Here we go again...

[AG-M35]

2006 M35 2WD 121,400 miles....

You may remember I had the alternator go out 3-4 weeks ago...

Last evening during a short hop around the area, was turning into a drive in food place and the engine quit. I had the A/C running, the headlights and radio on..... No warning lights when this occurred and nothing amiss when I left a venue 15 minutes earlier. At the time, I was rolling thru a shopping area abt 5 mph and as soon as the right tire went over the drive-in lane sill, it died. The car is so quiet, you don't realize this right away and this episode had the same effect as when the alternator went out. Pressed the accelerator to move and no response from the engine

I immediately hit the brake to not roll backward into traffic and after a few seconds of surprise recovery, hit the start button. It started right up, but was a bit odd for a few minutes. It wanted to idle around 1300-1500 rpm and surged once or twice in the drive thru lane, which made me keep my left foot on the brake. After a minute or two, It settled down and was normal from that point on. I got home 15 minutes later.

This morning, started up and acted normally and it was pulled into the garage, left run for a few minutes and shut down.

I put a code reader on it and came out of this with a P0340 cam position sensor, bank 1. So, this is was one of the connectors pulled off last year for the valve cover job. On reassembly, all the connectors were given a dab of electrlytic grease to enhance the connection. I purchased OEM sensors when the valve cover job was at hand but did not install them to avoid inserting another point of confusion if something went awry with that job.

up til now, I haven't taken the car out again and once the code was cleared, restarting a few times would not make it come back.

So what would be the plan here? Just let it ride and see what comes? Looking at the FAQ here regarding that code, someone mentioned assuring the oil level being ok (?) and mine is.

[VStar650CL]

P0340 is a flatline code, meaning the CMP dropped out completely for at least a revolution or two. You rarely see it from oil problems, and when you do it's usually accompanied by P0011/P0021 or some other IVT/EVT code. I'd do a careful check on the connector and local wires for pin-fit and resistance, and if it looks okay, try your new sensor. I'd suggest swapping them and seeing if the code moves, but they're different parts on the older VQ's so that's a no-go. Your symptoms are pretty typical of a dying Hall sensor, though. Half the time they don't even throw codes, but stalling in the middle of the paragraph and then acting like nothing happened is entirely par for the course.

[AG-M35]

Thanks again.

[VStar650CL]

[AG-M35]

So the deed is done..... at least the passenger side is in. This was not a mere exercise as I thought. With the Plenum on, it's a bit of a stretch and precautions have to be made in case the bolt drops working in the restricted space// I loosened the vacuum line assembly above the sensor and wired it out of the way. Maneuvered some paper towels below the bolt to catch it if necessary / Had to tape together two wrenches to get enough leverage to break the sensor bolt loose and start backing it out. Once clear of threads, grabbed it with two fingers and removed it. The sensor had to be coaxed out of the head and almost broke the connector housing in doing that ( lesson learned) /once free, the connector was easily removed, the new sensor greased up, plugged in and reset in the hole. The sensor bolt hole was aligned with the help of an "L" shaped piece of wire. In and tightened / Took about an hour, once things were straight in my mind / Car started fine... Will work on the drivers side sensor after the holiday...