Replaced Crank Position Sensor - 156 JTS

kartracer · January 10, 2012, 07:18:29 PM

Thought I would post my experience in having the crank position sensor changed on my 156.

Originally a miss developed which would mainly happen at idle, and under acceleration around 2000rpm. This developed to a point where the car would cut out at traffic lights. I suspected a coil, but as the car would run fine most of the time I thought this was strange.

Eventually the 156 stopped completely and left me stranded. After a bit of time to cool down it went again. I started to suspect crank sensor issues as the problems occurred mainly when hot.

Plugging in a scan tool confirmed it - 8 error codes relating to CPS.

So I rang the closest Alfa dealer who quoted a price in excess of $400 for the sensor - which also had to be ordered.

So I searched eBay to find nothing available in Oz. Then I searched internationally and found some in the UK for $66 delivered.

A couple of weeks later it's installed and the car is running like a dream again.

So in short: If you need a CPS buy it from overseas!

colcol · January 10, 2012, 09:16:40 PM

Hey Kartracer, thats the sort of thing we need on our forum, good news stories, how many ks has your JTS done?, mine has nearly 100ks, will have to look out for these issues, a few months ago i saw a crank sensor for a 156 on ebay for about $100-$150?, and i think it was in Australia, and it was a Bosch, and it interchanged with a few other cars if i remember correctly, i had a VL Commodore and over its lifetime in went thru 3 crankshaft sensors, so its not only Alfa's that does them, and what sort of scan tool have you got?, i have been thinking of getting one for these very issues and maybe turn off my airbag light, thanks for the good work, Colin.

bix · January 10, 2012, 09:24:26 PM

Late last year, after fanging around Winton for a few laps and getting ready for the next session, my 156 TS wouldn't start. Bruno correctly diagnosed it as a faulty CPS and after 30 minutes of cooling down it restarted and I nervously drove all the way back to Melbourne - and made it! The car had done 106000ks.

kartracer · January 11, 2012, 08:50:57 PM

104,000km so far. The fault appeared around 102,000km I guess.

The scan tool I used is actually a $45 Wi Fi one off eBay which I connected to my iPhone and used the Rev app to read codes.

Works really well and even has live updating of all sorts of engine parameters like oxygen sensor voltage, air flows, fuel usage, etc.

There's another app called FuzzyCar which is only $5 and works much the same, maybe even better than Rev ($50 app).

Joey · January 12, 2012, 07:59:57 PM

Quote from: kartracer on January 11, 2012, 08:50:57 PM
104,000km so far. The fault appeared around 102,000km I guess.

The scan tool I used is actually a $45 Wi Fi one off eBay which I connected to my iPhone and used the Rev app to read codes.

Works really well and even has live updating of all sorts of engine parameters like oxygen sensor voltage, air flows, fuel usage, etc.

There's another app called FuzzyCar which is only $5 and works much the same, maybe even better than Rev ($50 app).

Could you please post a link to the wifi OBD2 reader you bought?
I am looking for one at the moment and a bit daunted by the choice!
Thanks,
Joey.

wankski · January 12, 2012, 09:43:37 PM

seriously, just get FES or alfadiag... it is alfa specific - the apps will give you generic OBDII codes, but many of them are manufacturer specific.... alfadiag also tells you what to do in some cases - location of ecus and squibs. No generic will do that.

pointless.

colcol · January 12, 2012, 09:54:22 PM

Bosch crank sensor in Australia $150 delivered, England, lot cheaper, but watch for excessive rip off delivery costs, suits 4 cylinder 156, V-6 164, 166, 156, English prices, almost worth buying one and chucking it in the boot for that day when your car stops, Australian spare parts outlets need to look at prices, or go broke, Colin.

kartracer · January 13, 2012, 07:55:52 AM

Quote from: wankski on January 12, 2012, 09:43:37 PM
seriously, just get FES or alfadiag... it is alfa specific - the apps will give you generic OBDII codes, but many of them are manufacturer specific.... alfadiag also tells you what to do in some cases - location of ecus and squibs. No generic will do that.

pointless.

FES or alfadiag might be bucket loads better, but any OBD2 tool is not pointless.

The other benefit is that I can use it for other makes, not just my Alfa.

This is the one I bought:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Wifi-WLAN-OBD2-OBDII-WIRELESS-Diagnostic-Ipad-iPhone-/170744555089?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27c12b2651#ht_3255wt_1168

Cheap solution for reading fault codes.