T5 cam sensor

[markgittins]

i recentley had to have my engine rebuilt on my 2.5 130bhp transporter. following this work the engine will not run with the cam sensor connected, however, apart from poor cold starting it sems to run fine without it. after being given the run around by my garage and VW i am now running it with the sensor disconnected until i can get to the bottom of whether its a mechinical or ecu problem. does anyone no if i could be doing damage to the engine running like this? seems to be burning ok as no smoke and @ 35 mpg.

[Flo]

hi mark,
there should be no problem running with a disconnected/faulty CAM sensor. as long as the engine starts...
that's because this sensor is only used during cranking, for engine synchronization. once the engine is started, the CAM sensor is no more used for running the engine, except for diagnosing some other sensors (engine speed sensor for example)
however, you'll have, as you mentioned, some problems on starting the engine.