I am trying to replace the crankshaft sensor on our 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. (3.8 L) It just would not budge. I put some PB blaster on it and it turned as far as I could rotate it. I kept trying to twist it loose enough for it to slide out, but it wouldn't. Finally I grabbed a pair of pliars to pry it out and the end broke right off. I am at my wits end here with this and I could really use some advice. I tried my air compressor to blow it out (found that advice on another thread) with no luck. Even bought a Dremel with a right angle to try and drill it out. Nothing seems to be helping me.

 

If you can get a right angle drill and drill a small hole in the middle, and Screw in a Dry Wall screw, you might be able to pull it out. It will help if you get a small propane torch to melt the rubber O-Ring(the cause of stuck sensor) as you pull it out. Just have a Bucket of Water next to you in case something catch on fire.

If that doesn't work, ur best bet is completely it shatter it with ur dremel. Don't worry about the bits and pieces falling down, all the debris will end up in the bottom Fly Wheel cover anyway.

If you wonder, yes, this happens all the time.

 

Curious, what sent you after the Sensor? Thanks

 

Well, I had to have my engine replaced. It was under a six month warranty and a week ago out of no where, my van stalled out on my wife at a drive thru window. It started back up immediately but kept stalling out every few seconds of driving. Had it towed back to the mechanic and he replaced the cam sensor. Went to pick it up and it sputtered once on me on the way home like it was going to stall out again. Happened once more when my wife was driving it, so I called a buddy of mine and he said that it sounded like the crankshaft sensor. Honestly, if I had known that it was going to be such a pain I would have taken it to a DIFFERENT mechanic.
I am trying to drill it out in pieces now, but the location faces the back, so it is impossible to see what I'm doing. Using a pocket mirror attached to a bent hanger to help me out. Never thought about melting the ring. I'll look into that tonight. Thanks!

 

I believe you can take the wiper cowling off pretty easily, and even undo the front motor mount and lower it some on the jack.

I go the below from another forum..............

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this is SOOOOO ez it's scary. shouldn't take any more than 15 min.
before you start, install fender covers, NEVER set tools on or fasteners on the batter. it is also recommended to disconnect NEGATIVE cable from the battery prior to working the vehicle. NEVER remove positive cable first.

1. remove wiper arms. this can be accomplished by rotating fastener cover to expose the retaining nuts. remove nuts. now the hardest part of the whole job.. removing the arms. they are press-tapered fit. so you need to figure out how to disrupt this interference fit. There is a special puller for this. But I'm sure you don't have one. I have a way of doing this but I won't disclose because some **** retentive member will call me a hack and a crude... so I'll leave up to you for removal but be CAREFUL not to screw up the threaded shafts.

2. release hood latch by pulling HOOD lever in the vehicle then go to the front of the vehicle, find the safety catch and release. then open the hood using your hands/arms. hold the hood fully open with one hand and use the other hand to lift and rotate prop rod. find hole in hood to marked to prop rod placement. warning, pull on on prop rod where you see the end, not on the part attached to the radiator support. also be careful not to use both hands for this task as the hood may fall on to your head causing injury

3. verify all screws have been removed from cowl panel and remove this section, some effort may be required as the panel has some interference with hood hinges. prior to fully removing, disconnect black hose for washer circuit. there will be a spice point. you may have to use two hands to separate. hole one side of splice point and grasp other side twist back and forth while pulling apart

4. disconnect electrical connector mounted on wiper housing just above master cylinder fill cap. the master cylinder is located on the driver side of the vehicle near the strut tower

5. remove the 2 drain tubes located on the bottom of the housing near each strut tower. they are black corregated tubes approximately 1" in diamter. this can be removed by grasping the tubes near the housing and twist while pulling

6. remove 4 10mm nuts at the base of the windshield. there attach some thing metal brackets from the front of the housing to the body. you do NOT have to remove the brackets, just the nuts

7. remove 6 (I think) 13 or 15mm bolts securing the housing to the body. they are silver in color and located across the housing behind the wiper linkage... but there is no clearance problems.

8. pull the washer hose thru housing hole toward the engine compartment or find another splice point within the engine compartment separate as previously described.

9. remove housing assembly. This can be somewhat difficult as the modules are sometimes slightly bonded to the body.. just natural effect... not intentionaly bonded by the factory. then using your given talents, carefully remove housing from vehicle ... use caution as not to damage paint finish on fenders while removing

10. for installation, reverse removal proceedures. when tightening fasteners, torque to manufacturer specification to prevent damage from overtightening or insufficient torque from undertightening.

I hope this proceedure is sufficient and accurate enough to perform this task. maybe it's accurate enough for the requested 'sticky'. I think that every section of this forum should have a sticky for every possible repair and trouble shooting task. That should make servicing much easier for everyone .

The removal is really easy. The whole motor and arms stay in the tray. You just pull the whole tray out in one piece.

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I agree with 2therock, remove the Wiper arm assembly, it will give you TONS of more rooms to work on. Only takes about 15 minute. Since they replaced the engine, I am pretty sure they've been out b4, and can easily be removed.

 

It only took 6 days working a few hours every night. What helped? I removed the battery and battery shelf. I removed the cruise control module. I removed the whole wiper tray described above. The kicker was removing the exhaust pipe running from the front (pistons 2,4,6) to the back. In order to get to the sensor easier I also remove the retaining bolt for the heater line that goes from the pump to the heater core.

i used my new dremel and right angle attachment and drilled the inner sore ofthe sensor. BE PATIENT with this and make sure you only drill the guts of the sensor. Once the guts were drilled and the sensor would move back and forth (using angled needle nose pliers) I was able to pull the inner metal casing out. once that was done, the outer shell peeled out.

 

Thanks for lettin us know. Good job.