This is due to the fact that the aft most T40 Torx bolt used to mount the bracket to the port side engine block is blocked by an aluminum feature on the adjacent transmission housing bell.
The following is a low cost method to replace the Crank Position Mounting Bracket and Crank Position Sensor without the need to separate the transmission housing from the engine block.
My 2003 XC90 2.5T AWD with 210,000 miles experienced an “Engine System Service Required” warning message with associated yellow triangle (on the DIM). This message was associated with a P0017 code which translates to Crank Position Sensor. This code, along with a separate “Brake Assist Service Required” message related to the Brake Position Sensor electrical connector, disables the Cruise Control Feature.
It seems easy enough to replace the Crank Position Sensor, however, in my situation, and apparently many others, there is hold down bolt with 10mm nut that has broken off of the Crank Position Sensor Mounting Bracket and it is the failure of this bolt that is the source of the P0017 code.
>See Pic of Crank position sensor
- Crank Position Sensor (new)
- crank position sensor.jpg (4.6 KiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Crank Position Sensor Mounting Bracket
- crank position sensor mounting bracket.jpg (10.73 KiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Crank Position Sensor Mounting Bracket showing underside
- crank position sensor mounting bracket - under side.jpg (22.19 KiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Note failed Bakelite on Mounting Bracket
- Failed Bakelite on Mounting Bracket.jpg (1.46 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Note failed Bakelite on back of Mounting Bracket
- Filed Bakelite on back of Mounting Bracket.jpg (1.46 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Note filed Bakelite that used to hold the 10mm hold down bolt
- Filed Bakelite where hold down post used to be.jpg (1.61 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
Pic of Busted Crank Position Sensor Mounting Bracket (note the lack of hold down bolt)
Tools you will need:
_10mm, 12mm, 13mm, 14mm, 15mm, 18mm ratchet fittings in both short and long body
_½”and 3/8” ratchet wrenches with extensions to use the ratchet fittings
_10mm box end wrench for negative terminal on battery
_T25 Torx bit with associated wrench…preferably one that is magnetic or trapped well in the wrench body so it does not fall off
_T40 Torx wrench with 8” long hex body and 3/8” ratchet fitting (Gear Wrench model from Advance Auto)
>See Pic of T40 Torx wrench with 8 in hex extension on 3/8in ratchet fiting
- T40 Torx Wrench w 3/8" extension
- T40 Torx wrench with 3_8in extension.jpg (971.81 KiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Gear Wrench Torx Wrench Kit (Advanced Auto)
- Gear Wrench Long shaft Torx Wrench Kit.jpg (2.98 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Dremel High Speed Cutter No 117
- Dremel High Speed Cutter # 117.jpg (2.15 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Dremel Cutter Bit fitted to Dremel Tool
- Dremel Cutter on Dremel Tool.jpg (1.1 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
_Vacuum cleaner or equivalent to suck up aluminum particles
_Wire cutters to cut zip ties as needed
_Zip ties to replace cut zip ties
_Plastic coated picture hanging wire to pull items out of the way
Procedure
- Disconnect Battery Negative Terminal
- Remove battery cover using 13mm wrench…store nut and 2 bolts together
- Disconnect negative battery terminal after loosening nut using 10mm wrench
- Cover disconnected battery with plastic cowling to prevent unwanted reconnection
- Open engine compartment hood
- Remove air filter and air inlet cowling
- Using 10mm, remove two bolts and remove air inlet cowling to air filter…store out of way
- Carefully remove MAF electrical connector from MAF and position it out of the way
- Using T25 Torx and long handle wrench, remove two screws that hold the turbo air inlet/MAF pipe onto the air filter assembly…set screws aside.
- Remove turbo air inlet/MAF pipe from the air filter assembly using back and forth motion
- Carefully lift air filter assembly while inspecting forward side for wire assemblies.
- As required use a wire cutter to cut and remove zipties.
- Unclip wire assembly.
- Lift out air filter assembly … set aside.
Remove Engine Compartment Torsion Bar
- Using 14mm long fitting, remove 4 – 14mm bolts that hold the Torsion Bar to the car.
- Remove the plastic clip on passenger’s side of Torsion Bar that secures the black wire.
- Using 18mm on the nut and 15mm on the bolt, loosen and remove the nut and bolt holding the Torsion bar to the upper engine torque mount.
Remove the cover from the engine compartment fuse box…relocate it out of the way.
Remove top positive battery cable and harness
- Using a long barrel 13mm and 3/8” ratchet wrench, remove nut from the positive post of the battery cable post…don’t lose the nut.
