My Check Eng light just came on, according to Autozone, two messages: Camshaft Position sensor, and something about the coolant level.
Are these things I can do mysel?
I have searched the web and found the CP sensor, but I cannot see where it goes under the hood. ??? Looks like it's a pricey part....Yikes, I am on a tight budget right now...
On the other matter, I noticed that when I shut off the car the fan motor runs, and it hasn't done that before. The guy at Autozone said he thinks I may have air in the system, my overflow reservoir is full. I don't see any other place to add. I thought I was going to open the cap on the radiator, but I don't see one.
My car has 131,000 miles, I haven't been faithful about the service other than oil, of course. I have timing belt in the back of my mind and I am geting nervous. This economy has me in a bind and I cannot afford to spend much but I cannot afford a replacement car and I plan to hang on to this car for quite a while so I know I gotta maintain it.
Can anyone tell me how much each of these things costs, how urgent they are, and if I can tackle any of them myself. Thanks, any help will be appreciated.....T

 

The worst thing a faulty CPS can do is to stop the engine by not generating signals to the ECU. This disables the ignition system to produce spark. If you have not experienced engine stall/no-start conditions, you may be able to defer the repair but I would still have it done asap. See attached for the location but note that this is from the 850 manual. If you plan to keep your car for more than 2 years, do not try to cheap out on non-OEM parts; you would be sorry.

>On the other matter, I noticed that when I shut off the car the fan >motor runs, and it hasn't done that before. The guy at Autozone said he >thinks I may have air in the system, my overflow reservoir is full.

Negative. The cooling fan may stay running even after the engine has been shut down if the coolant temp is high enough.

>I don't see any other place to add. I thought I was going to open the >cap on the radiator, but I don't see one.

The reservoir sits at the highest point in the cooling system and there is no radiator cap on the radiator itself. The reservoir cap is the only one you have and you add coolant from there. This "closed" system eliminates the need for additional bleed port and air is automatically bled in the reservoir. If the coolant is reaching the top of the reservoir, the system may be overfilled and you may want to drain some coolant. I keep the level between MAX and MIN. If I fill it up to MAX mark, the coolant overflows but others do not seem to have this trouble.

I hope this is of some use.


JPN

 

What if the hose from the reservoir to the radiator snapped off at the radiator nipple. Would adding antifreeze at the reservoir tank allow the air now in the radiator to escape?

 

If you added some when the car was started it would pump it out from where the nipple broke off.