old threads back from the dead, but this helped me so much when changing mine. Just wanted to thank everyone involved in doing this, and maybe it can help someone else out in the future

Dang, excellent writeup, thanks for taking the time. Nice looking engine bay too.

hey, that DIY write up was mine, wheres the bibliography for credit here, ha

Awesome...Thanks...

New Jersey, USA

I just changed my Intake CPS yesterday and had a hard time following other people's DIY here cuz there were no pics! I wish I found your DIY as the PICS really help alot! I did a search for "P0340" and did not find a lot. Now I searched for "Camshaft Position Sensor" and found this most excellent thread. Oh well, now I know how to do it.

Nice I wish I would have had this a couple of months ago.

i am having the same problem starting, can i change mine without checking for codes.....or is this a bad idea?

excellent write-up


so can the sensor be bad and there not be a CEL?

thanks for using my writeup rich, and actually letting people know its mine

just changed mine...difficulty with connector my hands are too fat i guess....but this dyi was fantastic....oh i also lost both harness clips...thanks for the dyi.....very imformative

i like that red.

2 years later....I'm doing this DIY. BavAuto has the part for $54.00 now.

just got my part from tischer. came with an O-ring 1 quick question...

the blue threadlock says parts will not separate unless sheared.

is that going to be a problem?? thanks!

Just did this today. Thanks for the pics and advice!

This worked out great for me. Thanks.