Thread: Crank angle sensor replacement

Recently help a member do this job, twas fun

Getting the plug back together was dificult.
Ended up using pliers(try a screw driver) to hold the loom plug while pushing the new one in.
A 14 ring/open for the loom bracket.
A 7mm ring for the 2 cover bolts.
A 1/4 drive 8mm socket for the 2 nuts to hold the sensor(2 spacers on the auto I did too)

I did this all standing on a milk crate over the L/H gaurd.

The beer suplied on completion was the best part of the job

Working from the car while underneath is ok for this job too.

Unplug the loom and work by feel with the 8 mm ring end.

Cheers,

Jason

Do everything as above, but remove the short 8mm bolt holding the forked socket holder to the back of the head.
Pull down the socket and harness enough to disconnect it.
When re-entering the three pin socket be extra careful about pin alignment.

It is very easy to displace the pins in the harness side of the socket which will mean a testy job of repairing that main harness!

In short don't go there!!
I see frequent cries for help on the iATN network (iatn.com) when someone does this and loses a 5v ref signal.
Best of luck with the job
Dennis
zedcars

Very common failure, especially as the weather starts getting warmer. A trick I heard about after I replaced mine, is to plug the new sensor in and let it hang by the harness and then bolt it on. The connector is kind of hard to plug in after. Not impossible obviously, but I recall struggling. I was able to squeeze in without dropping the exhaust, but imagine it would be a lot easier if I did.

Just received the sensor,
I gather the inability of the shaft to turn is caused by magnets???

oh, and the bosch part number is 0261210158

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

Just received the sensor,
I gather the inability of the shaft to turn is caused by magnets???

oh, and the bosch part number is 0261210158

The shaft shouldn't turn if I'm right.
It's the pick up probe, the magnets are on the flywheel that pass it.

Nothing turns! Except the flywheel!
The crank sensor is situated so that the thin probe at the business end sits in a regular "wobbly" shaped groove cut (machined) into the back of the flywheel. In techie terms its called the reluctor groove or ring. There is a blank spot which coincides with number one cylinder at the firing point. That causes a compression of the signalling, so the ECM knows where #1 cylinder is.

Simply put, as the flywheel spins the restrictions in the wobbly groove to create an electronic wave form which the ECM picks up and excites the ECM circuitry to signal the coils and the fuel pump to do their thing.
That is why there are three pin connections, a +ve, -ve and a 5v reference/pulse signal which the ECM is looking for to make it come to life. Usually when I test it statically its more like about 2.5v.

I find where I am that the sensor being bathed in hot air from the exhaust means that its life is about 90 to 120,000 miles. In my case on my own D2 the first sign of trouble was a sudden pause in the engine, like you had momentarily shut of the ignition off. At the time I was scudding along at about 70 miles an hour on our local ring road when it happened. At first I though something had bound up and I was expected something to drop out of the bottom. Nothing!
Then I stopped got myself a bottle of red for dinner, and headed home but the thing was hard starter. I got home alright, but the blighter didn't run next morning to take the kids to school.
Dennis
zedcars

i had a 2000 rangie delivered on a flat tray today, same symptoms. code extraction included intermittent crank referrence signal loss, vehicle starts and runs fine when cold, but after a few kms will stutter and then even stop. will not restart until cooled off for 15 minutes or so. sensor is suspect.

jc