Question about camshaft sensor and oil pump drive assembly

Goatman said:
Pull the cap off the OPDA. It's just two screws. And see what is going on in there. It could be something simple is going on. The sensor may just need a shim to move it back so it isn't making contact when it gets hot. Always do the easy stuff first.

And be sure you are on top dead center (compression) and not lined up on the exhaust stroke. Watch a couple Utube vids. You can even go step by step with the vid by hitting pause between steps.
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Thanks for the advice, I have done a lot of reading, trial and error, and am pretty certain that I just need the new "tool" to line up the pulse ring as nothing came with just the sensor, however I was thinking this morning, and If I get the timing to TDC on the compression stroke, look down in where the OPDA sits, and align the Synchronizer accordingly, it would either be correct, or 180° off as the tip of the Synchronizer is like a spade screwdriver and is either going to be lined up, or 180° out, but seeing that the entire assembly faces the rear of the motor when completed right, I would assume the pulse ring should be towards the front of the engine when at TDC of the compression stroke, as in this orientation the sensor itself would face the rear of the engine. I am just waiting for a friend to stop by to plug off the plug hole at cylinder #1, to ensure I'm at TDC, then I'll place the Synchronizer in there, crank it by hand without the sensor on there, watch and see if the pulse ring is indeed 180° opposite of the way the sensor faces, it would seem this would be the way to get it back in synch where my pulse ring doesn't have a hole in it, or the housing to "line" up.
 
So I'm not quite to the bottom of this problem yet, but as things sit while I wait for the new part to arrive (or better put the store to open) I had a friend plug off the plug hole for cylinder #1, and am certain that I'm at TDC, put the OPDA back in, plugged the sensor in, crank it and nothing, just a lot of racket, choking, sputtering noises. I say F**k it! And decide to just wait for the part (A complete OPDA with sensor already on top). I'm in sitting on the couch and thought, "why don't I just go loosen the hold down ring, and rotate the OPDA and see if that makes a difference"? I do this rotate the entire assembly so that the plug is facing the passenger tire, basically 25° off of how it should normally sit (facing the firewall), crank it and she fires up and runs smooth as butter, I tighten the hold down ring, and take it up the street, runs better than it ever has. My plan is to get the new OPDA on Monday, it should come with the "tool" to line it up, and get it so it's sitting in the right position. Anyways, I suppose this is just a learning situation in that If you're going to replace the camshaft POS sensor, DO NOT EFF with the OPDA at all, just unscrew the two 5.5mm bolts on top of it, pull it out, put the new one on, and plug it back in. If one is going to pull the OPDA out, they had better make marks so it goes back in the exact way that it came out! Lesson learned. If my damn OPDA had the holes in it, to line up, there would be no issues, however mine as can be seen in the pics clearly does NOT have these alignment holes. I just want to thank any who responded as I would have had no idea on how to get things reset back to TDC. Thank you all! I hope that I can return the favor in the future for people here. Y'all are some really good people!
 
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Goatman said:
Just glad you got it running👍
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Me too, however, the OCD in me will not let up until I have a new OPDA assembly installed with it oriented in the correct direction. It just burns my ass that my pulse ring or housing has no holes to line up.......otherwise as the several YouTube videos demonstrate, it's a piece of cake to re-align with the camshaft. If you look at the pics I uploaded mine clearly has no holes. Supposedly there is a plastic "tool" with an arrow on top for the style that happened to be in my Jeep. However, whoever installed this in the Jeep before I owned it, likely round filed that little tool shortly after they installed it........I'm just venting, all will be well once I get the right Oil pump drive assembly, and get it in place💯👍. It just goes to show that trying to do a job without the right tools is bound to cause frustration, more cussing than on a guys trip to Vegas, ect. The one thing I keep reiterating is my gratefulness of the people here! I'm so impressed with the general attitude, the willingness to help others is very obvious, and in my opinion is the very purpose of a forum like this. You guys are all great! I've always done my own mechanics, and have always been able to figure things out, but this I simply wouldn't have been able to do without the help of those on this forum. So I guess my experience might help someone in the future who finds out that their pulse ring has no hole, nor does the housing, and they can save themselves a lot of headache by simply ordering a new one💯👍💯👍💯
 
The folks here are top notch. Even when we disagree about something we still help educate each other.
And some of these 'simple' jobs can be a nightmare without a special tool or a trick someone comes up with. This is the first forum I've felt inclined to check out daily. And it seems even a new guy is treated with respect regardless of the question or problem.👍👍
 
I’m doing a preventative maintenance opda on my 04. After replacement does any fine tuning need to be done at the dealership as far as hooking it up to a computer to check timing? I’m old school as in used to using a timing light.
 
