Cranshaft Position Sensor

"His *finger* in"? His least favorite finger? I'd at least use a dowel rod...

It's hard to find exact top dead center just by looking at the top of the piston. One usually uses a dial indicator and finds two points either side of TDC then locates the center.

"To do some checking and testing, might disconnect the main battery and hook up a small 12V battery to keep the ECU running. "

Don't do that,. Why would you do that ? THINK. Why even screw with it ?

Once you got the time, parts, money or whatever, then do it. However if you have that pollution and all that check you might not want to put it off too much.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com prodded the keyboard with:

Remove all the plugs, then use a knitting needle down the No:1 hole and turn the engine over with one of the belts.

Most modern vehicles have a TDC sensor on the flywheel, or, like on my Q45, dual sensors on the camshafts. ...Jim Thompson

Den fredag den 30. oktober 2015 kl. 21.05.23 UTC+1 skrev Jim Thompson:

"modern" i.e. cars that aren't 30 years old all use a multi tooth cranksensors

the cam sensor is just for phasing or feedback for variable valve timing

-Lasse

It's called a dial indicator gauge. I'm guessing you're not one for reading repair manuals :)

.... and make sure that the guy with the driver's license is the one cranking the engine, so he can drive his newly nine-fingered friend to the emergency room?

You can turn most engines by hand, or with a wrench on one of the pulleys.

This is why even people who __can__ do this sort of work __don't__ do this sort of work, unless they're unemployed.

Are you sure the crank sensor isn't working? The fault code might indicate a missing or extra pulse detected by the ECU. Could be an electrical or mechanical problem.

Yes, the sensor is working somewhat. If i remove it, engine won't start. But what could be causing the bad signal. I am ordering a new one:

I also pulled one from a 97 Aerostar. Mine is 96. They work the same way. Engine runs perfectly smooth and well, but with code P0340. Both sensors seem fine externally, unless they are bad with age.

BTW, the complicated finger test with #1 at TDC is for the 4.0L engine. Fortunately, my 3.0L is relatively simple to replace.

Ignore the last sentence regarding engine size.

After driving with CEL for a few weeks, I finally found the Camshaft sensor at the back of the engine, reaching in from the passenger compartment wind ow.

The magnet falls into the synchronizer and the plastic that was holding it are grounded into powder. The semi-circular C tab is bended into a small c ircle and completely detached from the synchronizer. In another words, I h ave been driving thousands of miles without camshaft position sensor. I re moved the magnet and stuffs inside. The engine is still running well and s mooth.

Installation instructions are: Disconnect the battery, bring #1 piston to T DC, mount synchronizer with special positioning cap. Drive 100 miles for E CU to learn the parameters. Which leads me to believe that I am driving wi th previously learned parameters. It should run fine as long as the parame ters are kept in memory.

Later Ford engines have the magnet horizontally mounted outside the synchro nizer tab, so there is no chance of it killing the synchronizer. My questi on is why didn't Ford recall the plastic cap and why didn't they make a rep lacement part that could easily solve the problem. What did they know and when did they know about it? This affect many vehicles in late 90s to earl y 00s. Sound like we need a class-action to get a $1 part done.