havng some starting problems that seem to be related to the Crank Angle Position Sensor. Can anyone enlighten me as to how this thing works and why it can start giving faulty signals? Is it optical or magnetic/field effect or something?

Cheers,

Andy

 

magnetic pick up, magnet and induction coil/hall sensor or similar.

solid state devices these days for automotive use, so errors are likely to be that the thing is just dead, or the wiring is faulty.

paul

 

Paul,

thought as much, so if an intermittant fault it's more likely to be a wiring problem than sensor problem. I still can't see how sensor can actually fail - would it need to be something pretty drastic to break the unit or do they just give up after time?

Andy

 

Don't think it would fail really.

Check the connector on it, clean around the sensing head, ferrous buildup may affect it.

Paul

 

actually they do fail quite regular there was a load made where the wiring inside the sensor was pulled to tight. this was ok for a bit but as time went on due to expansion and contraction and hot and cold temps the wiring decided to give up and then the car won't start.
if a customer says to me it won't start they leave it try again and it does it's either crank or cam or temp sensor usally the crank.

 

The sensors certainly can degrade over time, just like ignition coilpacks eventually do.