cam angle sensor wiring....sheilded?

[Numbchux]

so we were having problems with the sheilded wires that go to the cam angle sensor, so just for testing sake, we just wired in 2 individual signal wires, and no sheilding. it's worked fine for a week or so, then it died this morning. I ended up leaving it on the side of the road and walking to school. when I got back this afternoon, it would barely run, I limped it home and it's throwing a cam angle sensor code (aswell as an injector #1 code, but I think that's a seperate problem :-\ ).

 

anyway, I don't want to have to tear things apart enough that I can replace those 2 wires with a sheilded one (or find a sheilded one to replace it) unless I know that's the problem.....

[baccaruda]

I'd try changing the sensor and seeing if it fixes it, even if it repeats what it just did.. if the shielding is more for the sensor than for the wire, then your sensor may have gotten fried somehow...

[86ruguy]

the sheilding is so that the signal from the cam sensor to the ECU does not get any interference from anything around it.

 

if the sheilding is messed up on the wiring then you NEED TO FIX IT first

[TomRhere]

And only one end of the "shield" is grounded. If you ground both ends, you might just as well of used plain wire.

[Numbchux]

And only one end of the "shield" is grounded. If you ground both ends, you might just as well of used plain wire.

 

now, every time I post something like this, someone says that one side is grounded....but it's not. there's a third wire that goes to the sensor on one end, and the ECU on the other, and connected to the shielding. there are plenty of places in the harness where sheilded wire is used, and just one end is spliced into a ground, but the crank and cam angle sensors are different.

 

well....I guess I'll try to find some sheilded wire to use, and an extension cord long enough to get my soldering gun out to my car....

[robm]

If you looked INSIDE the sensor and the ECU, you will probably find it is grounded at one end only. They must be serious about the shielding if they extend it right inside the sensor. Make sure it is in good shape, and the shielding in between isn't accidentally grounding. Extra electrical tape if needed.

[PoorManzImpreza]

Three wire microphone cable is shielded and is exactly right for this application..one side of the crank angle shield IS grounded where it feeds back towards the ecu connectors you'll find a group of uninsulated braided wires that plug into another set of black wires..these are all the shield grounds and they eventually go back to the engine harness connecter where they are earthed on a bolt by the thermostat housing..

[Numbchux]

Three wire microphone cable is shielded and is exactly right for this application..one side of the crank angle shield IS grounded where it feeds back towards the ecu connectors you'll find a group of uninsulated braided wires that plug into another set of plack wires..these are all the shield grounds and they eventually go back to the engine harness connecter where they are earthed on a bolt by the thermostat housing..

 

thanks for the suggestion on the microphone cable, I've even got some laying around!

 

and no, the crank and cam angle sensor wires are not grounded to that cluster. the sensor end is probably grounded through the sensor (as previously mentioned), but the other end goes stright into the ECU. it does not tap into the ground anywhere else in the harness.

 

this is not in question. it's one of the few things that all the diagrams agree on, aswell as the harness. all I wanted to know, is if it needs to be sheilded, not where or how it's grounded. which, as it turns out, was not my problem, my electrical tape had come loose on the ECU side, and I was getting a bad connection there.

[86ruguy]

welcome to the age of ELECTONICS:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[PoorManzImpreza]

thanks for the suggestion on the microphone cable, I've even got some laying around!

 

and no, the crank and cam angle sensor wires are not grounded to that cluster. the sensor end is probably grounded through the sensor (as previously mentioned), but the other end goes stright into the ECU. it does not tap into the ground anywhere else in the harness.

 

this is not in question. it's one of the few things that all the diagrams agree on, aswell as the harness. all I wanted to know, is if it needs to be sheilded, not where or how it's grounded. which, as it turns out, was not my problem, my electrical tape had come loose on the ECU side, and I was getting a bad connection there.

 

that's strange 'cause both the harness I have and my FSM section 6 shows that from the four wire crank angle connector on the ditributor, initially all four wires, then three of them are shielded right back to the ECU and then connect to all the sensor shields via connector F88 which traces back as I described..lol you know it just occured to me we might be talking different engines..my information concerns 87+ mpfi ea82..

[Numbchux]

that's strange 'cause both the harness I have and my FSM section 6 shows that from the four wire crank angle connector on the ditributor, initially all four wires, then three of them are shielded right back to the ECU and then connect to all the sensor shields via connector F88 which traces back as I described..lol you know it just occured to me we might be talking different engines..my information concerns 87+ mpfi ea82..

 

sorry man, I'm talking about a legacy motor, hence the CAM angle sensor, not crank.....I guess I just assumed people would know what car I was talking about since I've been having so much trouble with my EJ swap this summer, my bad :-\

 

but, like I said, it appears to be working again. without the sheilding. I can't think of a reason why I should string new wires if it's working fine. I doubt it'll do anything but make it run like crap if it needs to be sheilded, and even if it does more, I've got extra sensors and an ECU....so I'm just not going to worry about it

 

for the record, the 2 signal wires I used have pretty thick insulation. so that probably helps