Looking for a little 214 Code Guidance

[jayro]

Okay, so my 94 mtx started showing intermittent signs of a failing Cam sensor and was throwing code 214. I went a head and replaced the Cam sensor, but the issue continued. So far I have done the following:

1. Replaced the Cam sensor twice, just incase it was bad out of the box.
2. Swapped DIS modules
3. Swapped coil packs
4. swapped ECU's
5. Changed plugs/wires
6. Cleaned the mating surfaces on the cross over tube.

The problem is still there. So I did some more searching and this is my plan:
1. Unplug my Cam sensor and drive the car. If it runs fine then the issue has been isolated to the Cam sensor or its wiring.
2. If #1 does not eliminate the issue then I need to look at the DIS and its grounds. The main ground path appears to be through the bolts on the crossover tube and then through the ground strap that attaches to the rear passenger side intake bracket and the firewall. Are there any other grounds to check for this?
3. Make sure the ECU is grounded well. I believe the ECU ground runs from the harness to the passenger side fender by the power steering resivour and then to the negative battery terminal. Am I correct?
4. If this doesn't render any results then the issue would have to be somewhere in the wiring harness (hoping it isn't this).

Is there a place to add a larger ground wire that could take the a grounding issue out of the picture?

Are there any other components that could be causing this issue? If so, how would I go about testing them?

Thanks for the help.......my brain is a little fried right now.

 

[Fordlover96]

Are your cam seals leaking?

 

[rubydist]

a cam sensor fault is not the typical symptom of a lack of pcm grounding, so I don't think that will solve your problem.

you didn't say what the symptoms are, except for the code. what goes with the code?

I expect your problem is either the connector on the cam sensor, or the wiring between the cam sensor and the pcm. I have seen SHOs with wire harnesses that had open circuits buried in the midst of the harness. I don't know how it came to be, because the cars had the problem when I acquired them, but I do know it happened. In the two instances I had, the easiest thing for me to do was just run a new wire to replace the one that had the open circuit.

 

[jayro]

Are your cam seals leaking?

no

a cam sensor fault is not the typical symptom of a lack of pcm grounding, so I don't think that will solve your problem.

you didn't say what the symptoms are, except for the code. what goes with the code?

I expect your problem is either the connector on the cam sensor, or the wiring between the cam sensor and the pcm. I have seen SHOs with wire harnesses that had open circuits buried in the midst of the harness. I don't know how it came to be, because the cars had the problem when I acquired them, but I do know it happened. In the two instances I had, the easiest thing for me to do was just run a new wire to replace the one that had the open circuit.

Symptoms are as follows:

Started out with a slight miss under load. It would slightly buck for a second and then clear up and run fine. It progressively got worse and worse where the car would start bucking and would only clear up intermittently. No weird Tach issues. Car starts fine and will usually idle fine for a period of time. After about 5-10 minutes of idling it will start running rough and throw the 214 code. If I hold it at a higher RPM (around 3500-4000) every few seconds yo can hear the miss.

It is still intermittent, just a lot for frequent. After messing with it yesterday I went for a 30-35 minute drive. It would run great for about 15 minutes and then would start missing. The miss would get progressively worse.

So if I pull the Can sensor plug and it runs fine then it would have to be in the Cam sensor wiring circuit (since I have replaces the sensor twice with no change in behavior), correct? If this is the case, did you just splice into the the wires at the ECU harness and then again at the Cam sensor plug?

Would a bad DIS ground cause the 214 code as well?