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Code 41 Saga continues.....

Today one of the goodwrenches let me borrow a donor Ign Module to try. The car hesitated for a few minutes after I installed it but then it settled down. Went for a 20 mile ride, including some highway. Took the car up to 85-90, it seemed to take it alright. The car seems to run better with the donor Ign module.

Went back to Chevy at 11am, told the goodwrench my tale. He said to keep the Ign Module for the weekend. Next he hooked up his Snap On scanner but could not clear the code 41. Disconnected the battery but 5 seconds after the car was started the SES light came back on. His scanner said something about no reference signal from the cam shaft sensor.

I have an Ign Module ( $177 ) & gasket on order, but before I buy it a suggestion was made to swap out the ECM first. I got a new ECM back in March & its got a 1 year warranty.

That Ign Module hold down nut backed up agains't the negative lead cable was a pain to unscrew.

More next week.

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE 3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey _~_~_~280,596 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~

89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible 78 Holiday 88 coupe 68 LeSabre convertible 73 Impala sedan
Reply to
Harry Face
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First I want to say that this is a very common problem for the Vin C 3800 V6 engine.... And its usually not the Cam sensor or the module.. More than not the Interupter or Cam Magnet thats sandwhiched between the cam gear and the balance shaft gear will jump out of the cam sprocket and stick to the engine block causing a loss of cam signal or code 41.. What you will need to do is remove the Cam sensor, and you will need to remove the water pump pulley to do so... Once you have the water pump pulley and cam sensor removed you will need a small mirror and a flashlight.. You will want to have a good ratchet so you can slowly turn the engine untill you see the cam magnet(interrupter) or the plastic tab that is should be in... If you see a hole there and no magnet, you've found your problem...

I'm not totally sure if they allow this here, but I'll tell you to join Bonnevilleclub.com as we can most likely be of some help for you..

The only reason I know about this issue is that it has happened to several of our members, including my 91 LE..

Good Luck..:)

Reply to
Jr3800

First I want to say that this is a very common problem for the Vin C 3800 V6 engine.... And its usually not the Cam sensor or the module.. More than not the Interupter or Cam Magnet thats sandwhiched between the cam gear and the balance shaft gear will jump out of the cam sprocket and stick to the engine block causing a loss of cam signal or code 41.. What you will need to do is remove the Cam sensor, and you will need to remove the water pump pulley to do so... Once you have the water pump pulley and cam sensor removed you will need a small mirror and a flashlight.. You will want to have a good ratchet so you can slowly turn the engine untill you see the cam magnet(interrupter) or the plastic tab that is should be in... If you see a hole there and no magnet, you've found your problem...

I'm not totally sure if they allow this here, but I'll tell you to join Bonnevilleclub.com as we can most likely be of some help for you..

The only reason I know about this issue is that it has happened to several of our members, including my 91 LE..

Good Luck..:)

Reply to
Jr3800

This is a common problem on the 88-91 Vin C 3800 used in the bonnevilles... Among other GM makes.. You will want to check and see if the Cam magnet(interrupter) is still in the cam sproket... Over time the plastic that holds the magnet will tend to degrade and the cam magnet will jump out and stick to the engine block causing a loss of cam signal or code

41... You will need to remove the Water pump pulley and the cam sensor, get a good mirror and flashlight, turn the engine over slowly by hand, untill you get to the spot where the cam magnet should reside... If its not there than you have found your problem... Its rare that the cam magnet fails on a 3800, Not saying it never happens, just very rare... And chances are that the Module was ok... You also have a 1 in 6 chance that the car will start and run poorly... Other times it will run ok... Without the cam position the will run, performance will be down a bit as the car will be running in default mode..

Drop By Bonnevilleclub.com sometime and we may be able to help you more.. Always nice to see an oldschool bonnie still running well after the

200,000 mile mark..

We have had several members with this exact problem, including myself as I have a 91 LE that threw the Magnet at 85,000 miles...

Good Luck

Reply to
Jr3800

JR,

As I posted last week under a different subject line I removed the cam sensor to inspect the magnet and everthing looked fine as far as I could tell. I used the mirror & flashlight but did not need to remove the water pump pulley.

Tonight the car run terrible when I went out.

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE 3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey _~_~_~280,596 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~

89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible 78 Holiday 88 coupe 68 LeSabre convertible 73 Impala sedan
Reply to
Harry Face

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