Where can I buy the most reliable aftermarket camshaft position sensor?

[dearchristopher]

Small update - caved and brought it to a shop for a CPS/CKS relearn and OPDA clocking. My diag tool can't read OPDA timing, and I didn't want to spend for an Autel. Cost me $195 to have everything looked over. They brought my OPDA down from 7.2º to 0.2º and the relearn took just fine. Runs just as well as it did before, maybe a little better (placebo can be fun). Had them look over the Bosch O2s and how they were reporting values, shop said everything is looking great with them as well.

I left the NAPA CPS sensor in, and i'll keep the other two for backups I guess. Let's hope my code problems are done!

 

[hear]

Yup all made in the same factory in China...if you're lucky the Napa buyers paid more for quality binning.

It's all made in the same places by the same people.


But also point of order, the thread is about CAMshaft position sensors, but the pics posted by a newer member on page 1 were of CRANKshaft position sensors. Regardless, I've always wondered why these "go bad" given that the Hall Effect sensors have no moving parts and the magnets used are permanent magnets....the only things I can come up with are internal wiring or something like heat cycling pushing it out of spec over time.

EDIT: virtually everything I've said in this thread is wrong. Ignore me.

 

[dearchristopher]

It's all made in the same places by the same people.


But also point of order, the thread is about CAMshaft position sensors, but the pics posted by a newer member on page 1 were of CRANKshaft position sensors. Regardless, I've always wondered why these "go bad" given that the Hall Effect sensors have no moving parts and the magnets used are permanent magnets....the only things I can come up with are internal wiring or something like heat cycling pushing it out of spec over time.

I’m OP and those were my pics. Each of those sensors came from the oil pump drive assembly, which is where the camshaft position sensor sits.

Crankshaft position sensor sits on transmission bell housing. They may differ after 2004, the 2005-06 OPDA is a different design than the previous years.

Your larger point stands, and my assumption is heat on poorly made components. Some people see issues from the harness itself degrading, from what I understand

 

[TheBoogieman]

I use NTK cam and crankshaft sensors with zero issues. My cheap Chinese ones failed within two weeks.

 

[Willys LJ]

I use NTK cam and crankshaft sensors with zero issues. My cheap Chinese ones failed within two weeks.
View attachment 649690

Do you have the part number for the NTK Cam sensor? I couldn't find one a year or so ago when I was replacing the OPDA in my '05 4.0. Which is why I'm running on borrowed time with the one that came in my Crown OPDA.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Do you have the part number for the NTK Cam sensor? I couldn't find one a year or so ago when I was replacing the OPDA in my '05 4.0. Which is why I'm running on borrowed time with the one that came in my Crown OPDA.

Mine's an 03', sorry. I went on the NTK site for the part #, then Ebay for the best price.

 

[sab]

Do you have the part number for the NTK Cam sensor? I couldn't find one a year or so ago when I was replacing the OPDA in my '05 4.0. Which is why I'm running on borrowed time with the one that came in my Crown OPDA.

NTK doesn't make one for the 05-06 TJs.

 

[hear]

I’m OP and those were my pics. Each of those sensors came from the oil pump drive assembly, which is where the camshaft position sensor sits.

Crankshaft position sensor sits on transmission bell housing. They may differ after 2004, the 2005-06 OPDA is a different design than the previous years.

Your larger point stands, and my assumption is heat on poorly made components. Some people see issues from the harness itself degrading, from what I understand

I've never had eyes on an 05/06....maybe post a picture of the OPDA area & show me how those bolt up? I don't mean to derail the thread, but now you've got me curious. Because those sure look like crank sensors. But I'm always happy to be educated.

And yes, harness degredation is real. The heat must shrink the insulation, because seems like every sensor I look at has the wires exposed right at the connector, and they alway seem to be twisted & touching each other.

 

[OldBuzzard]

05-06 OPDA

 

[Strizzo]

I've never had eyes on an 05/06....maybe post a picture of the OPDA area & show me how those bolt up? I don't mean to derail the thread, but now you've got me curious. Because those sure look like crank sensors. But I'm always happy to be educated.

And yes, harness degredation is real. The heat must shrink the insulation, because seems like every sensor I look at has the wires exposed right at the connector, and they alway seem to be twisted & touching each other.

The OPDA is larger than on previous years, closer to the size of a typical distributor, and the sensor bolts in from the side. The below pic shows the reluctor wheel found inside. As i mentioned before, the Standard Motor Products sensor had a thicker brass bushing where the bolt holds it in, which i filed down so that the sensor was closer to the reluctor wheel similar to the original sensor and all has been good.

 

[hear]

Thanks yall. I've only really ever seen the tone wheel piece, never noticed the big goiter off the side of the assembly. It's funny how far the tech progressed from 97 to 06. 97 has a 50/50 "tone wheel" where the sensor is triggered and remains on for 50% of a full revolution (which I guess is 25% of a full engine cycle). On the 05/06, it actually reads the ticks on the tone wheel to understand that the camshaft is in one of 6 positions.

Also kinda crazy to consider that if the engine is at 3k RPM, that tone wheel is spinning at 6k RPM (since it cycles twice for every one full engine rotation). Which means that it's detecting the position 36k times per minute, or 600 times per second. Because I'm the curious type, I wondered how quickly the magnetic field could respond (in a significant enough fashion) and it turns out that most consumer/automotive class Hall Effect sensors are good for as much a 100kHz, but can be good up to 1MHz. Who knew!? I figured our 0.6 kHz signal is kids stuff in the grand scheme of things, but now I know.

Thanks for attending my TED Talk, now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[TimV]

Also kinda crazy to consider that if the engine is at 3k RPM, that tone wheel is spinning at 6k RPM (since it cycles twice for every one full engine rotation).

Um, allowing for the idea that I may be even more clueless than I thought, doesn't the cam spin at half the crank speed?

Tim

 

[Strizzo]

Um, allowing for the idea that I may be even more clueless than I thought, doesn't the cam spin at half the crank speed?

Tim

I'm pretty sure you're right

 

[hear]

Um, allowing for the idea that I may be even more clueless than I thought, doesn't the cam spin at half the crank speed?

Tim

Well the dizzy spins twice for every engine revolution...right?? Or am I having a stroke?

 

[Strizzo]

Well the dizzy spins twice for every engine revolution...right?? Or am I having a stroke?

Engine spins twice for every rotation of the camshaft, therefore the distributor only needs to turn 1/2 the rpm of the crank, as each cylinder is only firing every other time the piston goes to tdc.

Think about it in terms of the timing chain gears - big on the cam turned by the small one on the crank means the cam turns slower than the crank.

 

[hear]

Engine spins twice for every rotation of the camshaft, therefore the distributor only needs to turn 1/2 the rpm of the crank, as each cylinder is only firing every other time the piston goes to tdc.

Think about it in terms of the timing chain gears - big on the cam turned by the small one on the crank means the cam turns slower than the crank.

Well I guess I need to see my doctor. Clearly I haven't touched this area of my Jeep in a hot second. Hopefully nobody is keeping track of just how many times I've been wrong in one thread. I'm going back to bed.