- Remove the top red battery cable,
- Disconnect the associated large grey multi-wire harness connector from the fuse box along with the rubber angle seal.
- Return the 13mm nut to the battery cable bolt.
Move aside vacuum and coolant lines to get access to Crankshaft Position Sensor location
- Disconnect the vacuum line going to the brake booster from the brake vacuum booster fitting (black plastic device with one electrical connection) and pull it out of two clips on bottom of fuse box.
- Using plastic coated wire, wrap the turbo inlet air pipe and secure it out of the way…up and toward the driver side.
- Remove the black vacuum hoses from the driver’s side of the intake manifold…one is ¼” ID, the other is ¼” OD.
- Using a 10mm with long extension remove the nut from the metal strap holding the coolant hose that lies on the engine going from the front to the back. Return the nut to the bolt where the strap was.
- Push the large coolant house out from under the strap … push it towards the driver’s side of the car.
- Fish out the 2” wide black plastic strap that holds multiple electrical and vacuum lines…pull out the vacuum and electrical lines and set the strap aside.
> See pic of 2" wide black plastic strap/clip
Plastic Clip.pdf- Black Plastic Clip
- (290.71 KiB) Downloaded 644 times
- Wrap the air intake pipe with wire near the MAF, pull it up and to the driver’s side and back…tie it off on the driver’s side strut mount.
- Wrap the vacuum tubes and move them out of the way
- Wrap the vacuum hoses and pull them towards the oil dip stick
- Unbolt Gear Shift Positioning Plate (on transmission)
- Using a 12mm remove the two bolts that hold the metal plate that positions the gear shift wire on the transmission. Install the bolts back on the holes on the transmission.
Unclip the front top camshaft position sensor wiring harness from the camshaft position sensor
Unclip the rear camshaft position sensor wiring harness
Remove black steel engine lifting strap
- Using 12mm ratchet, remove the three bolts holding the lifting strap(s) on the driver’s side of the engine head.
- Remove the short one that holds the fat electrical harness first.
- Remove the other two
- Lift out the lifting strap
- Keep the strap and bolts together and out of the way.
>see Pic of Engine Lifting Strap
- Engine Lift Bracket 3 x 12 mm bolts
- Engine Lift Bracket showing 3 x 12 mm bolts.jpg (1.87 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Using 14mm ratchet, loosen the 2 bolts mounted vertically from the engine torque mount down into the bracket…driver’s side.
- Using 14mm ratchet, loosen the 3 bolts mounted horizontally on the driver’s side of the engine block…these bolts hold on an aluminum bracket.
- Remove all 5x 14 mm bolts and slide the aluminum bracket towards the driver’s side…may pry with screw driver but must move horizontally to get bracket of alignment pins.
- Remove bracket and 5 x 14mm bolts and set aside and out of the way.
>see Pic of Aluminum Bracket view facing driver's side
- Aluminum Engine Bracket view facing driver's side
- Aluminum Engine Bracket outward facing side.jpg (2.21 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Aluminum Engine Bracket view facing engine block
- Aluminum Engine Bracket inward facing side.jpg (1.92 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Aluminum Engine Bracket showing bolt holes and alighment
- Aluminum Engine Bracket showing bolt holes plus alignment with engine torque mount.jpg (2.22 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
Remove crankshaft position sensor from the crankshaft position sensor mounting bracket
- Pull aside the vacuum tubing
- Using 10mm ratchet, remove nut from hold down bolt on camshaft position mounting bracket
- Then remove the camshaft position sensor.
- Careful here, the bolt may simply come off the mounting bracket and stay with the sensor.
- Don’t let pieces of the mount drop into the mount hole.
- Carefully remove the 10mm nut from the position sensor and keep it for use with the new mounting bracket.
Grind off the interfering aluminum on the adjacent Transmission Bell Housing
- The old mounting bracket should still be in place ... you could get the aft T40 Torx bolt out yet.
- Cover the sensor hole with lint free cloth
- Carefully use the Dremel tool and 1/4" round rat tail file to Grind off a portion of the aluminum feature (on the transmission bell housing) that is adjacent to the aft T40 Torx bolt and interferes with your ability to fit a Torx wrench into it
- Using the DREMEL tool fitted with the bit, grind off the curved trough of aluminum that interferes with the removal of the aft bolt on the mounting bracket.
- Take your time.
- Slope the grind and keep it curved so that the head of the bolt can be accessed by the Torx wrench. The trough will be passenger’s side to driver’s side.
Use the vacuum cleaner and clean cloth to remove aluminum filings
Remove crankshaft position sensor mounting bracket
- Apply PB Blaster to T40 Torx bolts and wait a few minutes.
