I've owned my 2005 Crossfire Roadster for a few years now and never had any problems, until a few months ago. I got in to go to work, and the thing would not start. It just cranked, but no fire. The next day, it started right up. I bought a Innova Diagnostic code reader and it gave the code for a crankshaft sensor. Installed the sensor, and it worked fine for a week. Then the same thing happened, but the check engine light came on, (crank but no start). The code was again crankshaft sensor. After reading this forum, I bought a camshaft sensor and put it on. Worked fine for another week. Same thing. Crank over, but did not start. Thinking that maybe one of these sensors was no good, I replaced BOTH of these sensors again. It started fine for another week until the same thing! The code reader showed crankshaft sensor again, but every time I erased the code, it comes right back on! Right now the car runs fine until I get on it. If I really get on the gas, it stalls, the check engine light comes on, and the code reader says "crankshaft sensor". I replaced both of these sensors for the third time, and it still does the same thing??? I am at a total loss.... Anyone have any ideas?

 

You will read that OEM or Bosch is the only way to go. What brand did you use?

 

Either way, Bosch CPS sensor or not, I would think you have a connection issue.
Try twisting the pins in the CPS shell, or bending them a little to make better contact with the female pins in the connector.
Wouldn't hurt to use a bit of dielectric grease too.

I wish 'they' made a tiny little 'pin file' so we could clean out the inside of the female connectors.
Max ?

 

There is a suspicion that the connector on the sensors that are not Bosch cause the fault because they are too thin. Or possibly the connector on the harness is slightly corroded. I would spray the connector with contact cleaner and bend the contacts on the sensor slightly to put a very small wave in it so that it fits tighter in the female connector.

 

( just a little gearhead humor) lol!!
Albert Einstein was famous for saying the definition of insanity is repeating the same experiment the same way with the expectation of a different outcome. Laughter is great medicine! Enjoy!!

 

Here's a set from McMaster-Carr that might work well to clean the female connectors :

http://www.mcmaster.com/#7396t73/=ztm4kg

 

G.,

you found the set I have at the lab. Must be very careful NOT to remove any plating on the contacts, however.

Never use DIELECTRIC grease on an electrical contact. Dielectric, by definition, is non-conductive.

Conductive grease is what you need here.

McMaster-Carr

I would opt for the graphite or copper.

8 oz is enough to last ~ 300 years.

Once again: be VERY careful where it is applied. It will short-circuit the contacts if it bridges the gaps. Apply with a toothpick?

 

I would clean the contacts with some Deoxit D5 spray CAIG Laboratories - Home of DeoxIT® & Hand-E-Glove®. If the contacts are gold use the Deoxit G5 Gold. I've use this stuff for years on mixing boards connectors, guitar switches etc. It fixed the flaky power mirror switches in my Silverado. Don't spray it into a potentiometers, it will degrease it.

The first time I used it was on a 1986.5 Nissan pickup with a bad switch in the head light stalk. And just like these CPS I would replace it and then it would crap out again. No fun if I had to drive at night and the headlights wouldn't come on. So I took the switch apart and saw the reeds would arc and get carbon buildup.
Tried just cleaning them up with a pencil eraser and it would last a little while then fail again.

So the next time I cleaned them then sprayed Deoxit D5 and it never failed again, even after 14 years of use. Same thing with my power mirror switches, cleaned the contacts and spray, still good years later.

I would then put the dielectric grease in the boot to keep moisture out. It will insulate it and keep the conductors from corroding. It's actually the same stuff as bulb grease. You can also use it to treat your weather stripping on the doors too.

 

Good info, all, but this adds to my thinking that many times a good cleaning is all we would need to fix the CPS problem. There are no moving parts and the only area of contact is at the plug. Maybe we could try this and document our results?

 

This is the current thought on these parts, I think this was first suggested by ala_xfire some years back.

 

How to Test Crankshaft and Camshaft Position Sensors

 

SO . . . lots of helpful posts here but the original poster seems to have disappeared and we still don't know if he replaced his crankshaft and camshaft position sensors with genuine Bosch parts or some aftermarket crap . . . ? ? ?

 

I would like to thank everyone who posted. Sorry I didn't get back sooner, my wife cleaned off my desk and threw away some papers... one of them had my user name and password on it... So, back to the crossfire. That "you tube" video was great! Thank you! The sensors came from NAPA, and are working as they should. The connectors are as clean as can be. Let me try to explain what happens... It starts right up, no check engine light. It runs great around town. But, if I'm traveling... say 50mph, and really get on the gas, it kicks down into lower gear, it starts to pick up speed really fast, but 1 second later, it stalls - just shuts off. I drift to the side of the road, shut off the key, then it starts right back up, but now the check engine light is on. Drive it home, run the codes, and it says crankshaft sensor... Where do these wires go? Could there be a problem it that?

 

Here's the wiring diagram for the CPS :