Camshaft position sensor

[RawbDidIt]

Good evening,

Had a problem I haven't had before, my truck stopped running while on the freeway last weekend. Running just fine, and then all power was lost, coasted to the shoulder and the thing wouldn't start. Couldn't sort it out roadside, so got a tow home and hooked up the scanner and found a code for the camshaft position sensor (P0341 I believe). Been meaning to replace the cap anyway, so not a complete loss if it's the sensor, but does anybody know the range of voltages that the signal wire should generate during normal operation? I want to diagnose before throwing parts at it. I'm under the impression that the sensor is located under the distributor cap, is this correct for my vehicle?

1997 K1500
5.7l Vortec (L31)

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[Awest623]

Good evening,

Had a problem I haven't had before, my truck stopped running while on the freeway last weekend. Running just fine, and then all power was lost, coasted to the shoulder and the thing wouldn't start. Couldn't sort it out roadside, so got a tow home and hooked up the scanner and found a code for the camshaft position sensor (P0341 I believe). Been meaning to replace the cap anyway, so not a complete loss if it's the sensor, but does anybody know the range of voltages that the signal wire should generate during normal operation? I want to diagnose before throwing parts at it. I'm under the impression that the sensor is located under the distributor cap, is this correct for my vehicle?

1997 K1500
5.7l Vortec (L31)

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Yes the sensor is under the rotor. When you pull the cap off, get someone to turn the engine over and verify that the distributor is spinning properly. Sounds to me like you ate a distributor gear. Do you have any oil pressure while cranking?

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[RawbDidIt]

Yes the sensor is under the rotor. When you pull the cap off, get someone to turn the engine over and verify that the distributor is spinning properly. Sounds to me like you ate a distributor gear. Do you have any oil pressure while cranking?

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Oil pressure is connected to the oil pump on the crank, how does that diagnose the distributor or cam sensor on the cam? Honestly asking, the two don't seem directly connected unless you're suggesting an issue with the timing chain, or I have a misunderstanding as to where the oil pump gets its rotation from.

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[Awest623]

Oil pressure is connected to the oil pump on the crank, how does that diagnose the distributor or cam sensor on the cam? Honestly asking, the two don't seem directly connected unless you're suggesting an issue with the timing chain, or I have a misunderstanding as to where the oil pump gets its rotation from.

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The oil pump is driven by the distributor shaft on SBCs. The cranks drives the cam, the cam drives the distributor, and the distributor drives the oil pump.

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[Awest623]

If the distributor gear is worn out it'll keep the engine from sparking, throw a crank/cam correlation error, and produce zero oil pressure. Had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago

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[RawbDidIt]

Hmmm... ok, I'll check in the morning. Do you remember exactly which code yours threw when you had this issue?

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[Awest623]

Hmmm... ok, I'll check in the morning. Do you remember exactly which code yours threw when you had this issue?

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No. Sorry. Too long ago. I only remember that it had something to do with cam/crank when I looked it up.

After mine died it would also backfire after cranking for a while. And you could feel a lot of slop when trying to turn the distributor rotor by hand.



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[RawbDidIt]

All good notes, thanks for the info. Hopefully it's not the distributor, but I have been putting off getting my new engine rebuilt, this would be the nail in the coffin for the existing engine.

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[Awest623]

All good notes, thanks for the info. Hopefully it's not the distributor, but I have been putting off getting my new engine rebuilt, this would be the nail in the coffin for the existing engine.

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I wouldn't say that. Mine hasn't had a problem since I changed it. The filter catches most everything.

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[RawbDidIt]

No, I get that, but I have another block torn down already (not sure why I didn't put together where the oil pump got power from lol) so why put a new distributor in this engine when I can put that same new distributor on the new engine? I also have another vehicle and work from home for the time being, so having this truck up and running isn't a top priority.

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