Metal shavings around Crankshaft Sensor? that's not good

Kevininwa · Post by **Kevininwa** » 30 Jan 2021, 13:35

I just pulled my crankshaft sensor on my '04 XC70 and saw some disturbing signs. There was metal shavings magnetized around the exterior body of the sensor, so I carefully pulled those off as to not contaminate the interior of the flywheel housing. But as I pulled it off, I see there metal shavings magnetized to the sensor body. Not something I needed to see. It was quite a bit, not subtle. Does anybody have insight into the scope of the issue? Something internal to the transmission has failed it seems. As this car has a salvaged title (but has given me 190K miles of superb service, the economic variables that would come into play are a bit skewed. But my thinking is that this means the engine/transmission needs to be pulled. Does anyone have a more optimistic prognosis... anyone?

Post by **abscate** » 30 Jan 2021, 14:10

Yep. Your starter chews a tiny bit of the flywheel each time you start the car and those bits can end up stuck on the crank sensor. Run it for 6 months and see how much accumulates

Post by **oragex** » 30 Jan 2021, 14:40

Found a little bit on mine too, I think it's normal. My flywheel didn't had visible wear on it, maybe from the starter gear. Do not put grease

Post by **jonesg** » 30 Jan 2021, 22:30

the gear is sacrificial so it has to go someplace.