I'm getting the infamous p0201 and p0203 codes but I have a twist that is throwing me off. I can start it cold and drive for 2 hours with out a mis unless I stop and shut it off to get gas or something and when I start it p0201 code will light and it will be on 7 cylinders. After a bit of driving i will get p203 also and it will really mis. it does it even on short drive too. All I have to do is shut it off and next start while warm and it will be missing on 1 cylinder. When it 1st started to happen I could get it to stop after a little hard driving but now it can happen anytime and will not stop until it sits overnight or a long time.cool down i guess. I have searched the web and found 1 guy with the same problem but as usual they didn't post what the eventual fix was. I changed the plugs and checked fuel pressure (49 psi). I even did sea foam. The plugs that came out looked fine except worn down a little. 110,000 miles 2000 dakota. Anyone ?
4.7 V8

 

replace your crankshaft position sensor......I know it sounds crazy, but I'm betting that's it....

you can take the old one off and inspect it (may be able to inspect it in situ, but probably not).....

if there's any rust on the electrodes on the end, that's likely your problemo....

there's a connection by your distributor and it runs to the sensor between the motor and flywheel basically....two bolts....75 bucks at AZ or OR....

let us know....
corpus dude

 

I'll take a look at it and let you know. It has to be something crazy like that because it seems fine until it goes into closed loop except what throws me off is that it will run fine until I shut it off and restart it then it shows p0201. and misfires.

 

yeah, that crankshaft position sensor is one weird bird I've never experienced on any vehicle, come to find out its' an important part....if you have the haynes you can do a lot of voltmeter checks on the rest of your sensors, however that CPS sensor is wide open and exposed to the elements...if you're like me and live near the coast or live up north where they salt the roads I'm going to point my finger in that parts direction.....

good luck and make sure to post up your results so folks in the future benefit.....
corpusdood

 

Ya I'm in the Northeast with plenty of salt on the roads to eat your truck. I didn't pull it yet but that sensor must be just a open and close cuircut maybe magnetically activated from points on the crank. I don't drive it to much because I have a 06 Charger and 03 Durango but I need it to pull a trailer. I drove it down to the store today and as usual it ran fine until I turned it off and restarted it 5 minutes later, same result it was missing on 1 cylinder.

 

yeah, that's it....I find it weird that mine would work sometimes and not others, and that it seemed temperature dependent.....

changed it out and no problems now...
ddooodd

 

you had the same symptoms? what pointed you towards that?
It's raining right now but i should be able to take it out this afternoon. I'll keep you posted.

 

the codes from the CEL.....it showed up once, like 4 down the list, then didn't show up for a couple of codes, then showed up once more.....weird how it would work and then not work.....

engine misfire codes don't tell you anything you don't already know, unless its the exact same cylinder time after time, then you may focus on that circuit.....

good luck

 

well i finally got to digging at the crankshaft sensor, wow what a pain. the bolt holding it was almost rusted round so i had to use my craftsman " bolt out" sockets. They really work, saved me a couple times now. OK I got the bolt out but could not budge the sensor, that thing is stuck! It's staying in for now. The connector was clean though.
there is a groung strap right on the bell housing that is looking bad but the bolt holding it is so badly rusted i couldn't get that one loose. it probably couldn't be helping having a poor ground.
I took it for a ride and got a quick mis for a minute then it ran fine but gave me p0203 first this time. i forgot to mention I changed coil pack 1 with coil pack 6 just to see if p0206 would show up. I shut it off and cleared the p0203 code. Started going again and it ran fine but gave a p0201 code again.
Just an update ,I am still screwing with it and are still open for some idea's

 

there's two bolts on that sensor, on either side.....the connectors are usually fine, its the magnetic electrodes that stick out of the end that "read" the flywheel that rust and go bad.....

did you find the connector up by the distributor?