Duralast Cam Position Sensor w/ Story (-2)

OB · Post by OB » Tue Aug 30, 2011 8:34 pm

My Story:

So my gf gets home from work today and tells me her CEL came on and the car was driving strange and almost died. Being the well trained gf that she is, she also told me it threw a P0340, which immediately rang a bell for me. A quick visit here confirmed the code as being the same CPS code that we'd both had on our cars before, and both at around 30k miles. They both got Duralast replacements from Autozone, per recommendation from members here. (I originally wanted to go OEM but was told that the design hadn't been updated). At any rate, the Duralast unit lasted almost exactly as long as the OEM, if not a few thousand LESS. Very disappointing!

The Results:

-OEM CPS= 30k miles

-Duralast CPS = 30k miles

Can anyone recommend a different brand that's known to last MORE than 30k miles?

gtxtreme19 · Post by **gtxtreme19** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:44 am

For any component like that I personally opt for the bwd (borg Warner) brand, most of the chain stores carry them and they are made in the usa, as well as carrying a lifetime warranty. Its usually a bit more expensive but well worth it.

hybrid-Srt2001 · Post by **hybrid-Srt2001** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:33 am

gtxtreme19 wrote:For any component like that I personally opt for the bwd (borg Warner) brand, most of the chain stores carry them and they are made in the usa, as well as carrying a lifetime warranty. Its usually a bit more expensive but well worth it.

definately go with the borg warner part, iirc it comes with a lifetime warrenty, no questions asked...

i can get you pricing on it as well if you shoot me a text tomorrow.

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:01 am

On NGC cars, they are worked a lot harder. I have 172,000 on my '01 oem CPS.

The NGC cam magnets have more than twice as many pole switches IIRC. While there are no moving parts in the sensor, it still seems to fail more so on '03 up cars.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:52 pm

Very true, and a decent theory to go with it.

Had my parts guy get me one through Motorcraft, made by Standard. Gonna throw it in later on tonight.

andrewh530 · Post by **andrewh530** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:10 am

ob..i got oem...60k ago....i win.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:39 pm

Yep... Duralasts are junk. I put one in around 40k then again around 55k. Only because it has a lifetime warranty... not because I enjoy changing them.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:16 pm

Well what do you know, now MY car is throwing 0340 again, and I'm at 58k. Wow it's like clockwork. That's two autozone sensors failed on two diff cars in almost the exact same amount of mileage. I think it's safe to say they're junk and it's no coincidence. Back to the drawing board.

non-magnum · Post by **non-magnum** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 8:10 pm

I've got same prob, same code car runs like crap so just wanted to double check if its the cps that needs to be replaced, thanks
p.s. got duralast in mine also

OB · Post by OB » Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:11 pm

Yeah if you're getting any of the cam codes its almost guaranteed to be the sensor itself. After resetting my battery mine has been driving fine with no CEL or anything, but then again I only drive the car once a week or so. Sometimes they fail once and are good for weeks before a repeat, sometimes they fail and never work again until fixed.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:24 am

My Duralast (which is actually a Wells) died less than two days after installation. My BW has lasted far longer and is a much higher quality part.

Oh and my OEM CPS lasted 80k

FAC3L3SS · Post by **FAC3L3SS** » Sun Nov 20, 2011 8:46 pm

OEM w 181k. Replaced because I got this code. Duralast piece. Found out my belt was snapped so i havent actually run it yet

Post by **racer12306** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 9:11 am

Are Borg Warner's still the way to go?

My Wells appears to have died after 4 years/12000ish miles. It took 3 long cranks to finally get it to pop to life, then the CEL came up. Checked it to find P0340.

OB · Post by OB » Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:08 pm

Just to update, I finally replaced the failing Duralast with a Napa Echlen version last week. So far so good, but only time will tell (30k miles seems to be the magic number). Out of the two 05's we have, both have burned through two CPS each, and those have literally been the ONLY problems in over six years of owning the cars. Can't complain, I can swap these things in about 15 mins and they're less than $30. These cars are damn reliable.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 5:40 am

It's always a good idea to stick to OEM sensors as they are designed for our cars and personally I see too many aftermarket sensors fail prematurely at the dealership...just my fyi....

OB · Post by OB » Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:49 pm

If the OE sensor design was updated, I would. The way I see it, both my cars lost the OEM sensors in 30k or less miles, so putting the exact same ones in doesn't make much sense. Even if they're all the same, good for 30k, why buy the more expensive OE version when the aftermarket ones have the same lifespan for close to half the price? I'm just glad that the only revolving failure on these cars only costs me about $30 every 2 years. I've pretty much tossed them into the maintenance category at this point.