Neon Crankshaft Sensor

My 98 Neon (DOHC engine) won't start. The engine turns over fine and
the battery checks out as well, but it simply won't start. I got a
spare spark plug and tried it against the block and get no spark at
all. Ran through a couple of troubleshooting charts that lead me to
believe it is probably either the camshaft or crankshaft sensor.

To check out the crankshaft sensor, I verified that I have 8-9V present
on the orange wire. I then pulled the crankshaft sensor out of the car
and brought it inside to test with a power supply and voltmeter. With
the sensor connector facing upward, I connected everything up as
follows:
left pin - ground
middle pin - sensor output
right pin - 8-9 volts
With it hooked up this way, I get 0.61V when there is no metal object
near it, and 0.06V when there is a metal object near it. As I
understand it, the voltage swing should be much greater (5V to >.5V).
Does this mean that my cranshaft sensor is bad or am I doing something
wrong? I'd hate to put $75 into a new sensor if that's not the
problem.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

-John Scheihing

 

Unfortunately, the crank sensor is also sensitive to heat - I have one on my
desk here out of my '94 T&C that works perfectly when cold, then stops
working when hot.

I don't recall that part being $75, I would call around or check online, or
go to a u-pull-it wrecking yard, this is an easy part to get at.

Ted

 

Based on the info above, I assumed that the crank sensor was OK since
it did at least switch. I put a new camshaft sensor and a fully
charged battery and the car started right up. I decided to go for a
test drive and it made it about 1/4 mile before it shut down and now
will not restart. Any ideas?

 

--

Go back to the crank sensor and see if the wires are melted together from
the exhaust heat, if they are separate/repair and retest.

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech