Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

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candymancan
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Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by candymancan »

So aparently mopar sent me a cps with a plug for the older 93-96 grand cherokees. Mine is a 98.

The sensor honestly.. looks identical though. Wiring all the same. The plug end is just diff.

What do you guys think ? Splice it ? Or ? The sensor is litterally just 3 wires and a magnet. In a casing. I dont see why it wouldnt work.. but i dunno
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9L Limited 219k
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 I6 laredo 430k
1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer 155k
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will e
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Re: Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by will e »

I wouldn't. Once you splice you can't 'unsplice'. And so if it doesn't work you'll have to splice in the old harness, or just splice the connection without any harness.

I would be concerned with the splice failing. On a crank sensor a failed spliced means the engine dies.
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Stuka
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Re: Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by Stuka »

I would try to get the correct sensor.

But if you are in a time crunch, I would at least verify that both years use the same crank wheel. If the diameter or number of teeth is different, the sensor may read incorrectly.

And, do NOT cut your stock wiring harness. Instead, cut the plug off your old sensor, plug that into your stock harness, and then splice the new sensor into the pigtail from the old sensor.
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will e
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Re: Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by will e »

Stuka wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 6:17 am

And, do NOT cut your stock wiring harness. Instead, cut the plug off your old sensor, plug that into your stock harness, and then splice the new sensor into the pigtail from the old sensor.
That's a good idea that I hopefully would have eventually thought off if I was trying this.
81 Waggy 'WILL E' Retired
82 Cherokee WT - SOA/SF/high steer/Alcan springs/agr box/Borgeson steering shaft/AMC 401/performer/holley TA/HEI/BeCool/727/ALTAS (2.0/2.72/5.44)/D60 Snofighter(Yukon Zip,hubs,stubs,4.56)/14 Bolt (FF,BF shave, Discs, ARB,Artec Truss)/MTR 37X12.5/Corbeau XRS Baja & 5 point retractable harness/Hella Aux lights/tuffy console/killer32 sliders/Evil Twin bumpers, rack and roll cage/WARN 8000/TT Fabworks steering brace/dual batts/custom TC skid plate/ARB fridge

sierrablue
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Re: Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by sierrablue »

Is it the 4.0 or the 5.9?

The 4.0 got changes in '98 with the upgraded intake, which also required changing the belt, which moved the belt to where the timing pointer was, which lead to a different timing cover. Not sure what it did to the sensor--it may be that they had to change the plug for clearance issues or something along those lines. I dunno why they would, but I would stick with the later one.

Also should be the same as the WJ and TJ/LJ sensor. But again, 4.0 or 5.9?
Last edited by sierrablue on Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Srdayflyer
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Re: Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by Srdayflyer »

are the new wires the same color code as the original? can the new one be de-pinned and reinserted into the old housing or plug i have repined a few connectors on the 83 cherokee im working on
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tgreese
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Re: Crank shaft position sensor plugs different.. can i splice ?

Post by tgreese »

This should be a VR (variable reluctance) magnetic sensor. Realize that these are polar. You need for the sign of the signal (rise and fall, zero crossing, fall and rise) to be right for your computer. The wire colors are almost certainly the same for the different sensors, but no 100% guarantee. Even if they are different colors, it'll probably be light-to-light and dark-to-dark.

If you have an oscilloscope, you can compare the waveform from the new sensor to the old by cranking the engine. Unfortunately you need a sample of both to compare, and since your original is broken...
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