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ohiofarmer

Changing out Crank position sensor on a 1994 1500 Dodge Pickup

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ohiofarmer

This truck has a gremlin in the system and after getting warmed up suddenly the spark shuts down. I have verified that it is definitely is the spark by having a timing light hooked up. I have googled , specifically asking for pictures of the thing, but I cannot be sure of the results that vary so much.

 

 It is located on the bell housing and you can only see one mounting bolt, but cannot even be sure of that. It may be one of those repairs that you have to feel your way in to remove the bolts that hold the little bugger in there.This is just one of these repairs that all the U-tubers promise to show you how to do and where it is located and never get it done. Just maddening.

 

 So--- I have it removed, and it is still maddening, but maybe this will help someone.  After losing skin and time and patience, I figured that the front fender must come off. First the fender liner, then about 20 bolts or so, and there is still one bolt behind the headlight that I left in. i was able to swing the rear of the fender out from the plane of the body and get my hand in over the top of the frame and on top of the bell housing.  Never did I see the mounting bolts of the sensor, but one of them was so close to another bump that the ONLY way to remove it was an open end wrench. I had to bash the heat shield back a bit so I could get my massive Popeye forearm in there and swing that little wrench left handed. In case anyone has to find this thing, it is right on top and close to the front "rim" of the transmission. and between the fill pipe and the fill pipe mounting bracket and is removed with a 13MM wrench Now that you know how, it should take about an hour.

 

 Tips.... First remove the front tire and jack up the frame on the passenger side. Swing the fender out about 6" and support it with a 4 to 5 foot 2x4 to hold it up. Now you have room to sit on a chair right under the wheel well and wrench away.. Once the part comes free, you will still have to take a bar and pry the transmission fill tube a little bit to get it out. The fill tube and its support bracket are what makes it so hard to see and get a wrench on there. Leave the old part hooked up to the wire Harness and remove it when your new part comes in. Otherwise, you may never find the rubber plug it hooks to. If any of you guys have a 1994 Dodge 1500 with a 5.9 V-8 , bookmark this as it could save a lot of time

 

 You just gotta love the engineer who thought that locating this thing there was a good idea. 

 

 

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smoreau

Done a lot of them, not fun at all.  Did you get a EOM one or aftermarket. Found the EOM ones are cheaper then the aftermarket ones. Also found bad coils that test good for these to drive you nuts also. I do feel your pain on the crank sensor though. 

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ohiofarmer

 I got a Delphi from Rockauto for $53.00 shipped.  Probably screwed up because Autozone had lifetime warranty for that price and their brand.. So you go to Mopar dealer for the OEM? No way to test this thing anyway as it works for a while and then the spark drops out leaving you stranded for at least an hour

Edited by ohiofarmer
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squonk

Another common bug-a boo on the V-6 and V-8's of that era Dodge is the distributor pick up coil. Of course Dodge in it's infinite wisdom hung a firewall /cowl overhang right above the distributor. I was fortunate never having the job to replace it. but the guy in the next bay over had to do them and there were some tools flying. I don't recall what he had to do to get the thing out.

 

And people ask me why I don't work on cars anymore! :rolleyes:

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ACman

AutoZone parts have there place but this is definitely not one of them :twocents-02cents: . Lifetime warranty yes but when you end up replacing it every year it's not worth it. After three heatercores in a 95 S-10 (you have to pretty much remove the dash) and countless fuel pumps (finally ended up cutting a access hole in the bed) never again will I use a AutoZone part for those hard to get at parts. Fuel pumps I just use OEM , though my son just bought a Delphi one and was glad to see it was made in the USA . 

