SES Errors

[Relevart]

Hello folks!
I am looking for a little help: the car is 325I 2002 vintage with 125k mi. Today SES light came up Autozone read error codes came up as follows:
P0344-cam position sensor intermitten.
Possible causes:
CAM sensor faulty
Wiring faulty
Timing off
Cylinder misfire

P0128-thermostat
Pausible causes:
Thermostat stack open
Faulty CTS
Low coolant level NO IT IS NOT

The question is two error codes comae up simonteneously. Which one is real?
Of course I can spend $200 in parts and replace thermostat and CAM sensor. But prefer to replace only parts that needed to be replace.
By the way, I haven't replaced O2 sensors yet. Could it be a contributing factor?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Best regards,
Relevart

[zibby]

P0344....Camshaft Position Sensor 'A' Circuit Intermittent (Bank 1 or Single Sensor)
In this case you should change sensor on the intake side of the engine(this more difficult one to replace)
Sorry ,but you also need a new thermostat(common problem),nothing to do with cam position sensor.
BTW an inline six is organized as two banks (cylinders 1-3 & 4-6), so there is a Bank 1 & Bank 2. But in this case both cam sensors are on bank 1 (at the front of the engine) and there's an A (intake) and B (exhaust) sensor.

Z.

[Relevart]

Thanks zibby! When it rains it poors: the car due for an inspection too. The car is also due for a coolant change any way.

[Relevart]

Progress report:
24 hours after problem manifested itself;
Current status of the problem: problem dissapeared: in the morning light was still on; in the afternoon it was off with no human intervention under the hood. Cost of the fix is $0
I hope this will last long enough to pass inspection.

[zibby]

Good to hear that...
Good luck!
Z.

[Relevart]

Today in the morning on the way to work. I filled car with gas at the station, I use almost exclusevly for the past 5 years.
It looked, like somebody replaces the car: The engine would stall almost every time, I dissengage the clutch or shift in to the neutral. Good thing, I commute to work with friend of mine and it was his turn to drive from our meet place.
My first thought was a water in the gas. I also noticed, that needle on temperature gage is not vertical any more: it shows temperature lower than usual.
On the way home, from the place, where I left car, it behaved quite well: no stalling at all. Just a temp gage a little low.
While driving SES light comes on again. Stop at Autozone: P0344 - CAM sensor.
After code read, I start car, the SES light is dissapeared. Autozone guy didn't reset codes!

I would guess it is an intermitten contact in the sensor's circuit or it needs certain amount of faults before Turning on SES light.

Any words of wisdom from experts?

[zibby]

Told you,replace sensor and thermostat.Do not make it worse driving around with a faulty sensor and thermostat(not good for engine)
Z.

[Relevart]

OK. Error P0128 was bogus: nothing wrong with thermostat for now. Just a fluke. The P0344 was real and Oh boy! Did it mess up engine operations. After replacing CAM sensor everything works fine.
Word of caution to every DIY who attempt to replace CAM sensor (as always you shouldn't blindly follow advise from forum; you're responsible for decisions you are making):
Whatever you do do not break vent pipe from valve cover to oil separator. If you do break it you have two options:
a. if it snaps in the middle go get some heat shrink tubing or high temperature electric tape and use those to keep brocken parts together.
b. if you want to restore to original state, listen to me take a long flat screwdriver and break that damn PITA connector ring off the pipe and CAREFULLY work that pipe from the oil separator. Then install new pipe again CAREFULLY work it in down below. The danger is breaking mounting tabs of oil separator.
I can't stop wondering what stuff responsible engineer was smoking/drinking/swallowing, but 30% glass filled Nylon12 is very wrong material for this application. Unless it designed to fail. Yes, 125k mi 7 years, some can make argument, is respectable age...
Any way, oil separator and pipes are made from rigid 30% glass filled Nylon12, after 7 years sitting next to the engine block at temperatures approaching 120degC in summer it bound to become extremely brittle and will not take any load induced by disconnecting plastic pipe that stuck there.
To realize ramifications just read DIY for replacing oil separator.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...=oil+separator