2003 TJ crank position sensor codes and drama

[nondem]

2003 Wrangler Sahara 4.0 w/42RLE Auto.

I had an incident last week that has me puzzled. I don't drive the Jeep much...usually just for weekend offroad trips and around my area every couple of weeks so it doesn't sit up.
I started it up the other day and it started right up but was running rough and threw a CEL within a few seconds of starting. I drove it for about 10 minutes and it continued to run rough till I parked it. Checked the codes and there were two: a Crank Position sensor and misfire on cylinder #2.

I suspected mouse/wiring damage since the jeep ran fine when parked just like they say on FB markeplace.... and it sits in a barn all the time and I've had issues with rodents. I traced all the wires related to the sensor and spark coil-bar. Everything looked fine but I unplugged/plugged everything checking for corrosion etc...and re-seated the coil bar in the process. Everything was clean w/no signs of bad connections.
Cleared the codes and started it back up...runs fine, drove it for about 50 miles over two days because I need to know I can trust it, no issues, no CEL.
I'm tempted to go ahead and replace the crank sensor but just the code isn't enough to be confident that is/was the issue(parts cannon). Also, with parts quality of late I dunno if a new replacement sensor will be reliable. Even with mopart OEM...I mean, lets face it, Mopar is crap these days(sorry). Anyone have similar experience?
One note about the Crank sensor for future google searchers
I found TONS of videos showing all about it...but they all showed the sensor on the top-driver side of the transmission bell housing. I spent a lot of time looking for it in the hard to see wrong place because the later years with the 42RLE is in a completely different location and actually much easier to access and replace. Since this was only the case on the last few years of TJ production it takes some digging to find out....particularly when a lot of the videos stated "All TJ's have it here...." The information is out there if you dig through the noise...I guess at the time some of the video's were made it was ALL TJs so that can be excused.

 

[cpwolf]

Sucks, I hate to say this, but I wouldn’t start replacing on a one off.

I had this happen, similar, one time, 5 years+ ago.

I unhooked the battery and started checking things etc.

Drive n regularly and never had a problem again.

I’d wait for a repeat of some sort. That’s just me, because replacing parts you don’t know to the the issue…you are adding variables that aren’t there now.

I only do that as a last resort, and still don’t like to.

 

[TallGuy]

I had this same exact issue. Rough idle, misfire and intermittent stalling. The rough idle was pretty consistent but stalling was very infrequent. It's possible you just had a bad connection.

Replacing the CPS fixed my problem and I've had zero issues. Bought NTK sensor from AutoZone and done. Few months ago and seems to be holding up so far.

I agree that throwing parts at problems isn't the way to go when diagnosing, especially if you can't reproduce the issue.

 

[TheBoogieman]

When mine went bad, the Jeep ran like crap and would stall without higher rpms. Upon restarting it, it would sputter, backfire and shake really bad. Then it wouldn't start until the engine cooled down. I bought cheap Chinese sensors and they lasted two weeks and I got stranded three times. I replaced the camshaft and crankshaft sensors with NTK brand and zero issues since. They were around $40 each.

 

[nondem]

Actually there is more to the story now....it did it again. I replaced the Crank sensor and it was fine for another 20 miles or so then did it again. So I replaced the cam position sensor. I thought that was it because it did fine again for another 50 miles or so.
Now, it's running but at highway speed it sputters and pops on occasion and once my CEL flickered on/off momentarily but it didn't stay which is weird because it still doesn't seem to be running just right.
My plan at this point unless someone has a better idea is to replace the entire Camshaft Syncronizer. AFAIK, that's the last thing it could be short of the computer or maybe a bad connection I missed. Side note: I've been getting "Standard" brand sensors because they at least used to be a good brand when I was a kid....before everything was made in the land of "almost right"

 

[Beowulf]

Any update on this?

 

[nondem]

Any update on this?

Yes....it was the coil-bar. When it was hot it worked fine but caused a miss when it was cold. A new MSD coil bar solved the issue.
I swapped the cam and crank sensors already during the troubleshooting process so now I have some spares.

 

[hear]

Anything intermittent makes me strongly suspect wiring. These harnesses are 20+ years old. They've been heat cycled. They're brittle. They've been tugged on my 5 previous owners. I've never looked at a TJ harness that didn't need some degree of help.