 

 

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ohiofarmer
17 hours ago, ACman said:

AutoZone parts have there place but this is definitely not one of them :twocents-02cents: . Lifetime warranty yes but when you end up replacing it every year it's not worth it. After three heatercores in a 95 S-10 (you have to pretty much remove the dash) and countless fuel pumps (finally ended up cutting a access hole in the bed) never again will I use a AutoZone part for those hard to get at parts. Fuel pumps I just use OEM , though my son just bought a Delphi one and was glad to see it was made in the

 

 Delphi was spun off of the GM supplier Delco Remy. General motors did this to seperate the guaranteed benefits packages from their union employees, but the salaried guys like my buddy who was an engineer took the worst hit. It was also told to me that Delphi was the supplier to Mopar for this part. I probably should have bought from a dodge dealer, but none were really that close. A Dodge dealer would have shown me a picture of where that part went, and that would be a big help.

 

So anyway, you can be pretty sure that the manufacturing process of Delphi comes from the USA even if the factory is somewhere else.

 

Looking back on the difficult access was also the fact that the truck has had the exhaust replaced and maybe that contributes to the problem of access.  I still think that partial fender removal is the way to go on this repair because I would think that sitting in a chair is much preferred to laying on a cold hard floor. I am way too old for that.

 

Also, i already replaced the pick up coil in the "distributor" housing, but this repair was even worse than that.. i will let you know if this repair fixes the problem once that part comes in.

 

Edited by ohiofarmer
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ACman

I have a friend who works for a German owned company based near Detroit . They design and supply parts for the big three and others. While speaking with here , she was telling me of how that many of their parts are the same part with a different part # for each car manufacturer . As an example she mentioned some transmission parts for a GM and Chrysler. They were out of the Chrysler parts and they needed some asap . She took it upon herself and sent them the GM parts they had to get them by until they made a new run with the Chrysler packaging .

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ohiofarmer

Well, it starts and runs! I had to cut off a wrench shorter in able to re-attach one of the bolts. I also found a loose bolt holding on a small GROUND WIRE. Just absolute dumb luck that I found that bolt and wire. Now I need to top up all the fluids and oil and idle it in the driveway until it gets warm for at least a half hour before taking it out on the road. I could get it about 6-10 miles from the house before it quit running  the last time it ran.

  

 

  When I got back in the house i told my lovely wife----http://tarylfixesall.bigcartel.com/product/taryl-fixes-all-there-s-your-dinner-coffee-mug  

 [the saying on that cup means that things are fixed, if you are the last person on Earth to hear about it]

 

 

 --And There's your Dinner!!

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WHX??

My Cuz had one go bad and we changed it out the real easy way Farmer. Found a guy who changed on or three of them out in his day and gave him a Grant to do it. He brought less than a handful of tools and in less than an hour we were having a cold one with him. He was really good and did it all by just feel. Seems this was an issue for the Dodges & his did the same thing.... quit after a few miles but then would start. Pulled our hair out trying to figure it out till we :text-google:it .:)

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ohiofarmer

 Well, this did not fix the problem. The truck will start and run for a time, but about five minutes later, the spark drops out and it stops running. I use a timing light as a spark tester because it is really easy and accurate. The truck will miss the spark erratically [running rough] and then shut down about a minute later. It has both a new coil and Crank position sensor, so the throttle position or the computer itself may be the problem. The TPS can be tested, but if you slip and hit the wrong wire, the computer is toast, so maybe just change out one more $35 part. There are a few low risk tests you can do to verify power and ground to the coil, and those are worth doing first. Since the body of the coil grounds to the engine, i am thinking about running a copper ground wire to the coil body just to make sure it is grounded well as I do not trust old paint and grease.

 

At this point, i am not sure that a TPS can cause a communication with the computer which can tell the computer to shut down the spark. I will keep on looking around and maybe come up with an answer..

 

 I believe that mine may have been worse than most because of a replaced exhaust from the headers back. Really no way to get in there except through the side of the wheel well taking out the fender liner and swinging the rear of the loose fender out about 4 inches. Sitting in a chair beats laying on the ground also

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ericj

I solved this problem by buying a 93 with no spark plugs lol  :hide:

 

 

 

 

eric j

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