I was ordering a new right hand side cam sensor for my not so new but new to me 2003 G35.

I keep hearing that one of the main reasons for failure is oil in the sensor causing it to short or the solder joint to seperate.

I can buy into that theory. The chain of events seems to line up. Oil or coolant seeping down the wire insulation and eventually softening the seals on the camshaft pigtail and seeping in and onto the sensor's Pin. High compression engine puts out a lot of crankcase vapors. Ends up everywhere. Or the oil which is in Coolant which a bleeder valve is located right above my failed cam sensor.

Maybe I'm underthinking this, but I propose a solution.

Now has anyone tried simply lengthening the wires and routing them straight down past the sensor, then straight back up to the plug? Use a zip tie to keep the wires below the sensor plug. So it would wick any fluids down, kinda like a water trap on an air compressor. So far I've noticed this car is full of fun electrical adventures, and most of it has seemed to have a very simple fix's for each of them.

 

Maybe? Kind of like the loop that the cable and electrical folks put in an overhead service drop just before the line reaches the weatherhead. Rain water running down the line then drips off before it hits the weatherhead.

 

There is a lot of what seems like heat damage to things as well around sensors and hoses and cables and wires. I was replacing the gasket that goes into the oil cooler. While there, I noticed the wiring to the sensor leading down to the oil pressure sensor was looking kinda sad, a little melted. That part of the harness is right next to the alternator and probably doesn't get much cooling air there. So I have begun wrapping all the wires in heat shielding, since I am seeing this in a few places. I wrapped my o2 sensors, starter wiring , etc. Figure it can't hurt.

Interesting idea on the wiring extension. These cars a little sensitive and delicate in some areas.

 

The plastic tip of the cam sensor is floating in oil inside the head, it's a 2-piece plastic cover over a coil winding. There they plasti-weld the seam of the two halves together inevitably cracks over time and oil seeps into the winding.

The HR engine sensors use thicker plastic to prevent the cracks from forming, the latest revision of the DE sensors use a metal cap over the top of the plastic so the oil doesn't even touch the plastic. The angle head sensor isn't usually the culprit so it's still the same plastic housing.

 

Thank you sir. That was very informative. This is the reason I made this post. So someone would teach me what they know about how they fail. I'm fascinated with the way things break. The chain of events that cause the catastrophe.

Also, my idea of the wire extensions is terrible. It would cause the cam sensor to return an incorrect reading to the ECM due to the additional resistance from the additional length of wire.