In June, I got check engine light. Car started running terribly and would start and immediately shut down, or start and rev oddly then run fine. The code was for the camshaft position sensor. Easy enough, I replaced it, and the problem went away and it ran nicely. Two months later, symptoms return, engine light comes back on. Ok, so I check the codes, same code for the cam sensor. So I get another one, replace it, no change. I get ANOTHER sensor just to be double sure (although it's just a glorified magnet so what really could go wrong...) and nothing changed. It begins to run worse and worse and eventually could not be driven, and it just wouldn't start.
Another thing this car has going for it is an oil burning issue. Admittedly, the oil level has gotten very low at times. So we have this thing towed to a mechanic who calls me and tells me it's the timing chain. As it turns out, the timing chain tensioners are activated by oil pressure. Every time we start it in the mornings especially it has this crazy rattling sound we never thought much of. Tunrs out that was the timing chain slapping around. Well eventually it got so worn that one of the sprockets jumped a couple teeth, throwing the timing between the cams and the crank off, hence the camshaft code. And hence the metallic goo on the cam sensor.
So pops and I break the engine down a bit, find out that the mechanic was right, get the timing lined up correctly, replace the two chains, exhaust cam sprocket and crank sprocket and oil pump sprocket and the tensioners. We didn't replace the intake cam sprocket because it's a whopping $418 and does something with the variable intake valve timing. So we let it alone. So we double, triple and quadruple checked that every mark lined up with the proper links in the timing chain. We put it all back together with new gaskets and plugs. The bloody thing will not start. It cranks and cranks and wants to catch, but it doesn't. It almost starts. We are at a loss, we double checked that we hooked all the plugs and injectors up properly. We cannot think of anything we may have overlooked.
I'm soliciting your help desperately. What could it be? Something unrelated? Something we needed to do but didn't? I appreciate any suggestions you may have, even simple ones. We must be missing something or by some freakish coincidence there is another problem. I'm happy to provide any other details. Thanks in advance for the help.
