1996 jeep grand cherokee crankshaft position sensor location

Very - very intermittently my daughter had the Jeep stall for no reason on her. I've driven it may times w/o an problems. I knew the catalytic converter was bad so I went and replace it this morning - thinking maybe it was the problem. My Jeep also needed the Ox sensor that mounts to the cat..

When they were finished the mechanic tried to start the car and no luck. It turned over but wouldn't fire. This never happened to us. From his 10min. diagnostic with a scanner he thought it was most likely a crankshaft position sensor since the scanner wasn't picking up a speed. By chance he cleared the codes (even though none were being shown) and the car started right up.

We have only had the Jeep for about 8-months but with this problem I decided to give it plugs, rotor, cap, plugs, and crank position sensor. I saved the sensor for last and glad I did.

The sensor is at about the 11 o'clock position on the bell housing. I could just barely snake my arm in there with the right wrench combo and remove the bolt. First thing - the sensor doesn't come out easily. It seems to be stuck - I didn't want to pry too hard because of the second problem. Second - there doesn't seem to be enough room to get the sensor out. There is only about 1" until the sensor will hit the cowling and the sensor is about 2" long.

Any tricks? 1) to provide more space for removal. 2) to loosen the old one for removal. 3) or a trick on how to do this.

Thanks,

Mike

Out of curiosity, does the stalling occur when the car is idling? I'm experiencing similar problems (still waiting for my post on the subject to appear). Took it the dealer (new in town and don't have a mechanic) and they've changed the crank sensor and the pcm. 6k miles later and the engine is still stalling. Now they're saying it's the torque converter. Ouch.

(Thanks to everyone who makes this forum possible!)

I think it has done it while she is driving and when she comes to a stop.

Just thought it might help others - I found a great video on youtube. Once I saw the position of his hands I knew exactly how to crawl under the car the change it out:

This is the problem that i had with my jeep, not being a mechanic i tried all sorts e.g blow torching the sucker out (it just melted) i didnt know what to do. Then my dad came along, somebody told him that its easier to get to by removing the oil sump???? but no luck. Then i decided to get an angle drill bit, drilled a hole through the plastic of the crank sensor, screw in a hard screw with some weight on the end to wack backwards e.g old strong socket and tap it out or screw the screw in tightly as possible get a strong wide screw driver and using a hammer wack it upwards, the screw will bend and it draged the crank sensor out. I dont know any other way apart from taking the engin out and working on it?? my new crank sensor was a tight fit so i just sanded it abit. JUST TRY IT, HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU DAMAGE IT IF ITS ALREADY DAMAGED! Hope this helps mate.

Thanks - once I watched the video I linked above and found out I had to lay under the car with my feet toward the radiator I could get my left hand on the sensor and could twist it. I happen to have a long skinny pry bar (almost like a screwdriver) and slowly was able to pop it out. In my case the replacement was slightly smaller in diameter than the old one and went in pretty easily.

Mike

Mine was stuck in really tight, it wouldnt even turn, once i got mine out i found out that it was a crank sensor for a wrangler!!! and i think some dummy put glue/thread lock on it, hence the tightness. This is why i tried all the other methods, go the cheapest way first to resolve the issue if it doesnt work the max out the credit card.

Sensor bolt removal

I followed these direction and it worked great. Thanks a million!

The only difficulty was getting the crankshaft position sensor bolt out; it was really stuck in tight. I used a 6-point 7/16 socket on the end of about 30 inches of extensions and an impact wrench to remove it. 'Course that made it easy, but I struggled for a long time before figuring it out.

Just thought it might help others - I found a great video on youtube. Once I saw the position of his hands I knew exactly how to crawl under the car the change it out:

YouTube - Crankshaft Position (CKP) Sensor Removal