- Using the T40 Torx wrench (long version), remove the forward bolt on the mounting bracket...accessible by going under the vacuum and coolant hoses from the driver's side using a 3/8" ratchet extension
- Using the T40 Torx wrench (long version) and a hammer, tap the wrench into the aft bolt.
- Grind off more aluminum on the interfering transmission housing more if it won’t go in.
- You can access the female Torx entrance by going under the hoses.
>See Pic of T40 Torx wrench tapped into aft bolt
- T40 Torx wrench fitted to aft side bolt on mounting bracket
- Closup of T40 Torx wrench fitted to aft side bolt on mounting bracket (above ground off aluminum location).jpg (678.99 KiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Attach a ratchet and carefully undo the aft bolt.
- The aft bolt will need to be angled up in order to remove it.
- Remove the bolt, clean up aluminum fragments, etc.
Careful now…DO NOT ALLOW FRAGMENTS OF THE OLD MOUNTING BRACKET TO GET INTO THE FLYWHEEL HOUSING…PLUG THE HOLES. USE YOUR FINGERS TO HOLD THE PLASTIC AND METAL FRAGMENTS TOGETHER TO KEEP THEM FROM DROPPING INTO THE FLYWHEEL HOUSING.
>See Pics of T40 Torx Bolts
- T40 Torx Bolts
- T40 Torx Bolts.jpg (794.11 KiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Remove the fragment of plastic from the hole in the engine block behind the mounting bracket. Don’t let the fragments drop into the flywheel housing.
>See Pic of Cleaned up Flywheel Housing port where the crank position sensor mount and sensor are to be installed
- Flywheel Housing Port after removal of Crank position sensor and mounting bracket
- Flywheel Housing Port after removal of Crank position sensor and housing.jpg (2.21 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Clean up the mounting bracket area on the engine block WITHOUT allowing dirt and scraps from going into the flywheel housing. Wipe up and vacuum all aluminum fragments.
- Install a new crankshaft position sensor mounting bracket (do not install the 10 mm nut just yet)…work it in carefully…don’t forget the center plastic alignment feature
- Install the 2 x T40 Torx bolts on the bracket into the engine block using the T40 Torx wrench and tighten
- Install the new crankshaft position sensor while placing the alignment post bolt into the sensor aligning port.
- Install the 10mm nut on the post and tighten lightly.
> See Pic of newly installed crank position sensor mounting bracket - Note the ground off aluminum feature on the transmission bell housing.
- Newly installed mounting bracket showing ground off aluminum on the transmission
- Newly installed Mounting Bracket - showing ground off aluminum.jpg (1.73 MiB) Viewed 12675 times
- Using the two 10mm bolts in the exact same position as you when you removed it.
- Reinstall the aluminum bracket onto the engine block
Install the Aluminum Bracket onto the engine block and Transmission Torque Mount
- Install the bracket by setting on the alignment pins moving from passenger to driver’s side at correct orientation.
- Place the 3 side and 2 top 14mm bolts
- Snug them.
- Tighten them gradually and completely tighten
Reinstall the crankshaft position sensor electrical connection
Reinstall the wide plastic clip fitting that holds the vacuum tubes together
- The open portion should face up.
- The clip will eventually be located next to the steel hanging bracket so align the vacuum tubing so that it will locate itself there.
Now is the time to check that all vacuum tubing connections are correctly reinstalled
- Connections to the intake manifold
- Connections to the turbo air inlet manifold
- Connections to the brake booster fitting
- Align and check the tubing connections in the clips under the intake manifold on the driver’s side
Reinstall the steel hanging bracket on the aluminum bracket using 12 mm bolts
- Install the bracket to the Aluminum Bracket on the engine block first using 2 x 12mm bolts
- Install the strap holding the electrical assembly to the steel hanging bracket using the short 12 mm bolt
Reinstall the battery cable using 13mm post, and connector
Reinstall the fuse box cover
Remove all plastic coated wire.
Reposition the turbo air pipe with MAF sensor
Reinstall the air filter housing while positioning the electrical fittings on the forward side of it
- Use zip ties if needed and trim them.
- Fit the turbo air pipe with MAF sensor into the air filter housing port.
- You may need to wet the large O-ring or the OD of the pipe to work it into the port.
- Reposition the associated vacuum tubes adjacent to the air filter housing [/b]
- Install the 2 x T25 Torx screws on the pipe to lock it
Install the air inlet cowling
- Fit it into the lower side port on the air filter housing
- Install 10mm bolts
Install the electrical connection to the MAF sensor fitting
Reconnect the battery negative terminal