Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hi all., Maybe someone could help me out as im a bit stuck! story is, i bought my cavalier about 3 months ago, was never fussed on ecotecs but this one looked the part and was quick. when i bought it the engine management light was on and the bloke told me it was the lambda sensor in the front pipe as he had changed it to a stainless steel system. so i decided to do the paperclip test to make sure, but it flashed fault code 19 which was the crankshaft sensor, and was the only code, so bought a brand new genuine one from vauxhall and fitted it. the car wouldnt start at all with it connected, it just turned over and over. but when i disconnected it the car fired up after a few turns! i have disconnected the battery all day and night but it still does the same thing and have checked all wiring which seems fine.

Maybe someone has experienced this before.

any help is much appreciated, thankyou

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I had an ecotec a while ago which had an issue with the cam sensor plug wiring.It had got all oily and the terminals inside the plug were loose.This caused it to put the eml on occasionally and go into limp home,different to your symptoms I know,but worth checking? I soaked it in some brake cleaner,squeezed up the terminals and silicon sealed it under the boot.
Have read on other forums that a loose cam belt can cause problems as the cam and crank sensors are out of sync?

have you put the old one back in and tried to start it

branny361 wrote:have you put the old one back in and tried to start it

Yes have put the old one back in and it starts, as id imagine because the wiring going to it is in tatters! looks like its been in the car since it first came out of the factory!

iancav6 wrote:Hi and welcome to the forum.

I had an ecotec a while ago which had an issue with the cam sensor plug wiring.It had got all oily and the terminals inside the plug were loose.This caused it to put the eml on occasionally and go into limp home,different to your symptoms I know,but worth checking? I soaked it in some brake cleaner,squeezed up the terminals and silicon sealed it under the boot.
Have read on other forums that a loose cam belt can cause problems as the cam and crank sensors are out of sync?

Will check the wiring again at the plug and cheeck the cam belt too. thanks. will keep you posted

Are you sure they sold you the right one?

planetc wrote:Are you sure they sold you the right one?

Yes, have checked that out too. All numbers match and it is a genuine siemens part! is there a chance it could be faulty?

car shouldnt really start with it disconnected, but depending on the ecu, if the car isnt running it will bring up the crank sensor as a fault.

Sounds like its not seated correctly in the hole, check the 2 and compare the heights of the flange to the end of sensor to see if the reach is the same, also check the o-ring isnt twisted or one stuck in the hole.

Gaz wrote:car shouldnt really start with it disconnected, but depending on the ecu, if the car isnt running it will bring up the crank sensor as a fault.

Sounds like its not seated correctly in the hole, check the 2 and compare the heights of the flange to the end of sensor to see if the reach is the same, also check the o-ring isnt twisted or one stuck in the hole.

You were right gaz, it just wasnt seated quite right. but have it sorted now, and no more engine manaement light. Thanks gaz, and a big thankyou to everyone for the suggestions and help.

well done, good to hear you got it sorted

hey steve all ye need now is this stainless 4 branch on her