FocusCanada Forums

Hey guys,
I've got a 2003 zx3 that I've owned since new. Its been flawless up until last Thursday when on my way home, the engine cut out when I was accelerating through an intersection.
I bought premium extended warranty and the tow was covered under roadside assistance...
The car is checked out the next day, and they said the crank position sensor had to be replaced and all is cool.
I go pick it up that day, and not even a kilometer from the dealership she's dead again...I curse extensively this time. Thats 2 days in a row stranded. Not cool.
So today they call me up saying that the crank position sensor is being hit by something in the bell housing and that they suspect it might be the clutch and that wouldn't be covered under warranty.
There is a TSB for premature clutch wear/breakage which I had to point out to the dealer...

Anyone shed any clues/ideas/thoughts as to what the hell might be going on in there??

Thanks in advance, ask any questions that I might have missed explaining.

Paulicat.

have you noticed any problems while shifting??? grinding? or slippage when engaging??

Nothing at all. The clutch in all honesty seemed perfect.

are they going to try and diagnose the problem or are they waiting for you to tell them what to do??

have the given you a quote on what it might cost for them to look at it??
depending on the cost it may jsut be worth it to have them look at it.

also, im assuming the ran the car on the scanner and it came back with the crank position senseor? and they have ruled out any other probelms

Yes, thats correct, it came back as cps, then when they removed it, they saw the breakage.

I was given worst case scenario quote of 1100+tax if its proven to be something not covered by extended warranty.

I've given them the go ahead as I don't have much choice anyways...
What Im trying to figure out is whats the likelyhood of something OTHER than the flywheel killing the cps??

Paulicat

im not sure, but something in there must be out of alignment and dont see how it wouldnt be noticeable

paulicat,Apr 7 2008, 12:08 PM Wrote:What Im trying to figure out is whats the likelyhood of something OTHER than the flywheel killing the cps??

Paulicat
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i cant see anything form hitting it. This shouldn't be happening at all though, and no wonder the dealership is charging you an arm and leg; everytime they need to replace that sensor, they have to drop the tranny :blink: :huh: :ph34r:

This should be covered under warranty if you ask me, a worn out clutch shouldn't be coming into contact with that sensor.

yeah... I agree with Flo.

I would hope this would be covered under warranty -- whatever's breaking the sensor, if it's OEM is likely a design/manufacturing flaw.

Just got word guys, the flywheel almost fell off...the service lady described it as of the 4 "pins" only 1 was holding the flywheel in.
I know there is an svt tsb for flywheels, but I didn't see one for regular zetecs anyone know different?
It will be covered under warranty, new clutch/flywheel/sensor.
By pins, do you guys know if she meant bolts or what?
I've never taken mine out so I don't really know what alls going on in there.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Paulicat

i have not experienced this before, so i can't give you any first hand input

i did a quick google search and i found something that might be helpful to you

forum post about CPS in a focus

in the 2nd post someone describes the location of the CPS and in the last post someone suggests that the wiring is more likely to be an issue than the sensor itself

you should read the terms of your warranty closely. sometimes there is a clause that says something to the effect of "warranty parts will be fixed even if the failure is caused by a non warranty part"

good luck

ALL of that work should be covered.

You pay for the extended coverage for a reason.

paulicat,Apr 7 2008, 01:09 PM Wrote:Just got word guys, the flywheel almost fell off...the service lady described it as of the 4 "pins" only 1 was holding the flywheel in.
I know there is an svt tsb for flywheels, but I didn't see one for regular zetecs anyone know different?
It will be covered under warranty, new clutch/flywheel/sensor.
By pins, do you guys know if she meant bolts or what?
I've never taken mine out so I don't really know what alls going on in there.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Paulicat
[right][snapback]261462[/snapback][/right]

she is talking about bolts. and that is fawkin scary that you had only 1bolt holding that in. Somebody at the factory forgot to tighten those down. :blink:

Fawkin ford. :angry:

Damn, thats crazy!!
I was really hoping they weren't the BOLTS that were loose :o that is scary s***e.

And yea guys, its ALL covered under the extended warranty, new clutch/flywheel/sensor (plus the loaner Fusion :)). I also mentioned to her to have the mechanic inspect the bellhousing since that might have taken a hit from the flywheel, and if its marked that I wanted it replaced now too.

So remember this post if someone says "my engine just died out of nowhere". It was very sudden, I really didn't feel anything wrong with the car, and like I said, I've owned it since new (factory ordered in fact).

Thanks again guys.

Cheers!
Paulicat

good to hear, and last time i checked, flywheel bolts werent a wear item!!!

heres a pick of mine when switching to the spec clutch.



Maybe she was talking about those pins around teh edge, but I only see 3 of them anyways.

^^^ those are the EXACT pins that can become unaligned and cause the very popular "gear rollover noise"

Hrm, so I'm wondering now what she meant...when I pick up the car I'll try to speak to the mechanic to get a better picture of what really happened.
The only thing she told me for sure was the flywheel was almost completely loose and was flopping around enough to smash off the end of the crank sensor...

On second thought, do the pins hold the clutch assembly in place??
Even still, how would the clutch assembly smash the crank sensor?? :unsure:

i dunno, but you should really pay attention to the transmission/flywheel assembly for the next 1000km or so and make sure everything is A-ok. if you notice any slippage or odd noises/trouble shifting, dont hesitate to bring it back

ANTHONYD,Apr 7 2008, 02:53 PM Wrote:^^^ those are the EXACT pins that can become unaligned and cause the very popular "gear rollover noise"
[right][snapback]261473[/snapback][/right]

i'm not sure how that is possible, but with ford, anything is a surprise.

Quote:On second thought, do the pins hold the clutch assembly in place??

No...not hold it in place, more like aligns it, so you can get bolts in place.

Heres a pic with the clutch on...

and her's some pics of said sensor. I fawkin hate that sensor. :ph34r: :blink: :lol:

auto vs manual Cranshaft position snesor