What you should do first are the low-to-no cost tips. May or may not help, but you won't be out anything.

Take the coils off, and clean any corrosion that would be between the ICM and the coils. Coat the terminals with dilectric grease, and reassemble. Do the same withthe ICM plate itself, where the harness plugs into it. Now, I am not sure if the ICM also grounds through the mount that it is on, but it would not hurt to clean that up either since you are that far into it.

Check your grounding point underneath the ICM. That is where your cam, crank, and ICM grounds are. Make sure all that is clean and tight. And throughout the cleaning process, check for any wires that may have rubbed or melted insulation.

While the above may not help, it certainly will not hurt.

alrighty... the never ending problem

I finnaly found a tech 2 scanner, and got it scanned, and it pulled the same code: 0042, which said it is a "Ignition Control Bypass" Anyone know what that means?

sandrock: what is the ICM? (pretty much a newb when it comes to engine part names and such)

I was talking to a friends dad, before i pulled the code, and he said it sounds like a mass air flow sensor. Could that be the culprit?

Thanks!

Reading above.. and you asking about about what it could be..I found this.

[quote="willwren"The most common failure is a cam or crank sensor. However, it could be:

cam sensor
crank sensor
damage to the interruptor rings on the HB
ICM
associated wiring
PCM

It CANNOT be the coils. It'* absolutely impossible.[/quote]

The pcm will see a problem when either the crank or cam sensor is bad. Driverjohn had quite the go around with this code. Search on his posts for some possible answers/tests that he did to determine the root cause.

Ok so i should replace the crank and/or cam sensor? By looking at Driverjohn'* post about the cam/crank sensor, it looks to be a little more advanced in fixing than i am capable of.

Which would be the best culprit to fix first? The Cam or Crank Sensor?
I know DriverJohn replaced the cam sensor and it worked so is that what i should do?


Again Thanks for all the help guys, i really appreciate it!

I would start with free. Remove the cam sensor and check for the magnet. Once you verify the magnet is in place..then consider the sensor.

ok, what am i looking for with the magnet? If its there? If its dirty? And if i find out the magnet is fine, what would be next? The cam sensor? Then the crank sensor?

i am in the process of getting the AllData info for my bonneville, so hopefully it will be in there how to get to the sensors/magnet...
Its not to hard is it? I hope not...

To check the magnet. You remove the cam sensor. The sensor is located down and to the left of the waterpump, if you are standing on the passenger side facing the water pump. Not the easiest of things to see. Once the sensor is out.. have someone slowly turn the motor by the HB bolt. You meanwhile look in the hole from the cam sensor for the magnet in the cam gear.

Assuming the magnet is there (this is good) you consider swapping out either the cam sensor or crank sensor.

Ok... is it just kinda going to be roulette here? Buy one if it doesn't fix the problem buy the other? Or just buy both and replace both to begin with?


Sorry about being a pest, but thats what you get with mechanic noobs
i really do appreciate the help

What was your impression on reading up the searches of DJ and other'* experiences with that code?

Did it see as though there was a good test to determine one or the other?

You may be a mechanical noob..you aren't a forum noob though. Since I don't have that year or code, I'm going to suggest you spend more time researching and reading to save yourself money and time. That way you'll know what to look for, how to do it and what expected results you should have.