97 jeep grand cherokee camshaft position sensor location

1997 Grand Cherokee ZJ Crankshaft Position Sensor Replacement

Hello all,

I looked around for some decent pictures or instructions on replacing the Crank Sensor on my 1997 ZJ but could not find any so i decided to make my own.

I found using this many extensions made it much easier to be able to turn the ratchet as the trans shifter is in the way, about 10 more inches would have been perfect though. The Crank Sensor bolt size is 11mm. I used a swivel extension on the end and it worked perfectly.
The long bolt is for pushing the sensor from the plug over the trans housing onto the other side.

This photo is taken from laying under the vehicle feet out the passenger side just in front of the cross member that holds the trans up.

A little better idea of where it is.

For the sake of the picture i moved the shift cable to the side but the Crank Sensor pigtail would prevent any upward movement of it from here so pull the shift cable down toward you.

The spark plug wire you see is Cyl #6 looking down from the passenger side behind the motor. The Crank Sensor wire is the small one coming out from behind the block going into the large connector just under my hand.

Getting the new Crank Sensor in was oddly much harder than getting the old one out. I had to angle it in just the right way so that it would slide into the hole and not be too tall and hit the body.

I had to thread the bolt on with just the socket on because the angle was just too odd.

Tighten it up. I read around that the proper torque is 60 InLbs but i didnt have a torque wrench on my so i just guessed

If there is anything i left out please let me know

Thanks

Good contribution to the cause, but there a couple of things that need to be straightened out.

It's a crankshaft position sensor. There are several different abbreviations used so I generally just say crank sensor to avoid confusion. People get confused with the CPS, that's in the distributor.

You are missing a wire guard on the crank sensor. It keeps your cable off the sensor and wiring.

Good contribution to the cause, but there a couple of things that need to be straightened out.

It's a crankshaft position sensor. There are several different abbreviations used so I generally just say crank sensor to avoid confusion. People get confused with the CPS, that's in the distributor.

You are missing a wire guard on the crank sensor. It keeps your cable off the sensor and wiring.

Thanks, I saw it being called the CPS in another thread so i figured that was alright. I believe the wire guard you are talking about is just not in any of the pictures, it did come with plastic loom around the wire exactly like this one if that is what you meant. =)

The wire guard is a piece of metal that goes under the bolt head and wraps upward to route the wire back the other direction. It is a pain to get back on once it's off. Yours being missing is an indicator that someone has probably changed the crank sensor before.

The wire guard is a piece of metal that goes under the bolt head and wraps upward to route the wire back the other direction. It is a pain to get back on once it's off. Yours being missing is an indicator that someone has probably changed the crank sensor before.

Ah okay, yeah there was nothing on there when i took it off. Odd that it would be missing though because owner before me was a little old lady who always took it to the dealer apparently.
Thanks though =)

owner before me was a little old lady who always took it to the dealer apparently.
Thanks though =)

HA, you find it odd that a dealership would half-*** something?

When I replaced the Crank Sensor in my WJ, getting that 11mm bolt started was a pita, until I used an old mechanics trick. Like you, I used the long extention to remove the bolt. Then when I was ready to put it back in, I used a little duct tape to cover the head of the bolt, then I forced it into the socket. This makes the bolt nice and tight in the socket and holds it in place while I used the long extention to fish it into place and tight it down. This process was quick, easy, and it worked like a charm.:thumbsup:

Thanks for this post! My current problem is located here: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/help-my-jeep-dying-1167155/ and from the research I've done I think this is going to be the next thing I replace. Thanks again for making my life next weekend just a little easier!!!

At least on a WJ, no matter what you do to make the job easier, it is still a royal PITA.

Hi there, I have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L with the 42re automatic. I am swaping in an AX-15 5-spd manual. I need to get the Crankshaft POsition Sensor for this to work properly. I need the CPS for the manual trans, not the auto. Can anyone help me find one!?

Thanks in advance!
Cole

The auto CPS has 3 terminals and the standard has 6 terminals I believe, would this be the correct one, would it still work?

Hi there, I have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L with the 42re automatic. I am swaping in an AX-15 5-spd manual. I need to get the Crankshaft POsition Sensor for this to work properly. I need the CPS for the manual trans, not the auto. Can anyone help me find one!?

Thanks in advance!
Cole

The 1997 Cherokee doesn't show a Crankshaft sensor for a manual transmission. However, if you drop back to a 1996, there is a Crank Sensor listed for a manual transmission. You might want to take the sensor that came out of the vehicle, for a walk to your local parts supplier. Since 1996, esp. late year 1996 Cherokee's shared a lot of parts with the 1997, you might get lucky.

I just checked

and they list two different part numbers for the 1997 Cherokee with the 4.0L.....

97 Cherokee, 97 Grand Cherokee, Cam sensor, Crank sensor....at least fix the title.

97 Cherokee, 97 Grand Cherokee, Cam sensor, Crank sensor....at least fix the title.

Oh man........ I didn't see the 1997 ZJ, I only saw the 1997 Cherokee... Did they even offer the manual in a AS built 1997 ZJ?

the crank sensor is commonly referred to as a CKP sensor and the cam sensor is referred to as a CMP sensor, so there ya go clarification done lol

unfortunately i'm having to do the CKP on my wife's 03 WJ 4.0L also

97 Cherokee, 97 Grand Cherokee, Cam sensor, Crank sensor....at least fix the title.

Cant believe I put the wrong sensor name in and didn't realize it for this long...
Fixed and thanks.

Update: Since this original post, I've replaced my crank sensor 4 times with minimal positive changes in the problem of stalling. Anyone have any "new" updates to the issue they can provide? I've completed the "Dirty dozen/ 12 things to do when your jeep stalls" with no avail. Just like everyone else, I've replaced just about every sensor on the vehicle except the PCM. Im tempted to do this since O'Reilly's has a BOSCH one with a LIFETIME warranty now for not too much more than the ****ty A1 Cardone remans.