Ordeal December 29, 2006
Nothing much to post lately ’cause my project did what they are prone to do — turned into a disaster. The symptoms all pointed towards a timing issue, but the guys at Apex swore that it couldn’t be anything mechanical. We replaced the injectors, sparkplugs, ECU, even got a re-tune at Japtrix. Wasted a whole lot of time and money.
Then one morning on the way to work the engine just stopped. ECU reported a “CAM position sensor” error. Replaced the sensor, broke out the multimeter to verify all the related wiring, and then had the car towed to Japtrix. Turns out it was a timing problem caused by some sort of defect with the aftermarket cams which eventually lead to a catastrophic timing belt failure. Valve job, roughly $2,000.
The car should finally be ready next week, with the stock cams and a fresh tune. I can hardly wait for this whole thing to finally be done. The lesson learned is to never upgrade a car beyond what can be done in your own driveway. With all the money wasted on replacing parts that weren’t broken, towing, repairs, and car rentals I probably would have come out ahead by trading the car in for an ‘06 model with the 2.5L, skipping the cams, and doing everything else in my driveway.