Joedert said:
I’m doing a preventative maintenance opda on my 04. After replacement does any fine tuning need to be done at the dealership as far as hooking it up to a computer to check timing? I’m old school as in used to using a timing light.
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If you follow the replacement procedure to align the new synchronizer to the old one, then you shouldn’t need it to be reprogrammed. If you lose the reference, it will need to be realigned and may need to be re-synchronized by a DRB tool (only certain dealers still have these).
 
Goatman said:
The folks here are top notch. Even when we disagree about something we still help educate each other.
And some of these 'simple' jobs can be a nightmare without a special tool or a trick someone comes up with. This is the first forum I've felt inclined to check out daily. And it seems even a new guy is treated with respect regardless of the question or problem.👍👍
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Couldn't agree more🤘💯. Every question that I "Google" which is TJ Wrangler related includes the words "TJ Wrangler Forum" as I want my results filtered to show me the advice from this forum 1st. This forum is #1 IMHO when it comes to TJ Wranglers.
 
Mower2339 said:
Couldn't agree more🤘💯. Every question that I "Google" which is TJ Wrangler related includes the words "TJ Wrangler Forum" as I want my results filtered to show me the advice from this forum 1st. This forum is #1 IMHO when it comes to TJ Wranglers.
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Just so you know - you can use the search bar on this site and when the results pop up click on the Google tab and it’s like google searching this site already built in. It works pretty damn well.
 
Is this issue with all model year 06 with a 4.0? I ask because I thought I read that Jeep fixed the issue before the end of the year model run and can check the vin number to see if I have a redesigned opda. Also read Crown sells a replacement that allows oil to the upper bushing where as oem doesn't. I don have a issue 116k, but this sounds pretty serious that some pm is in order here. So much conflicting info out there on these jeeps, I just come here now for my education,,,gregg
 
Rubicon John said:
Just so you know - you can use the search bar on this site and when the results pop up click on the Google tab and it’s like google searching this site already built in. It works pretty damn well.
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No shit? Thanks man! Really, I am not that computer savvy, and didn't realize this. Learn something new everyday. This will save me some time in the future.
 
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So to any who might look this up in the future, I picked up a new pulse ring/oil pump assembly, this one had an alignment hole in the pulse ring, and the housing. After resetting TDC at cylinder #1, and aligning these "holes" on the Pulse ring assembly, I was able to get the Jeep running, and running better than ever I might add. However this being said the wiring harness on the camshaft position sensor cannot be facing the rear of the engine, it faces about 25° off, points to the passenger front tire really. I'm not sure if it's due to the TDC being a tad off, or what. I got TDC by having my wife hold her finger in the plug hole on cylinder one until feeling air push out of the hole as I rotated the engine at the harmonic balancer clockwise, once she was certain air was pushing out (said she even felt it blow against her neck/chest area when removing her finger) I continued rotating this clockwise until the alignment notch on the backside of the harmonic balancer was dead nuts in line with the index mark poking out from the block (right around the 2-0-clock position). I'm not sure whether it matters that my CMSFT POS sensor plug isn't facing the rear of the block or not, but so far, no CEL, no stuttering, stalling, ect. I have drove the Jeep out on the highway, even hitting 3500-3800RPM in each gear, up to 90mph in 5th gear, and no problems thus far. I will say just due to my OCD issues that it's kinda driving me insane that the sensor isn't facing the rear of the block like it is supposed to face, but at this point I guess beggars can't be choosers. I'm just happy she's running, and running damn good too. In addition to the camshaft position sensor/OPDA assembly, I also replaced the Crankshaft position sensor, the throttle position sensor both factory Mopar®™ parts, as well as cleaned the IAC and it's housing. Hope this helps someone in the future with this problem.
 
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