What's available (and affordable) in the line of crank position sensors? Mine is not liking the cold. Doesn't work at first, then it does.

 

check connections and spacing?

edit: what are the symptoms?

 

Believe it or not, Mother Mopar still has them but IIRC the list price is slightly more than $100.

I had an intermittent CPS problem that John Martin helped me diagnose. When the CPS was malfunctioning the dash voltmeter would show no charging and the A/C and overdrive wouldn't work -- everything else worked fine.

After I installed the new CPS I was wrapping up the wires on the old one to discard it and I noticed a piece of debris smaller than a pencil eraser stuck to the magnetic face of CPS. As John and I later discussed, if the debris was in fact magnetic (likely), it could have been causing my intermittent problem and the old CPS unit may be fine. You obviously cannot see the face of the CPS while it is in place, but you might take your feeler gauge and run it between the CPS and pulley to make certain there is no foreign (magnetic) substance clinging to the CPS.

 

I agree that a bit of magnetic debris can kill the CPS temporarily. I don't think you could verify that with it on the truck, or clean it and verify the clean. It's not that hard to pop off the mount and examine with a jaundiced. If there's magnetic debris on it you can pick off with your finger nails, you've probably fixed it.

Personally I've had more trouble with connectors than with the sensor itself. Luckily it's pretty easy to probe the connector at the top front of the engine and verify operation. (or not)

 

It started this winter and only when the temperature stayed below zero like the last 2 days. No tach and the volt meter is pegged. Which is odd considering I bypassed the PCM with a stand alone regulator tapped off the ignition switch run side. Stays that way for about a minute then everything is normal again. The lights are normal brightness when it happens. If it follows the pattern like the last time it did it, it won't happen again until I let it cold soak over the weekend.

 

If need be, a new one can be had from Genosgarage.com for way under $100. Make sure it is for our rigs, as they offer the ones for the 2nd gens also. They look identical except for the wiring harness connection. Ours are roundish, while 2nd gens more of an oval fitting. I like the new style out now vs our OEM ones. The mounting slots are both oval in shape, making adjustments to the gap clearance easier, especially if you ever decide to install a Fluid Damper

 

Just for grins and giggles, clean the grounds near the PCM

The other possibility is a weak ignition switch or wire. Low sense voltatge to the VR would peg the voltmeter, as the VR thinks the battery's dead. Low voltage off that same lead would confuse the PCM.

Connector problems are often temperature sensitive, as they are made of metal, and metal moves when temp changes.

 

Humm, possible. I know I have a problem inside my harness somewhere, that is why I had to bypass the voltage regulator and TPS. One of the things I did was remove, sand, and apply copper antiseeze to every ground and terminal I could get my pudgy fat fingers on. Being intermittent, it makes it hard to troubleshoot.

 

Common item. Clean the 10 way connector under the intake manifold.

I use DeOxit. WD40 is better than nothing.

 

I would check th connector and wiring as well for corrosion.