My car died in Dec and had a code 14. I figured its was my ecu again, (3rd in 8 years) so I sent it w/ my others to Driftmotion for repair. Now heres my problem, I plugged in one of the repaired ecus and the started and idled fine. I let it warm up and took it for a spin. When I came back I let the car sit and idle for 2 min the the idle started to bounce and it died. I now have a code 12 and 14. It seems that the car starts when cold but will die in a few min. I used my meter to check the cam/crank sensors and the #s I got seem to be in range of what I found on a mk4 tech site. All within 1040-1049 ohms cold. What should be my next step? My coils and plugs are new, and I tried my xtra igniter, so I "think" the code 12 is my main problem. Thanks for your time.
Need help w/ code 12
- Thread starter Supratrbox2
- Start date
I forgot to mention that when I pulled the cam plugs there was what I believe was oil in the plugs. Is this normal or a possible problem?
Fluid in the CPS plugs is pretty common and it's usually oil if your valve gasket leaked at all, now or previously. Oil won't cause the problem you are talking about however I've seen where conductive fluid got in some connectors from a cleaning solution and essentially shorted out the connection. In any case it's worth a try to clean cause it's free, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't work. If you got a correct resistance from the sensor with the fluid in the connector then this is not the cause.
The sensor resistance (cam and crank) is only part of the story. You need to see if they are sending out a pulse signal when cranking which is generally done with an oscilloscope. If you don't have one or know someone who has one you'll just have to replace sensors with known good ones and find out. I would say based on my experience investigating and solving a very similar issue that it's probably your crank sensor going out on you. While all three sensors (cam X2 and crank X1 ) will cause the issue you're talking about, the car will run or at least idle fairly well with only one cam sensor but with the crank sensor going out will jump all over the place and eventually will not start at all. Odds are pretty slim both cam sensors are going out at the same time.
The sensor resistance (cam and crank) is only part of the story. You need to see if they are sending out a pulse signal when cranking which is generally done with an oscilloscope. If you don't have one or know someone who has one you'll just have to replace sensors with known good ones and find out. I would say based on my experience investigating and solving a very similar issue that it's probably your crank sensor going out on you. While all three sensors (cam X2 and crank X1 ) will cause the issue you're talking about, the car will run or at least idle fairly well with only one cam sensor but with the crank sensor going out will jump all over the place and eventually will not start at all. Odds are pretty slim both cam sensors are going out at the same time.
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Is there anything else that I need to buy w/ the crank sensor thats not included with it or is the sensor all I need to replace?
Nothing else is required when replacing the crank sensor. You need to be able to slide the alternator forward to get to it. For me that requires removing a pulley and loosening my radiator a bit so I could lift it up to slide the alternator forward between the framing of the fan but it depends on your setup. I still have the hydro fan. It sounds like a bigger deal then it really is. It's quite simple actually.
When putting in the new sensor does it need to be adjusted or does it only fit in one way? My new one comes on the 18th so im trying to cover all my bases.
Crank sensor seems to be the problem, put in the new one and now she runs again. What a pain it is to get that damn bolt, but sliding the alt forward worked. Didnt remove the pulley or loosen the rad though, just cursed alot.
Thanks for the help and tips.
Thanks for the help and tips.
Yea, easy job really but the location can make it take way longer than it should. I'm glad it worked out for you.