Damaged ckp sensor wire

[Tommylee1282]

so i guess the previous owner of my 04 ex 4.0sohc had some thermostat work done and what i think is the ckp sensor isnt snug up against the thermostat but on the otherside of it and was rubbing against the serpentine belt. the belt wore 2/3 of the way through the wire. i dont have any check engine lights but i figured this should be replaced or fixed. i can put up some pics in the mornin to show how bad the wire is. i searched online at advanced auto, they sell the sensor but it doesnt show the wire coming with it, so im looking for advice on the best method for replacing it. its the wire the guy in this link is worried about https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=428963

it looks like that wire gets bundled together with the ECT sensor wire, on a side not on my dash my coolant gauge hasnt worked since i got the truck, i replaced the sensor at the thermostat housing and still got nothing on the dash, so kind curious if they are related. thanks in advance

 

[Number4]

Nothing will come with that wire. You can either cut a section out and solder a new section in, or go to a wrecking yard, pick up that piece from a donor and solder it in.

Either way, you'll need to cut the wire back, and connect another wire to it. Butt connectors would work, just make sure you use heat shrink tubing which ever path you choose.

 

[2000StreetRod]

shielded wire

On my 2000 Sport the wires to the CKP sensor are shielded to improve noise immunity and the reliability of the signal being sent to the PC. An unshielded wire may result in random misfires because the PCM uses the CKP signal to calculate the impulse power of each cylinder when the associated spark plug fires.

 

[Tommylee1282]

Would it be best to take the wire of the car and repair it? I don't wanna fix the wire then not have enough length to connect it back into the sensor. I know it runs down behind the crank pulley but where does the other end run to? And I did have a misfire that I thought was because of this sensor giving a bad reading but I changed spark plugs and the misfire went away, even though the spark plugs looked ok. What about the coolant sensor, could it somehow be impacted by this wire? I changed the sensor on the thermostat housing and the readout on my torque pro app says the temperature is 78 and doesn't change no idea what else it I need to check

 

[2000StreetRod]

ECT & CKP wiring

The ECT sensor and CKP sensor wiring is grouped together to one point and then splits into two small harnesses.

Your cold engine will be hard to start if the ECT sensor always provides the PCM with the signal voltage for 78 degrees F and will be rich when the engine has warmed up to 190 degrees F. Also, the PCM will have a different (cold temperature) shift schedule. Your engine will not run at all if the CKP sensor wiring is broken.
The photo below shows the stock routing for the CKP sensor wires.

 

[Fuzz1]

My CKP wire was so tight over the thermostat housing I had to cut it to get it out. Couldn't see where it was going but figured it was going to the sensor.
Unfortunately it wasn't until after I cut it did I see all the shielding and open ground wire.
If I solder and heat shrink am I ok without the shielding and do I need to try a splice the ground too? The shielding helps going through the harness but don't see anything else that would give interference the rest of the way down.

 

[2000StreetRod]

If your Sport Trac is like my Sport the shielding runs the entire length from the CKP sensor connector to the PCM connector and has no ground connection other than from the ground wire. If the CKP wiring is routed near any of the high voltage ignition wires there's a possibility that the PCM could get an unreliable CKP signal. The PCM utilizes an algorithm that can ignore infrequent missing or unexpected CKP signals. I guess you could try driving the vehicle without repairing the shield and ground and see if you detect any misfires.

 

[Fuzz1]

Thanks for the response. When I looked at the sensor and saw just two wires I thought when I cut it their would be no problem adding a little more wire to get it out of the way. To my surprise I run into this. Went to a salvage yard a brought 2 home both with the sensor still on. Both were much longer than the one on my Trac. Almost like on mine (pre 7/00) they ran out of wire on that one wire in the harness and stretched as tight as they could to get it on. I might try foil or something when I put new conduit on it.
I'll see what happens. I did buy a code reader so I'll see if I get any codes before I crank it.

 

[drdoom]

I'm sure many will disagree, but that wire should be disconnected at the CKP and set aside while working on the thermostat. YMMV

 

[Fuzz1]

Had I known what I do now I would have. Only saw 2 wires coming out attaching to the sensor so thought it would be no problem cutting and resplicing it. Saw no shielding, no ground. Couldn't even actually verify it was the same wire until I pulled off the belt, pulley and bypass hose. Looks like on the post 7/00 models they made it a lot easier to remove. Goes to the old adage "Never buy the first of anything ".