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Awesome Crankshaft Position Sensor how-to

Old Sep 28, 2010 | 09:36 AM
  #1  
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Default Awesome Crankshaft Position Sensor how-to

For anyone needing to replace their crankshaft position sensor - gotta get that search term in there as many times as I can! - this guide is absolutely indispensable. Mine went out a couple of weeks ago, leaving my beloved XJ dead, and after some troubleshooting and searching of these forums - thanks, everyone! - I figured out the cause, and this guide made replacement easy.

I'd say the whole job, from beginning to end, took half an hour, and hour tops. Granted, I did a lot of preparation and research ahead of time, but my Jeep's pretty rough to work on - previous owners didn't wash it during salty Michigan winters, and it's more rusted than any Cherokee I've ever seen - and this job with no big deal. The secret's in the stack of extensions and placement of the universal, but I did it alone, without jacking up my XJ, and it couldn't have been easier.

So, if your crankshaft position sensor dies on you - and I recommend this site for diagnosing the part, and this page for reading the error codes - you can't do any better [in my experience, anyway!] than this guide.
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Old Sep 28, 2010 | 11:17 AM
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good info
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Old Sep 28, 2010 | 12:39 PM
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all the "this guide" are blocked from work. the computer is telling me its a game site.
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Old Sep 28, 2010 | 01:23 PM
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good find man. I don't know why but mine seemed MUCH harder to access
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Old Jan 10, 2011 | 06:33 PM
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Tag for later. I tried this Saturday and couldn't get a wrench on the bolts to get it out, so I can't wait to read the how-to and see if it helps. It's so simple to replace, if I could just get a wrench to the bolts w/o dropping the transmission or front drive shaft


Edit: aha, guess I need some extensions for my ratchet then

Last edited by kidkodiak; Jan 10, 2011 at 06:48 PM.
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 08:14 AM
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That's exactly right. It's all about this combination of extensions and universal, in the right order. Mine was...well, not "easy," but I can't imagine it being any easier than it was. Good luck!
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Old Jan 17, 2011 | 04:42 PM
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Thank ya sir! It'll probably be sometime this next week I'll give it a shot, but those pics helped a lot, appreciating you posting it.
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Old Jan 17, 2011 | 04:52 PM
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good write up
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Old Jan 17, 2011 | 04:53 PM
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I've heard of cutting the floor. Since mine barely has them as is, I figure if it comes down to it I'll cut and patch the floor.

This is nice to have, though, if I ever get a better XJ.
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Old Jan 17, 2011 | 04:54 PM
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I actually have that bookmarked.
Good info I've been using since I got a jeep.
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Old Jan 17, 2011 | 04:57 PM
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Yeah its an easy job, just did my kids in his Jeep, only problem that I had was the bolt kept falling out of the socket, so heres a little tip, just put two pieces of electrical tape one each side the bolt head to hold the bolt to the socket, worked great for me..
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Old Jan 18, 2011 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by tommyis3
Yeah its an easy job, just did my kids in his Jeep, only problem that I had was the bolt kept falling out of the socket, so heres a little tip, just put two pieces of electrical tape one each side the bolt head to hold the bolt to the socket, worked great for me..
Nice tip, I'll keep that in mind when I try it next weekend
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Old Jan 29, 2011 | 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by superj
all the "this guide" are blocked from work. the computer is telling me its a game site.
use a proxy site. you can find proxy extensions for firefox and chrome. That way you can get around your works web filter and them not know what your looking at.
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Old Jan 29, 2011 | 03:53 PM
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sweetness great info. It is really a huge pain in the ****.
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Old Mar 25, 2011 | 06:20 PM
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Just took phone pics of the write up to my buddy who is broke down over an hr away... this helped a ton
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