New to me Expy, already having problems

[Glenn B]

I just picked up a 2006 Expedition, Eddie Bauer Edition, for about $3000. About 180k miles on it, good condition, runs fine, just had to have the rear diff replaced before driving it home. For some reason the ABS light is on, still need to find out what's causing that. (I have a code reader, but it did not bring up any trouble codes when I checked this morning.)

While bringing it home last night (in pouring rain) I heard a belt squeaking. Had the local mechanic take a quick peek this morning, he said it's the serpentine. Joy, another $80. While driving it this evening, the check engine light came on. Code reader came back with:

Confirmed
P0340 Camshaft Position Sensor "A" Circuit

Pending
P0012 "A" Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Retarded
P0345 Camshaft Position Sensor "A" Circuit


I'm no mechanic. From the brief bit of Googling I did (which ultimately brought me here) I am seeing that it could be a bad sensor or perhaps bad wiring. What I am wondering is, is it related to the serpentine? Seems weird that the belt is squeaking, I put on the A/C to test that out, suddenly I have a CEL.

Thanks for any info.

Glenn

 

[Tank_Snake]

how badly worn is your belt?

 

[Glenn B]

how badly worn is your belt?

Mechanic just said it needs to be replaced. He didn’t have time to go into any further detail than that. I didn’t have an actual appointment, it was more of a “hey, what do you think this is” kind of thing.


Edit - What little I can see of it looks okay, no cracks, but it does flex about an inch when pushed. Is that too much give for a belt? Like I said, I am no mechanic.


Glenn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tank_Snake]

Mechanic just said it needs to be replaced. He didn’t have time to go into any further detail than that. I didn’t have an actual appointment, it was more of a “hey, what do you think this is” kind of thing.


Edit - What little I can see of it looks okay, no cracks, but it does flex about an inch when pushed. Is that too much give for a belt? Like I said, I am no mechanic.


Glenn


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh yeah. Waybto much play, surprised your belt hasn't slipped off....but that tells me it may be your belt tensioner.....think about it. A belt that's bad will squeak but it's not falling off the pullys which means your tensioner us working, but could be going bad somehow and letting it slack.
Idk that's my 2 cents. If check the tensioner out too, that wouldn't be an expensive fix

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[Hamfisted]

You can change the serpentine belt yourself. If the camshaft position sensors are bad, they're easy to replace as well. All right there in the front of the motor.





You can download ForScan to your phone or laptop and use one of the many ELM327 OBDII wireless adapters to read your ABS module and trouble codes.

http://forscan.org/home.html

http://forscan.org/download.html



-Mike

 

[Glenn B]

Thanks for the replies. I'll watch the video to see if it's something I am comfortable with, otherwise I'll take it to the mechanic to see what he can do with it. Still have the ABS light to contend with. Sigh...

Glenn

 

[Glenn B]

http://forscan.org/home.html[/URL]

http://forscan.org/download.html



-Mike

Thanks for the link. Nice app - the one I was using on my phone used to be free and full featured, but as of the latest update it chirps about a Pro version every time I tap something. $5 is worth the peace of mind. My old Tundra didn't have ABS so I never worried about it but I guess I need to now.

ForScan is telling me the ABS light is on because of a Right Rear Wheel Speed Sensor Input Circuit Failure. Nice. I'll add that to my list of things to read about to see if it's something I can do myself.

Glenn

 

[drewactual]

ABS is no doubt related to rear dif work... what was done?

when you turned on the a/c you slapped load to the engine w/o increasing throttle... if the code was pending, it was enough to trigger the hard code.

 

[Glenn B]

That's what we were thinking. He had to take the tires off to replace the rear diff. The ABS light was not on before that work was done.

I cleared the codes, and will drive it to work tomorrow. CEL will most likely come back on, so I'll check to see what it says.

Glenn

 

[Glenn B]

It seems to be okay at the start of the trip, but 20 miles later, it's idling rough, shaking, and feels like it's going to stall. Belt getting hot and stretching out further? It goes into the shop next Wednesday.

Glenn

 

[docraymund]

Bring it to a mechanic who works mostly on Expeditions or F 150's. Most likely a camshaft variable timing problem.

 

[Ed_Strong]

Something to think about. I've heard of Camshaft Position Sensors on some Ford vehicles making a loud chirping sound when they are going bad (run dry of lubrication). So your Serpentine Belt may be fine and what you could be in fact hearing is in fact this Sensor going bad.

But then again your engine may not be equipped with this type of sensor.

 

[krakoosh]

Whatever you do, don't let anyone charge you $80 for a belt that takes 5 minutes to put on.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Belts don't squeak ! Idler pulleys or other front end accessories DO !!

 

[theoldwizard1]

Something to think about. I've heard of Camshaft Position Sensors on some Ford vehicles making a loud chirping sound when they are going bad (run dry of lubrication). So your Serpentine Belt may be fine and what you could be in fact hearing is in fact this Sensor going bad.

But then again your engine may not be equipped with this type of sensor.

That synchronizer is out of a total DIFFERENT engine. OP - Ignore these videos.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Whatever you do, don't let anyone charge you $80 for a belt that takes 5 minutes to put on.

ABSOLUTELY !

The belt is about $20 on Rock Auto. Cross cjheck the price of a Gates belt on Amazon.

A Gates 38274 belt tensioner is about $25 from the same place.

 

[MenoFalls Expy]

I agree with Serp belt replacement and as for the rough idle? Prepare yourself, it could get really expensive, My 2006 Expy just had similar symptoms and it ended up being a bad timing chain tensioner which is like a $20 part but it takes a lot of labor to get to it. Regardless, please let us know what you find out.

 

[Glenn B]

Well, here's what the mechanic says it needs:

Parking brake doesn't engage (may just need adjustment)
Right rear ABS sensor is out
Fuel driver
Camshaft A sensor
Serpentine belt
Tie rod
Sway bar

It also has loose ball joints.

Total repair is about $1200.

So, I suppose I could look at this two ways. I either bought a $3000 lemon, or I bought a $5000 used Expedition in two installments. Our budget was $6000, so we're still ahead at least.

Sigh.

Glenn

 

[theoldwizard1]

Well, here's what the mechanic says it needs:
.
.
.
Fuel (pump) driver (module)

I hope you really trust your mechanic ! I have NEVER heard of a case where the FPDM goes bad and the car would even start !!

New OEM FPDM should be about $150. Aftermarket, <$75.


I still say belts don't squeak, pulleys do !!

 

[Habbibie]

Bring it to a mechanic who works mostly on Expeditions or F 150's. Most likely a camshaft variable timing problem.

I'm leaning towards this also, however they won't be able to confirm anything till they remove the valve covers