Spark plugs changes, I agree with you Valk, mines an '04 and the plugs went in it in November '03 that means that they are over fives years old but they have done only 12,000 miles. Change? I think not. Had a '77 Chevy Caprice once, and one plug was so hard to get at that it went to the wreckers at 130,000 + miles (12 years later) with the same plug in it that it came with new.

Crankshaft position sensor, try here:
YouTube - Crankshaft position sensor

You can find all the other sensors on sites like this as well. All the computers in the car need information and sensors like these give it to them so that they can operate efficiently. Progress they call it.

 

I believe the primary reason to change plugs after 5 years is to protect the aluminum heads.

Plated steel plugs sitting in an aluminum head may well become impossible to remove without damage if left in too long.

 

Hi Valk,

The purpose of the crankshaft position sensor is to let the ECU know exactly what the position of the crankshaft is.

On the end of a crankshaft, there are a number of "teeth", otherwise known as a reluctor ring. As the crankshaft spins, the teeth of the ring trigger the crankshaft position sensor, and this lets the ECU know how fast the engine is spinning (RPM). Also, on some reluctor rings, there might be one or several gaps where a couple of the teeth are missing. THe purpose of this gap is to let the ECU know when the #1 cylinder is at TDC (Top Dead Center). This is typically done for engines that don't also have a camshaft position sensor, which isn't the case for the Crossfire engine.

In the Crossfire's case, the reluctor ring on the Crankshaft is solid, and tells the ECU that the crankshaft is spinning, and what the exact RPM of the crankshaft is. The ECU then looks at the Camshaft position sensor to know exactly which cylinder needs to have fuel injected into it, and which spark plugs to fire.

As you can see, without both sensors installed and working perfectly, the ECU will not be able to properly run the engine, as it would only have half of the information that it needs.

As for is any other cars use these sensors, the answer is Yes.
Just about every fuel injected engine must have one of these two sensors.
Typically, cheaper cars use the combination crankshaft/camshaft position sensor that I had mentioned at the beginning.

One of my previous cars, a '92 Buick Park Avenue Ultra, with its Supercharged engine, has both the camshaft and crankshaft position sensors, but, if the camshaft position sensor fails, then the ECU runs a backup program using just the information from the Crankshaft position sensor in order to know what cylinder is at TDC, and which spark plugs need to be fired. When this occurs, the CEL is lit on the dash letting you know something's wrong, and needs to be checked.

I ran my Buick like this for several years, as the cause of the issue was the magnet on the end of the camshaft had fallen off (common problem for that engine), and it was way too expensive for me to have the engine torn apart to replace a magnet, when the car still ran perfectly fine without it.

It actually surprises me that the Crossfire engine doesn't have similar logic in its ECU in order to keep the engine running in the event of a Camshaft position sensor failure.

I hope this helps explain the functionality and the need for the crankshaft position sensors.

BC.

 

My '04 died yesterday w/ NO WARNING too. No Check Engine Light..... I was parked w/ engine idling and it just sputtered and died like it was out-of-gas.

The Codes that my Repair Shop pulled showed it to need the Crank-shaft Position Sensor replaced. While it was in there, I had them replace the Fuel Filter and clean the Throttle Body and do a Fuel Injection Flush/Clean.

It starts and runs GREAT now. This is just Day ONE..... I'll let you know if there are any changes.
Steve

 

Man, I'm sorry to hear that you guys are having all these issues with your crossfires. I can't believe it, I just hope that I don't run into these issues. Need to stay on top of maintenance schedules, and just spend the little bit of money ahead of time to maintain it instead of paying a massive boatload of money later to fix the problem.

The crossfire is a great car, and though it does get a little "hormonal" from time to time with the way it behaves or suffers from certain mechanical issues, it's still fun to just look at even if it doesn't have the ability to drive down the street.

 

wow...my 05 has over 62k with just the cupholder issue. It idles so smooth i don't even know it is running. Do the 2004 models have the most problems? It would be interesting if someone could determine from this forum what year is experiencing the most trouble. I do not know how to do that but it might be good info.

 

Paul, absolutely no issues with either as of today. The '04 has a little over 62K on it, the SRT is pushing 53K. Other than for normal maintenance & too many tire replacements on the SRT ( ) neither has had any issues. I'm STILL running with the original Bosch I/C pump on the rocket-mobile.
Of course, now that I've typed this....................

 

Dont freak out. Lady down the street has an 05 with 60k on it, drives it all winter up here in N.Y. with no issues other then its tough to keep it between the ditches in the snow.

 

On another note, I was out of town recently at a funeral, and in the procession with the X. Driving down the street, I noticed a Saphfire SRT-6 sitting out in front of a dealership, I had to fight back the urge to pull over and check it out.

 

Most, possibly all of the problems reported here that resulted in the car suddenly stopping or failing to start cannot be prevented by regular maintenance schedules. Your stealership may say otherwise but they only have their eyes on your money.
Regular oil and filter changes, a good battery, regular checks for torn boots over the drive line joints etc, washing accumulated dirt from the underside of the car, watching for rust behind the door seals etc and good tire maintenance are basically all that are required on these modern vehicles until the high mileage replacements are called for.

 

It's your computor.
Have a diagnostic check on it. I assure you it would be cheaper than what you have already spent on it.
Good luck,
Mike