Anyone gotta match.......

[yogurt_slinger]

Man I bought this *nice* low mileage Spirit R/T a couple of months ago and driven it a few times to work and what not and its been really enjoyable. The first nice and tight driving spirit I've had....Yay, happy me right?

I had a party for my nephew I had to go to, so I hop in the spirit and go to the party..(my VW is in the shop) Well, I leave the party and sure as sh it, car sputters and dies half way home and I had to have it towed.. This is yesterday evening.
So tonight I do some research and troubleshooting and find a bad crank sensor. Ok, I got a spare, no biggie.(so I think) I go to change it and of course the bastard won't break free, it has become one with the trans.... I try to pry it out with pliers, and it literally disintigrated... It broke off completely flush with the hole. So now there's a plastic *plug* in the sensor hole and its firmly wedged in there... I swear, it freakin figures that this happens on my last day before I gotta go back to work.(I've been on vacation all week!) No, it couldn't have happend LAST saturday...that woulda given me more time to mess with it, just my F-ing luck... Well, at least I can drive the wifes Escalade to work I guess..

So, I take my right angle drill and drill out (attempted to) the center of whats left of the sensor.. I get a course wood screw screwed into the hole I made to try and pry out the sensor, no dice.. I try some PB blaster and let it sit a while, still no luck getting it out... So, the only other options I can think of are....
1. use a torch to heat area around sensor hole and pull it out. (hopefully without melting any wires )yeah right....

OR

2. separating the trans from the motor and getting the sensor out that way. But, if I did that, I might as well do the clutch and check the rear main.... fun.....


So if anyone has any ideas on how to get that sensor out completely, I'm all ears.. Otherwise the next opportunity I'll have to mess with it will be at the end of this month (hopefully)

[Murphy]

can't ya grind it away to nothing with a dremel tool?

[yogurt_slinger]

its a tight area and I'm afraid of grinding *too much*.. The intake and throttle body studs are *right* in the way, I can't get anything in there straight into the hole. I might take a look at sears tomarrow and see if I can find the right angle attachment or the flex shaft for my dremel.


I tried using heat (propane torch) at the base of the sensor hole and using the wood screw to pull the remainder of the sensor out....... FAIL... I was very temped to try to just burn the sensor out but, I didn't think that would be a wise idea.


Its amazing how something so minor always turns into something major, just my luck I guess...... Guess I better start looking for a clutch to order since the trans is prob gonna have to come out.......

[chryguy]

Hey Dude,

I say drill that monkey thru with a small drill bit and drill it with progressively larger ones until you A.drill the entire thing out or B.can get a hold of the shell with a small screw driver.
Coat the drill bits with axle grease, and when your done, remove the inspection cover and blow it out with compressed air.

Good luck

On a completely different note...

Talk to Bevis lately? He got your old LeBaron from me. Put a headgasket in it,then drove it to Detroit.
He then proceded to run it out of water a couple days after he got back.
DOH!

[yogurt_slinger]

On a completely different note...

Talk to Bevis lately? He got your old LeBaron from me. Put a headgasket in it,then drove it to Detroit.
He then proceded to run it out of water a couple days after he got back.
DOH!

I think he called me a couple months back. He went to my old house only to find out I didn't live there anymore. thats when he called me.lol Haven't talked to him since..... he kinda fell off the grid. He always was good at destroying TDs.lol If you hear from him, tell him to call me sometime.


I might try to drill it but, I'll have to use the dremel with a the flex shaft I think.. Its not a *straight shot* with a drill, the intake and throttle body studs are right in your way. Heck, I used a right angle drill and a shorty bit just to make a hole for the screw, and that went in at an angle as you can see from the pic. If you look in the picture I posted you can see the intake (silver blob) directly above the sensor .
Its not gonna be pretty...

[iTurbo]

Honestly if it were me I would pull the trans. Something must have hit the crank sensor from the sounds of it and it could very likely be part of the clutch.

[Pat]

Honestly if it were me I would pull the trans. Something must have hit the crank sensor from the sounds of it and it could very likely be part of the clutch.

+1. Pull the trans and check everything out. I've put a ton of miles on R/T's and the only crank sensor I had fail (knocking on wood!) is one that got hit with debris in the bellhousing.

[86Shelby]

That sucks. Thank you for the reminder to put something on mine to prevent this sticking once I can get this trans back in.

[yogurt_slinger]

yeah, I think I'm gonna do the trans then. Better safe than sorry. I can't believe how seized up it is, I've tried everything even a make-shift slide hammer to get it out....nothing.

Amazing how a 15min job gets derailed.lol Well, I guess I better call Chris at TU about a clutch.

[turbovanman²]

Hey Dude,

I say drill that monkey thru with a small drill bit and drill it with progressively larger ones until you A.drill the entire thing out or B.can get a hold of the shell with a small screw driver.
Coat the drill bits with axle grease, and when your done, remove the inspection cover and blow it out with compressed air.
!

+2, then use a vacuum to suck up the bits.

[j4278h]

I say forget the match and just trade me for this super sweet iroc daytona or neon r/t.

and I can set it on fire

[86Shelby]

I have an Omni GLHT that runs & drives just fine I'll trade you for it. Less expensive than a clutch...

[yogurt_slinger]

meh, I'll prob break those too......


I'm REALLY tempted to take the intake off and drill it out and be done but, if there *is* something that boogers the new sensor I'd be slightly ticked....

[86Shelby]

Pull the intake and drill it out. Get a 50 cent wooden dowel from the hardware store and cut to length to stick in the hole as far as the sensor does. Crank the engine and check for marks on the dowel. Cheaper than a sensor is something is broken inside.

[raccoon]

so did you see anything hold it in? just melted it self in place perhaps?

[yogurt_slinger]

so did you see anything hold it in? just melted it self in place perhaps?

it was wedged in solid, the heat prob made it worse to be honest.

I think I'm gonna try the dowel idea, cheaper than a sensor for sure!



too bad I don't have time to mess with it until sunday though.