2002 jeep grand cherokee 4.7 camshaft position sensor location

• Report

The crankshaft position sensor (on the 4.0 liter six) is high on the bell housing on the driver's side. It is just a few inches from the gas pedal, on the engine side of the firewall. It's in a difficult spot. Check YouTube for a video of how they change them. Leave only 0.030 inches clearance to the flywheel when installing. (On the 4.7 liter V8 it's near the starter.)

Some tips on replacing Cam Shaft position sensor on a 4.7L WJ
In my program to replace parts that fail on the WJ over 100K miles, today I replace the cam shaft position sensor (NOT THE CRANK SHAFT POSITION SENSOR). I let the local garage do the crankshaft position sensor – it was $ very well spent. Google replacing the crank shaft position sensor...the horror stories should convince you to take it to a garage.

So the cam shaft position sensor is best attacked from underneath the jeep. It does not need to be jacked up. The sensor is located on the passenger side (e.g. ‘right’ side) of the engine. It is held in by a 10MM screw. The FSM says to release the connector then unscrew the bolt holding the sensor. I found it easier to unscrew the bolt first pop out the sensor, then undo the connector.

Thing are very tight in the area where the sensor is located. I had to use a flexible joint + 10MM 6-point socket to remove the screw. Caution – I strongly suggest a 6-point socket so you don’t round off the bolt head. I had to hold the socket on the bolt with one hand, and turn the ratchet wrench with the other. Bugger was a bit tight!

Once the bolt was removed, the sensor easily rotated out of the hole. I lubed the o-ring on the new sensor with some oil and popped it in. Put the bolt in by hand and then tightened with a socket, then plugged in the connector. Strongly advised to use a real mopar sensor. Reason being is that they work better and last longer.
Total job took about 45 mins. Have fun wrenching!

J

Saw an amazing tip in a youtube clip. Remove the battery and the battery tray and access from the top. Took me under 20 minutes start to finish.

Cool! even better. Thanks for sharing.
J

Incredible! When I did mine it took me almost 5 hours! Can only get one hand up there. For a couple hours, I couldn't even find it. It's way the heck up there and I didn't know what it looked like. All you can see really is the head of the bolt that holds it in. Could not figure out which size socket to use for a long time. Then it took forever to get the clip off. I didn't have enough extensions, so i had to make a run to to O'Rilies to buy another foot of extensions. Getting the clip back on, after I installed the new one was also hard. I cut my hand up on the stock radiator hose clamp.

snip
Then it took forever to get the clip off. I didn't have enough extensions, so i had to make a run to to O'Rilies to buy another foot of extensions.
snip
.

Clip - that is why I removed the sensor first, so I could use two hands on the connector - greasy, slippery, and wasn't exactly sure how the clip mechanism worked.
Yea, if you work it from the bottom you will need a total of about 12-14" extensions and a swivel joint helps too.
Removing the battery is a better alternative, IMHO, after doing it from underneath and *then* seeing this video..