HELP! pulse ring anyone...?

ok so heres the deal. been having problems with my 01 XJ starting and getting some pretty rough idle. so after running the codes and a little research i decided to start by replacing the crankshaft position sensor.

the original CPS's magnet is exposed and upon removal the magnet actually stuck to the oil pump driveshaft assembly... inside the pulse ring. myself not having ever seen inside the assembly thought the magnet was actually a part of the assembly. i removed old CPS and installed a new one. the magnet still in the assembly did not stop the new CPS from fitting on nicely so i assumed all was good.

so new CPS is installed and she fires right up! running like new. it was great. i needed to put some tools away before i could drive it around the block so i shut the XJ down and did that. when i came back out and tried to start the jeep it was cranking but no go. so i removed the new CPS to find the magnet had been spun around inside by the pulse ring. not only that, but the extra material inside there actually bent part of the pulse ring and now it will not spin anymore because its hitting the assembly walls due to the bend.

so.... can i replace just the pulse ring itself? what size hex is it that i would need to remove it? i dont many allen keys around and dont have the size. im guessing its metric...?

but either way can the pulse ring alone be replaced?

any help is greatly appreciated!

That ring is not coming off. Its pressed/stamped on. You can try to bend it back. If not you have to replace the drive. Read up on it as it has to be indexed correctly.

BTW, thats the cam shaft position sensor. Crank is on the back of the engine, driver's side, installed in the bell housing.

Also, if that old magnet is still intact, JB weld it back to the old sensor and you have a spare.

thanks for the reply talyn!

and yeah i meant camshaft position sensor not crankshaft....

so after more research and another diagnosis i found that the pulse ring on mine could not be bent back so i decided to replace the camshaft synchronizer drive. i read up on how to install it and had it down. however the position of the pulse ring was no help on the old one as it was spinning freely from the shaft.

so i marked the flange and the block so that the new synchronizer went in the same way the old one came out. this was a napa synchronizer and there was no alignment hole for the pulse ring. instead it came with a plastic thing that acts as sort of dial to turn the pulse ring into the correct position while installing. after about 6 attempts of trying to get the drive key to drop into the key hole (and lots of spinning of the shaft) it finally dropped in flush. popped the hold down bracket back on and she started right up! like new.

so i let it run a min. shut it down and attempted to re-start it. i must have tried 3 or 4 times and then it started back up. i have since tried another time and its taking about 3 attempts to get it started. so basically its starts, but takes a little work. ran the codes again and got a P1391 code.

so now im thinking that i need to take it to a shop to have them professionally sychronize the system...? does that sound right?

What you called a dial on the Napa unit is a plastic pin. Turning it should do nothing as is should be strait. You remove the pin and there is the alignment hole. It should also have been removed once installed. Being that if you turned the pin the ring moved sounds like the pin wasn't installed correctly or there was another problem with the ring. I've had one from napa that had a bent ring to start with.

Go back over indexing the drive. Don't bother with the mark on the flange you made. Bring the engine up to TDC on the compression stroke and then see if the holes on the drive line up. If they don't loosen the hold down and just rotate the body until they line up.

Talyn said:

What you called a dial on the Napa unit is a plastic pin. Turning it should do nothing as is should be strait. You remove the pin and there is the alignment hole. It should also have been removed once installed. Being that if you turned the pin the ring moved sounds like the pin wasn't installed correctly or there was another problem with the ring. I've had one from napa that had a bent ring to start with.

Go back over indexing the drive. Don't bother with the mark on the flange you made. Bring the engine up to TDC on the compression stroke and then see if the holes on the drive line up. If they don't loosen the hold down and just rotate the body until they line up.

Click to expand...

thanks again! but this drive did not have the holes in the housing and pulse ring with the pin that you describe. i know exactly what your talking about, but this napa drive is different. it has an adjustment tool that covers the top of the assembly altogether... about the same diameter as the CPS and used when the CPS is removed. its basically a "key" that spins the pulse ring/shaft. it has an arrow on it and its supposed to point to cutout slot on the drive housing.

i was going off of a haynes manual and a few threads i found online that all mentioned marking the flange and block. i did this and it seems to work. the old drive rotated counter clockwise on the way out and the new one rotated clockwise going in. when i got in and flush the marks were spot on.

so now im getting the p1391 code. i really need to get this sorted as im in the process of selling it. anymore help is appreciated!