What is this sensor on top of the CPS?

DAgostino480

DAgostino480

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Tucson, AZ
So I was driving to work today when my jeep died on me. It did the same thing a week or two ago when I installed a camshaft position sensor and a oil pressure sensor (both mopar). When it dies it will crank but not start, so I pop the hood and wiggle some wires around both sensors and then it decides to run fine after a couple tries of that. The wiring for both needs to be replaced and I am still working on that seeing as I have only owned the jeep for less then a month but today when I was stranded on the side of the road I notice that the black sensor on top of the CPS only had one green wire going to it. After doing some searching I have found that most of the tutorials on how to replace the CPS don't show people having this part on top of the CPS. Can you guys name this sensor and also tell me if it could be causing the crank but no start issue?

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That part on mine is attached to a stud on the engine block, not the OPDA(cps). Not sure what it does either. Although from what you're symptoms are, I'd lean towards it being a loose connection somewhere. Especially if it works again after just wiggling the wires.
 
Don't know what that is, but one green wire? Wouldn't think it can be any kind of a sensor with one wire. some kind of resisted ground maybe, kind of like the old breaker point ignition system, condenser. Doesn't even look like it belongs there.
 
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It is a factory capacitor tied to the coil pack and injectors. It should be bolted to the head just behind the OPDA. It looks like it is on the block but I think it is above the head gasket.
 
DAgostino480 said:
Can you guys name this sensor and also tell me if it could be causing the crank but no start issue?

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Not sure what its called but its probably getting a bad ground connection, it is supposed to be bolted directly to the block above the oil filter. You can even see the empty hole where it is supposed to go in your picture. (Directly above the right side of the yellow handle). Its a 5/16 course thread bolt. I can almost bet on it that if you relocate it back there, your problem will go away.
 
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EJD said:
Not sure what its called but its probably getting a bad ground connection, it is supposed to be bolted directly to the block above the oil filter. You can even see the empty hole where it is supposed to go in your picture.
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Not that it matters but that hole is in the head and not the block.
 
I mean Im not the only one thinking that this shouldn't just have one wire right? It has a protective sleeve so I might cut into that to see if there is another wire tucked into it.

I do have an after market head unit in the car.


Can anyone help me find a part number or a pigtail for this guy?
 
So after researching ignition capacitor it seems like only the 02-06 had them? It looks like the exact same part and its to prevent ignition noise from coming through the radio (which I didn't even know was a thing) but has nothing to do with the vehicle randomly dying.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
My '04 does not have one, that's the first time I have seen one of them. Looking in the Mopar parts guide for that model year showed nothing like that so it's a mysterious object to me too.
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It's in the FSM. Maybe not all of them had one, wouldn't be the first time something like this was one just some of them.
 
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So what you guys are saying is I could be a pioneer for this issue...... greattttttt just my luck :LOL:. Well I am going to start by ordering a new pig tail for the CPS and the oil pressure sensor and go from there. If I touch the wires on my oil pressure sensor then my gauge goes haywire.

Here is a link I found to the capacitor...

https://www.quadratec.com/p/crown-a...73jBJyfwS1p3ASi6PkmFr9vszDlmOcZBoCfjQQAvD_BwE
 
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pagrey said:
It is a factory capacitor tied to the coil pack and injectors. It should be bolted to the head just behind the OPDA. It looks like it is on the block but I think it is above the head gasket.
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You nailed it!

And, yes, only one wire. The ground connection is the other contact.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
I'll be darned, it is a capacitor. Depending on how it's wired in, it could cause the engine to not start if it shorts which some capacitors can do. See what happens when you unplug it.
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I disconnected it and it doesn't do anything.... as far as the vehicle runs normally without it. I also played with the wires again to see if I could recreate the issue with no luck. The cam shaft sensor is only held in by one bolt and the other is broken off in the synchronizer. I will eventually replace the whole thing but wanna track this issue down instead of throwing parts at it. Even when I play with the Cps it won't even stumble.

Question: Will the vehicle shut off with the oil pressure sensor is not plugged in?
 
I would get that CPS attached correctly before anything else. Even though the engine doesn't die when you wiggle it, the vibration from the engine is a lot different then the sudden shock of you trying to violently move it back and forth.
 
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