Greetings. I have posed related problems to this subject lately and it drives a question in my mind and creates this scenario; The light comes on and I get concerned, but it doesn't seem to affect the performance of the car, so I ignore it and keep on driving. Next morning, I get in the car and the light doesn't come on and I'm happy, but down the road after about 5 miles, the light comes and again, it doesn't seem to make any difference to the performance so I keep on driving. Another morning and as soon as I turn the key on, the light goes on and again, I ignore it and keep on driving. and so on and so on. Now, the question; Why doesn't the light stay on all the time if there is a problem?

 

Check your gas cap.

 

There are certain conditions that can cause the CE lite to illuminate and when the engine is shut down the PCM resets. Monitors are run at different times and engine operation conditions . If the light comes on after a certain time and distance traveled it could be temp or certain speed related. If possible , try having the code in the computer read, but you have to leave the engine running and not turn off the ignition so the reader can get the code before it is erased. Once you have that code you can go from there.

 

Hello again Hanky. I did finally get a reading (actually 3 codes) PO321 Spartk reference circuit, PO341 Cam Crank Error and PO 1360 (1) Ignition control circuit. Still, I didn't notice any difference in the ride, so I have been driving it with the light on and sometimes it doesn't come on. Lately though, I think something might be surfacing. Riding on cruise control, there seems to be some hesitation, like I feel it then I don't and then I feel it again, etc. The most outstanding thing happened a day ago. When on the way home from an errand, the light is on and I make a right hand turn and accelerate and then I get a bucking for just a second and then the light goes out and smooth driving. Thanks for any input.

 

Hello Mr. VanBuren,
From the info you supplied I would suggest that you confirm good connections at the crank/cam sensor down at the crank pulley. Make sure none of the wires are contacting and rubbing on anything where there could be a possible rub thru condition.
There is a good possibility the PCM is flying out in left field from time to time.
On later models sometimes a forced reset gets rid of gremlins in the system. A forced reset is merely removing one of the battery cables and allowing the capacitors in the PCM to discharge either by connecting the two cables together for a few minutes or waiting an hour or two for that to happen with just the one cable disconnected.
Keep in mind if you decide to do that you will lose all programmed info in radio, seats etc. and will have to reset those items.
If that doesn't help and you have a pretty good idea of how to create the condition, try driving it around the block once or twice with the alternator unplugged.Voltage spikes can create some crazy problems.

 

After I got the read, I accessed the connector on the crank/cam sensor and I disconnected it and reconnected it but I didn't look at the wires to see if there was any rubbing going on. See that man a Hanky would have looked at the wires then. My novice has been exposed.

 

I'm sure that by this time you know more about your vehicle than you are letting on !!

A little humor goes a long way sometimes and your choice of the word exposed reminded me of somebody's famous expression that went something like this,
The higher a person climbs on the ladder of success the more their rear is exposed!

 

Today is 12/9. Thank you for that morsel of humor. After a multitude of tasks assigned to me by my boss (aka wife), due to the holidays, I am ready to re-address the ongoing auto problem. I took a good look at the area involved and noticed that the bypass hose is leaking, so slightly. It appears that the hose and the leak are in line with both connectors at the cam and the crank as well so I will replace the hose and see if the leak might be, in some way, contributing to the problem .I will be back to you upon completion and leave you with this thought. "He who climbs the ladder of success to get to the top will realize that when he gets there, he will be alone."

 

Yesterday, 12/11, The day before, we traveled about 40 miles round trip, without the check engine light coming on. Yesterday, I replaced the bypass hose and sprayed the plug and socket of the crankshaft sensor with a fast drying contact spray. I started the car up and let it run for about 20 minutes to check to see that the new hose was secure. The check engine light did not come on. We (the boss and I) ran some errands and went about 19 miles and then the light came on. Would it be that the problem is intermittent and I should check the connections at the PCM>

 

It can't hurt to confirm that the connections are clean and good.