1mo ago

I replaced the Crankshaft Position Sensor on my roommate's vehicle the other day. Old part on the bottom, new part on top (now installed, obviously).

Somehow it's been running (but roughly) for the past 2+ years or so, with all three wires to the CKPS missing molten/dryrotted insulation and intermittently shorting out.

I really don't know how his vehicle ran as long as it did with such a faulty part, like that's the sensor that tells the spark plugs when to fire and the fuel injectors when to spray..

Now it's running pretty smooth again, still a couple minor hiccups here and there, but nothing like it was.

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Addendum: This situation should have triggered OBD code P0335 and/or code P0336, but it never did. I had to go on a hunch and past information on the vehicle, like what's the only remaining ignition related part that hadn't already been replaced twice.
P0335/336 are the codes that should register if there's bad voltage levels detected from the CKPS...
difficulty 1-5?
I think camshaft positions sensor is why I hate my truck.
- Initial difficulty was basically a 4 on my scale of 1 to 5.
  I mean the part itself was fairly easy to access (not super easy, but not stupid difficult either, it's mounted right above the starter on this model).
  No no no, that's not what made it difficult, what made it difficult was that the computer never registered the relevant codes P0335/P0336, which would indicate voltage issues to the CKPS.
  Check my other Addendum comment for more info.
  
  Just like most things in mechanics. It's almost always some bullshit you weren't prepared for or didn't even know was a thing and the hours tick away. But every time after that only takes a few minutes after some quick disassembly then reassembly.
  My first oil and filter change took over an hour. But it's normally a 0.5/5 difficulty, 10 min job including the time waiting for oil to finish draining.
  
  Just like most things in mechanics. It’s almost always some bullshit you weren’t prepared for or didn’t even know was a thing and the hours tick away. But every time after that only takes a few minutes after some quick disassembly then reassembly.
  I keep getting P0420's and I think the issue is actually with the engine.
- Really depends on the vehicle. Some are stupid easy others are buried beyond belief
I swapped one of these on an old Kia once. Dealer wanted over a hundred for the part, but I was able to get an OEM part on ebay straight from South Korea for less than twenty bucks shipped. IIRC, the hardest part was disconnecting the wiring harness on the old one. Like yours, it took a while to figure out what was wrong with the car, as it didn't throw the expected code right away. It just suddenly started running poorly. I think it's mostly for optimisation, and the basic timing works well enough from physical position, else my interference engine likely would have blown itself up at some point.
- Yes indeed! Ours is a 2005 Hyundai Tucson, 6 cylinder 2.7L, much props for recognizing the part without full context, but yes it's compatible with the Kia Sportage of about the same year range. 👍
  By the way though, the CKPS only affects the electrical timing of the spark plugs and the fuel injectors. The timing chain affects the mechanical timing, separately, but in time nonetheless.
  Sorry it might be difficult to explain, but the CKPS ain't got shit to do with an interference engine, that's all on the mechanical timing chain side. This was all on the electrical timing side from the faulty CKPS.
  But the CKPS is absolutely important and necessary to detect and send the timing signals to the ECM to send the signals to the spark plugs and fuel injectors.
  Bad CKPS means no spark and no fuel.
  
  Yep, I had a 2002 Kia Rio and the part looked familiar when I scrolled past! What I meant is that I assume the mechanical timing still permits the electrical timing to function without the sensor, it just isn't firing optimally. If it was completely dependent on the sensor for firing the plugs, I figured it would either not run at all, or worse, cause a bad enough misfire that could do some cylinder damage. Though maybe there isn't a bad enough misfire to do that? I don't know enough about them.
  I also had a 2007 Sonata that blew up a few years ago when the timing chain broke, so some experience with failed mechanical timing too :) That was a great car I wish I'd tried to rebuild the engine on, but I just downsized to one car instead. Good luck with your Tucson! Good to see the older cars still ticking along.
Getting ready to do another one myself, the part is in transit
I've done quite a few of these over the years, I've never had one with its own wire like that. They've all had a plug on the side of the sensor to plug the wire into
Is this one located in an otherwise difficult to reach location?
- There are 3 (three) individual wires in that short wire harness, that had no Earthly business shorting out with each other.
  It's not a single wire you see on the faulty component, it's the entire wire harness melted and all three wires shorted together.
  Edit: This was fairly easy to access here, just above the starter, on a 2005 Hyundai Tucson 2.7L
I pray to god mine doesn't die anytime soon because I had to glue it on with 2k metal adhesive when the aluminum bracket broke off from the timing cover. I'll probably have to replace the entire cover and I might as well do the timing chain when it comes to that.
- I feel for you my friend, I really do.
  Thankfully our CKPS Sensor isn't under the timing chain cover, it's independent and installed just above the starter.
Careful, this content is moderately exciting
We had an old GMC Envoy. Despite replacing it twice we could never get the light to go off.
- I just recently saw a video where it was the distributor that was causing the crankshaft position sensor error to throw
  I never would have figured that out
- Oh, we still got some odd codes that I know are gonna register anyways, like Power Steering Pump Pressure, but that works fine and hasn't ever leaked (yet...)

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