Add another Explorer to the list of defective CPS

what year explorer is it, and where was the CPS?

john

John it is a 1997 and CPS is a crack position sensor, Funny thing is months ago I described the random "crank no start" to my local ford service manager and mentioned the CPS, they acted like they never heard of the problem, that just burns my ass as I got the same run around years ago when I had the Thick film module problems (engine dies when TFM heats up) on a Taurus and I sold at a huge loss and a Mustang that I still have today that they must have done a silent recall on when having other work done, found out years later it was a huge known problem. I know if they admit it, it would cost millions but I'm a little pissed that I was left stranded at 11:30 at night because of a $36 part that I would have willingly changed months ago at my own expense had the service manager not played stupid, hell even my audio install told me that he's heard of the problem.

This is not a post to put down the Explorers or give Fanboys of other brands something to use. Other than this problem I have had zero problems and now that it is fixed I'm sure I will get much more enjoyment out of it. This post is to tell The corporate suits f*ck you very much for help.

Ermmmmm, I have no idea what a CPS is either...... (though crack position does sound possible but I must say I know where my crack is all the time). CKP.... now there's a sensor I can tell you about. The crank position sensor is a variable reluctance device.... meaning they can't make it out of metal. It is indeed plastic so that magnetic flux can pass across the windings in the sensor. The sensor lives in a very harsh environment - I am quite surprised that some of them last as long as they do.

We see a lot more of them gone south on the 7.3DIT than on gas motors.

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Not putting down all ford service Jim, I wish you worked at my local dealer :-) Sorry about the typo there but it was a good one, actually my right index finder is my crack position sensor. It just Kinda P.Os me the service manager plays like it's the first time he's heard of it. Maybe if I put the old one on his chair he will get the point ;-) I'm sure you can picture what I mean Jim ;-)

Diesels use fuel injection, and the fuel system need to know the position of the pistons to know when to inject the fuel.

Ah thank you the last diesel I had was a VOW I didn't know, it was electronic now, I guess I could have should have figured.

I've gained a real appreciation for what you folks south of the 49th get in the way of 'service'...... sad to say, I'm still having trouble with the idea that a country so full of patriotism could be spending so much time and effort f*cking each other over.....

I was trying to give the service 'manager' some benefit of the doubt with the anacronym but you are a tad too sharp for me 8^)

A lot of it boils down to the dealer principal..... I see many dealership "chains" happening in the US. Many dealerships owned by a consortium with the bottom line being the only consideration. In Canada, monopolies are (depending on the product) 'frowned' upon. I work for a Ford dealer, but it is still a 'Mom and Pop' operation. We depend on repeat business to keep going.... the only way to get repeat business is to keep your customers happy. With the billions and billions of dollars involved in the auto industry, I'm surprised the US government hasn't considered some kind of proficiency based licencing program to protect the consumer (oh, I can just picture the hew and cry that this statement will evoke).

Their are just too many ramifications involved in auto repair for us to trust our very lives and the lives of our families to someone with a few tools and a "love" of cars. Especially when we consider that the charlatans charge just as much as the good guys. I have no good answer for the problem but I can say without a doubt that the consumer and the repair industry have walked hand in hand to the point we are at now..... I can only imagine what we will see when the fuel cell is perfected and the infernal (sic) combustion motor becomes a dinosaur.

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Unfortunatly the atitude here isn't volume through repeat customer its screw a lot of people once

You have gone a long way to balance out the bad mechanics and dealer by your participation on this forum and I must say you have probably depribed the charlatans of a lot of money in the years you have been here. I know I have betifited by your advice so keep up the good work, and again this is not a Ford only problem, is happens with all makes,

I blame it all on bean counters myself.

Oh ya I used the Digital camera to take photos of the install so the next time I see a post with the same problem, I can maybe help the next guy down the line. The aftermarket part was actually designed quite different and better in my opinion it used a locating peg to hold the part in place while you put in the two bolts, maybe if someone knows a website I could post the pics and a short tutorial let me know. a good website I could post the picts

Sauger: You might contact Jeff Singleton at the Explorer owners maintenance website at

-Steve ('94 EB 4x4)