So I drove my brother's car (mine for now) to work this morning. Drove good. Today after work, I let the car sit in the parking lot idle (Park), about 5 minutes into idle CEL kicks in.

FML.

Start to drive out of the parking lot onto the main road.. as soon as I start to accelerate harder car starts to jerk like crazy. Pull into another parking lot.. shut the car off, re-seat my spark plug wires one at a time @ the spark plugs and @ the coil.. Turn the car on, car starts as normal, while in Park, I open the throttle.. everything sounds find.

Drive out of the parking lot, no more hard jerking on acceleration. Get onto the highway, driving @ 65~70mph, go to pass someone up, hit 80mph, then ease off the gas pedal until I find the sweet spot to get me back @ 65mph, in doing this my car starts to jerk again, I can't ease the acceleration down to 60, 55, 50... finally let go of the gas pedal and pull to the shoulder.

I do the key dance, on/off 3 times, get my error codes. Start the car and ease back into 55mph, but car refuses to go into 60mph.

According to code P0344 this is a camshaft sensor, this sensor was replaced by a mechanic a little over a year ago, the receipt was still in my brother's glove box.

Take it to mechanic says that it's either the crankshaft position sensor or the knock sensor.

Mechanic says when it comes to mopar vehicles, camshaft sometimes is legitimate but a lot of times knock sensor and or crankshaft sensor is the cause for the camshaft sensor error. Also a lot of the times camshaft position sensor throws an error due to slight oil leaks over time.

So should I do the crankshaft position sensor or the knock sensor? Is there a guide on how to replace either knock or crankshaft?

I'm going to assume it's going to be a pain in the *** and both sensors are located deep down/below and probably in the back side by the firewall.

 

I went ahead and reset CEL via unhooking battery for a few minutes.. turned car on, let it get warmed up; CEL light popped again after 5 or so minutes. Did key dance, now I have P0344 left.


Edit: Also where can I find all the part numbers from Mopar? I understand that aftermarket sensors for the most part do not work. I'll have to look into replacing the sensors with Mopar OEM.

Would like to look up camshaft, crankshaft, and knock sensors. The camshaft sensor that my brother had replaced was probably aftermarket.

 

Can someone confirm if this is correct for Mopar parts (sensors):

Crankshaft: 05269873AB
Camshaft: 05096057AA
Knock: 05033316AA
Camshaft Sensor Magnet: 05293199AA

For the 2004 SE ATX. And I'm guessing the Camshaft sensor doesn't come with a magnet?

 

Spoke with my brother.. says the camshaft position sensor was aftermarket. -.-

Went ahead and purchased the sensor + magnet. I'll do the replacement myself.

Next in line may be the ignition coil since apparently that can some how trip the P0344 code.

If anyone knows.. is MSD better than Mopar or is there another aftermarket of better quality within the same price range? Doesn't look like the coil has ever been replaced.

Once I have the money for the timing belt / tensioner / water pump replacement I'll also have the crankshaft position sensor replaced.

 

My knock sensor went bad a few years ago. Had to replaced it. Car jerked like crazy.

 

It's only happening when I hit 60mph or when I accelerate hard (assuming my car is officially in safe mode / cannot go over 2500~ rpms).

If Camshaft position sensor + magnet doesn't do the trick, I'll go straight for the ignition coil next. If not that, then when it's time to replace timing belt and other parts, I'll have crank + knock sensor replaced.

Find it awkward that this crap happened right after my mechanic did a tune up on my car, literally the day after. -.-