A failing camshaft position sensor begins losing its ability to quickly transfer data. Mismatched fuel delivery and ignition timing, even if off by a few milliseconds, will cause your vehicle to sputter, accelerate poorly, lack power, stall or even shut off.
Car Will Not Start: Over time, as the camshaft position sensor fails, the signal it sends to the engine control module weakens. When the engine no longer receives the signal, you will not be able to start your car. Engine Misfires: A failing camshaft position sensor can cause your engine to misfire.
A vehicle with a damaged camshaft may suffer from reduced engine performance due to cylinder misfire. Your vehicle may hesitate and lose power, jerk or shake aggressively, consume more fuel than usual, and produce more emissions.
Due to the manufacturing processes, repairing a camshaft is not often advisable. While some high-performance engines use camshafts that are repairable, it's not really cost effective or practical for the average car on the road. Instead, if your car needs a new camshaft, replacing it with a new one is the best choice.
Cost to Replace a Camshaft Sensor
A camshaft position sensor replacement is not an expensive job, if diagnosed properly. Some vehicles may have a lower cost, but expect a cost of between $200 and $400 for mainstream cars to replace the camshaft position sensor.
Yes it can. If the computer is not getting a signal from the cam shaft sensor (or crankshaft sensor), it will not start as a broken cam bolt/gear could be the cause for the loss of signal, so will not allow the vehicle to start so you do not damage the engine.
Some of these also include wear-and-tear, water damage, and oil embedded in the engine, these can also damage the engine's camshaft since these things will build up over time. If there's a problem, the engine control module and associated wiring may need to be replaced.
There are a number of reasons your camshaft sensor might break down: grime and oil in the engine, water damage, bad wiring, and overheating can all cause a camshaft sensor to go bad. The biggest thing to do to avoid this is to take care of your car.
Error code P0340 indicates a malfunction with the camshaft position sensor A circuit. This type of malfunction can cause serious issues that require immediate repair because the underlying cause of the code could damage your vehicle's engine if you continue to drive it.
The camshaft position sensor on a car is built to last as long as the car does, but in most cases it will have to be replaced well before that.
A camshaft sensor is one of the essential parts of your vehicle, so much so that you probably won't be able to drive at all with a faulty one. Fortunately, the part is relatively inexpensive compared with a lot of other vehicle parts, and it only takes about an hour or so for a mechanic to replace it.
The camshaft sensor enables the engine control to determine the exact position of the crankshaft drive. This information is required to calculate the ignition point and injection point, among other things.
If the oil level is very low, to the point where the engine overheats however, yes. Excessive heat can cause a camshaft position sensor to fail. More likely in a "low oil level" situation is for the camshaft, lifters, or camshaft variable timing actuator to fail due to inadequate oil pressure and lubrication.
The small but extremely important cam sensor can range from about $15 on some vehicles to several hundred dollars on others. Fortunately, it's often an easy part to change, and it will have your engine running well immediately after the repair.
The short answer is yes, it is safe to drive with a bad camshaft sensor, but it's not good for your engine long-term. You'll likely see a higher fuel consumption and poorer engine performance the longer you wait to get it fixed.
Failing camshafts can lead to extensive and expensive engine damage which is why they need to be replaced immediately after failure symptoms have been identified.
As the camshaft spins, the lobes open and close the intake and exhaust valves in time with the motion of the piston. It turns out that there is a direct relationship between the shape of the cam lobes and the way the engine performs in different speed ranges.