My 96 ram 5.9 L has stopped firing for some reason, i have installed a new ignition coil and still no fire, also i tested and have good power supply to the coil....so where else to look ? someone suggested the crankshaft positioning sensor , could this be the culprit ? how can i test it ? The truck started skipping like it was running out of gas, i shut it off and added some gas because the gas light was on, had 1/4 of a tank and tried to restart, it kicked a few times and ran for 10 seconds sputtering and now is dead, but it definatly has no fire through the plugs.

 

crank or cam position sensor most likely. Not aware of any way to test either...... Short of being able to see the data while cranking....

 

Are the spark plugs sparking? Maybe coil wire?

 

No spark at the plug at all, dead. The crank sensor looks like a real SOB to get at . Where is the cam sensor on my 96 ram, please don't say distributer because i can hardly see the distributer on this rig.

 

It could be something as simple and cheap as a fualty coil wire. You know, the one in the center of the distributor.

 

I'll check it , i had one burn to my manifold once and ground out, that messed the firing up bigtime.

 

Check the timing.

 

The coil wire visually looks alright , i got the crank sensor out, wasn't as bad as i thought, used a stuby ratchet and went in from the top by feel , had to remove the tranny dip spout bracket bolt also by feel to get at the inside sensor bolt but wasn't too bad. Now to find a used one somewhere to try, the dealership told me any sensor off a 6 or 8 cylinder dodge truck motor would work as long as it was automatic tranny.

 

That probably means it's fine but still is no guarantee. I actually have had one be intermittent and look fine before.

Re CPS: is yours OBD1? I ask since mine is and you can do the 3X ignition trick to get the codes. Mine threw a code when the CPS went. It might be worth it to pull the codes just to see what's in there.

 

I buddy up the road has a canadian tire code reader , not sure if it will work on my truck, what kind of reader do i need for my 96 ram and where do i plug it in ?