no tach signal, hard start

nightcoupe

Registered User
A few weeks ago I got an engine light, rough running and no tach signal. I noticed in the manual that the DIS runs the tach. I bought an autozone DIS and swapped it out. No change. I decided to punt and take to my favorite shop. Well they were so good, just having it set in their parking lot for a few hours fixed it.
They did pull two codeds but I have forgotten what they were. It ran like a top for 2 months, but now its doing it again.

It acts as if either fuel or spark is way off when you try to start. It cranks fine but takes some doing to get it to fire up. Will probably get codes later today.

Any ideas....?
 
Check to see if the upshift indicator (a yellow arrow) on the instrument panel remains illuminated while you are trying to crank the car. If it does, you have a failing crank sensor. If not, this could be a problem with the Cam Sensor. (Generally, it is one of the evil three: DIS, Crank Sensor, or Cam Sensor......)
 
Replace the cam sensor. The symptoms you describe are the same as what I and others have experienced. I am so sure of this that when I had just 1 single and very brief incident like this last summer, I immediately replaced the cam sensor and did not wait for it to happen again or give it the chance to fail completely.

However, if you do decide to wait, what you can expect is the car to suddenly start bucking (it becomes undriveable) while driving around and then the idle/tach will waver up/down/up/down. If you shut down and restart, the problem will usually go away, that is until it happens again.

Good luck.. and as Larry says, keep an eye on that crank sensor.. it'll also will go at some point.
 
I'm sold on the cam sensor idea. It sounds like its easy to replace. Any advice on which parts store has the best one.
 
I don't think it matters. I think they're all Borg Warner anyway. Also, Autozone didn't carry them last time I checked. I got mine from Orielly's. Napa also carries them.

They run around $30 and take about 10-15 minutes to install, unless of course you have the original sensor and need to slot/drill out the tamper resistant Torx screw.
 
Isn't it technically only the top portion of the cam sensor that would need to be replaced? Before my father threw out the spare one I had I took the top apart, and all the bottom half is made up of is the "distrubutor" shaft and the half moon metal piece that actually triggers the sensor on the top half. So if the sensor was going bad, wouldn't it just be the top piece that's going bad?

I'll bet they don't sell that piece seperately though...

-Chris
 
I got one from Autozone. Its a funny thing, that repair shop's parking lot fixed my car again. They called, said, "hey this thing is running great now". I picked up a cam sensor and put it in anyway.

It seems to idle more consistant now like it knows better what to do. Hopefully the reoccuring tach/start problem is gone too. Thanks for the help.
 
Hopefully, you paid less than I did for the fix. It took Ford 3 tries, 1 EEC, 1 DIS, and finally a cam sensor to fix the problem. In return, I got an $800 repair bill. This was about 5 years ago.

3 years ago, I discovered SCCOA, and haven't had to take the car in for anything.. every problem fix since then has been a DIY fix. Were it not for the information here, I probably would have sold the car as the cost of repairs would have gotten way out of hand.
SCCOA is probably (actually not probably... it IS) the reason I still have, what I consider to be, an SC thats in great condition :eek:

Everyone who visits here should consider just how much they've come away with, and when it comes time to support the club with $$, give and give geneously. In my case, I can probably say that this place has saved me $1000s.. If that sounds like an exaggeration, go back and reread paragraph 1 of this post. $30 compared with $800. That's just 1 item.
 
I agree with TbirdSCFan, If it were not for the good people at the SCCoA, the TBSCEC, and the TCCoA, there is no way I could have kept my car on the road as a daily driver for over 10-yrs. I have learned so much about this car and saved so much money buying parts and doing the work myself. I just hope that 10-yrs from now there will still be some of us hanging on to these birds and giving the finger to those ricers..........
 
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