Here's the backstory:
Yesterday, I drove down to southern MN to pick up a patio set. I was towing my 4x8 trailer with me and had no issues going down. It was a very warm and muggy day for MN on Thursday so the radiator fans were at full force throughout the drive. Any-who, I picked up my patio set, loaded up the trailer, and I was ready to drive back but there was one problem. My pathy wouldn't start. It would crank and crank and crank until finally I was able to turn it over and cautiously drive it home. I get it back home in one piece only to have the Check Engine Light, VDC Light, and Slip Light all come on at once. Now we have a problem
I took it to an auto shop today to have the OBD2 port scanned and it turned out I had a bad Camshaft Position Sensor on Bank 1 Passenger side. The code pulled was P0340 (if your drivers side sensor is bad or faulty, your engine code would be P0345).I picked up the new sensor for around $90 and decided to install it myself. Personally, I felt this would be easy until I saw where the sensor was located on the passenger side via a YouTube video. The passenger side sensor is buried in the back of the engine
To make matters worse, its right up against the firewall so there is little room for your hands to get back there and work. There are plenty of guides on how to change these out on youtube but if your sensor ever goes out, pray that its the drivers side and not the passenger side. In total, it took me about 25-30 minutes to remove and install due to the fact that the sensor wouldn't come out of the connector.
The connector has a tab on the bottom of the sensor that needs to be pushed in (towards the sensor) until you hear a click. that disengages the sensor from the plug but the sensor may still be stubborn and won't want to come out. pliers helped me out big time! The sensor is also covered in oil when you pull it out of it's hole so it makes for a slippery time trying to free it from the connector. There is also a 10mm Bolt that will need to be removed on the sensor. The bolt holds the sensor sung to the engine block. I used a 10mm wrench for that as I felt it was easier to hold than a ratchet due to the tight space. Installation of the new sensor is reversed. Make sure when seating the sensor/s that the O ring on the sensor is pushed fully into place. You'll feel/hear a pop once they've fully seated in the hole.
