$38 TIII Crankshaft Position Sensor!

[Tony Hanna]

GP Sorensen part # CSS40 $38.88 normally stocked (Advance Auto Parts)

It requires cutting the plastic back around the plug, and soldering the pigtail from your old sensor (or a spare HEP... same connector ) to the terminals. It also requires filing a flat into the plastic body of the new sensor in the same location as the flat on the stock sensor. Other than that, it's a drop-in replacement. The body is the same length, and the bolt hole is in the right spot.
I just got my Spirit running off of one today, so no long term results yet, but it's working great so far.
Maybe someone else can benefit from my experimenting. Sure beats paying $150-$200 for one.

[turbovanman²]

Nice going. I put this in the top sticky for future reference.

[Tony Hanna]

Nice going. I put this in the top sticky for future reference.

Thanks Simon!
It was just one of those things I had to try. I was fully prepared to pay $150 for a new sensor, but I couldn't get one today and I really wanted to hear the car run.

Also, While I'm thinking about it, if a person made their own bracket to hold it in the right position, and used the right pigtail, this sensor could probably also be used as a replacement cam sensor. It would require cutting the mounting tab off of the new sensor and making or sourcing a bracket similar to the bracket that holds the condensor in a points style ignition system. Setting the gap between the sensor and the cam sprocket would then be a matter of simply measuring the gap to the stock sensor with a feeler gauge, and sliding the new sensor in it's bracket to get the same gap.

[RJ138]

Kick ---! I can get my red R/T running again!

[iTurbo]

VERY cool! Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Hanna]

Kick ---! I can get my red R/T running again!

VERY cool! Thanks for sharing.

Glad I could help.

A note on wiring the thing up:
Regardless of where the pigtail comes from (old crank sensor or HEP), all 3 wires are the same color, and there are no markings on the new sensor to use as a reference to tell which wire goes where.

What worked for me was to hold the old sensor and new sensor side by side in the same position and solder the wires to the terminals on the new sensor in the same orientation as the old one.

The middle wire is obvious, but it's really easy to accidently switch the two outside wires. If that happens, the sensor won't work (happened to me on my first attempt). It's nothing to panic about as it doesn't damage anything. Simply desolder and reverse the two outside wires and you should be good to go.

Once you've got the wires soldered on and have confirmed that the sensor is working (you may also have to bend the terminals a little for clearance to the throttlebody), it's a good idea to seal the terminals with something to eliminate the possibility of a short and prevent corrosion from the wires wicking moisture. I used RTV, but epoxy might be a better way to go.
HTH,
Tony

[mark]

hi tony, how is this holding up for you?

[Tony Hanna]

Talk about a late reply! Sorry about that. It's still working fine.

[bradp]

I always thought TIII stuff was expensive until my father-in-law bought a Crank sensor for his ZR1. $304 and that was a GOOD price.

[dds78910]

Any pics?

[RJ138]

Any pics?

I made one and took a lot of pictures but I don't know where they are. Mine ended up not working so I found a used crank sensor. I used the wiring from a bad crank sensor and I think it had been stretch a little to much from me dropping a trans when the harness was hung up on something still.

It is pretty simple, I will see if I can find the pictures later on my home computer.

[Tony Hanna]

Any pics?

I can't remember if I took pics or not. I'd just trailered the R/T home at that point and hadn't heard it run yet so I might not have taken the time. If I run across any I'll post them up.

I made one and took a lot of pictures but I don't know where they are. Mine ended up not working so I found a used crank sensor. I used the wiring from a bad crank sensor and I think it had been stretch a little to much from me dropping a trans when the harness was hung up on something still.

It is pretty simple, I will see if I can find the pictures later on my home computer.

Are you sure you didn't accidentally get the two outside wires reversed? I did on my first attempt and it didn't work either but it worked fine after switching them back around. It's really easy to do since nothing is labeled and the wires aren't color coded.

If it is a broken wire, one of the plugs on a HEP off of an 8v car is the same (the other HEP plug is the same as the cam sensor). That's what I used since I had a few spares laying around.

Hopefully one of those suggestions will get it working for you.

[RJ138]

I can't remember if I took pics or not. I'd just trailered the R/T home at that point and hadn't heard it run yet so I might not have taken the time. If I run across any I'll post them up.




Are you sure you didn't accidentally get the two outside wires reversed? I did on my first attempt and it didn't work either but it worked fine after switching them back around. It's really easy to do since nothing is labeled and the wires aren't color coded.

If it is a broken wire, one of the plugs on a HEP off of an 8v car is the same (the other HEP plug is the same as the cam sensor). That's what I used since I had a few spares laying around.

Hopefully one of those suggestions will get it working for you.

I did try switching the wires. It still didn't work, I am not sure why it didn't work but I remember it wasn't very pretty so that might of had something to do with it... haha

The original crank sensor had the wiring harness ripped from the base of the sensor itself so there was not enough wire to attach the sensor back to the harness.

[Tony Hanna]

I did try switching the wires. It still didn't work, I am not sure why it didn't work but I remember it wasn't very pretty so that might of had something to do with it... haha

The original crank sensor had the wiring harness ripped from the base of the sensor itself so there was not enough wire to attach the sensor back to the harness.

Mine wasn't much to look at either (especially after I sealed it up with silicone). Sounds like you might be right. If it had enough load on it to pull the pigtail out of the sensor then it's entirely possible that one of the wires is broken inside the insulation. Should be able to confirm with a DVOM (continuity).

[Mario]

Great thread! Sticky again?