Need help with CEL on 05 grand cherokee with 5.7 please help!.

[XXSNOTRODXX]

Hey guys, I know this is a ram forum. But I have already searched the web and posted on Jeep forums looking for answers and have yet to get any replies so I figured Id give the Mopar heads here on the ram forum a chance to help me out here.

Ok, so its my wife's 05 grand cherokee limited. 80k miles. 5.7.

First I will start with a little run down of the history and then move onto the issues...etc...etc...

Last summer I put a crankshaft position sensor, camshaft position sensor,egr valve and a few other things on the jeep as preventive maintenance as I had heard they were common problems on these jeeps and I wanted to get ahead of the curve.

A couple months ago I had to re-replace the egr valve as it had already failed (whatever advance auto parts carried... I believe car quest brand).

Ok on to the problem. Went to start the jeep yesterday and it took about 10 seconds of cranking before it fired up. She drove a few minutes and noticed the check engine light was on. She drove it home about 15 minutes and parked it. It was still running fine without issues aside from the check engine light being on. No knocking or anything either.

Did the key on/off trick and pulled up the trouble code message display and got 4 codes out of it.

The codes are as follows
code p0340 Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Bank 1 Sensor 1 No Cam Signal At PCM

code p0016 Crankshaft Position - Camshaft Position - Correlation Bank 1 - Sensor A.

code p0325 Knock Sensor 1 Circuit (Bank 1 or Single Sensor)
Knock sensor (# 1) signal above or below minimum acceptable threshold voltage at particular engine speeds.

code P0330 Knock Sensor 2 Circuit (Bank 2)
Circuit Knock sensor (# 2) signal above or below minimum acceptable threshold voltage at particular engine speeds.

Today I took it for a test drive , again it took 10 seconds of cranking before it started (no hesitation to start when it finally starts) and it seemed to run fine. Maybe a slight hesitation under acceleration but not bad. I got on it a few times testing it out and it kicked down and sped up as usual under hard acceleration. Then about 5 minutes later it would no longer "kick down" under full throttle. And even from a stop if you floored it it would take off sluggishly and shifted weird.

Like it went into some sort of "limp mode". I brought it back home and parked it and checked codes again and there were no new codes. Still the same 4 codes.

Throughout all of this nothing sounded off. It still purred like a kitten, all gauges were within normal range. Idled smoothly.


Does anyone have any idea what would trigger these 4 codes to kick at once and toss a check engine light?.

Only thing I can think of is either the crankshaft sensor or camshaft sensor I installed last summer is faulty and causing issue (judging by the track record of the egr valves advance auto parts sells I wouldn't rule it out).. The only thing that makes me second guess that is that there are 4 trouble codes. So is it possible that 1 of the sensors is at fault and could trigger a chain reaction of fault codes in sensors that are not faulty?. Are the sensors tied together in such a way that when one has a fault that it triggers the others to act up or throw a code as well.

I can verify that as of a few weeks ago there was 0 codes stored in the computer as I showed my wife how she can check her own trouble codes without using a scan tool. I find it odd that all 4 codes popped up at once and now having these issues. I suppose a wiring issue COULD be the cause but I am doubting that to be the cause. My gut tells me cam sensor but I am confused on if that is in fact what could be causing this without knowing if one sensor can have a chain reaction and throw codes for other sensors when a fault is detected.

I apologize for such a long message, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible to have a better chance at a accurate knowledgeable response. And I also apologize for posting about a Jeep in the ram forum but I am kind of at a last ditch effort before I actually start getting dirty and looking under the hood for the cause of the issue.

If any of you could shed some light on the subject I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance!.

 

[GreenClassic]

Did you purchase the crankshaft position sensor from Napa or did you get it from the dealership? When it comes to sensors, auto parts store brands can be kind of a gamble. I know when I had my 1999 Jeep Cherokee, the crankshaft position sensor went out on me. It failed with no warning. I was driving down the street at 50mph and my Jeep shut itself off. I pulled over and got it restarted only to have it die again a couple hundred feet further. Luckily I was across the street from an apartment complex I used to live at for 14 years, so we just pushed my Jeep into the parking lot.

I did a little research and found out the crank sensor was the problem. I also saw a bunch of people replaced theirs with auto parts store sensors, only to have to re-replace them several months later. So I did myself a favor and just bought a MOPAR part from the dealership.

 

[XXSNOTRODXX]

Did you purchase the crankshaft position sensor from Napa or did you get it from the dealership? When it comes to sensors, auto parts store brands can be kind of a gamble. I know when I had my 1999 Jeep Cherokee, the crankshaft position sensor went out on me. It failed with no warning. I was driving down the street at 50mph and my Jeep shut itself off. I pulled over and got it restarted only to have it die again a couple hundred feet further. Luckily I was across the street from an apartment complex I used to live at for 14 years, so we just pushed my Jeep into the parking lot.

I did a little research and found out the crank sensor was the problem. I also saw a bunch of people replaced theirs with auto parts store sensors, only to have to re-replace them several months later. So I did myself a favor and just bought a MOPAR part from the dealership.

I did not buy Mopar brand. I bought what advance auto parts had available which I can't recall off hand but was likely carquest,bwd or wells brand.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my last post. I purchased and installed a new egr valve at the same times...same brand from the same parts store and it failed after about 2-3 months and I had to get a replacement and so far have not had any other issues with it.

But....for that reason ... my gut instinct is either the cam or the crank sensor (assuming cam sensor because I believe if the crank sensor goes bad you get a no start condition...don't quote me on that though). The only thing that has discouraged me from being confident that one of those is the problem is that I don't know why I have 4 different codes related to different things (cam,crank and knock sensors). So I was hoping someone could tell me if they are somehow linked in that if 1 goes bad that it could throw fault codes for other sensors that are in fact not malfunctioning?.

After the holiday I plan to go over it and see if I can figure it out. Just looking for guidance in the mean time. Thanks for chiming in!. If anyone else has input on it please feel free to let me know. Thanks

 

[XXSNOTRODXX]

Anyone have an idea?

 

[GreenClassic]

I was reading up on symptoms of a failing cam sensor, and it did mention a check engine light, engine being down on power, massive drop in RPMs. It also says it can cause the starting issues you are having.

I would recommend replacing the sensors with OEM parts. They may be a little more expensive than auto-parts store brands, but they seem to be much more reliable.

 

[XXSNOTRODXX]

I was reading up on symptoms of a failing cam sensor, and it did mention a check engine light, engine being down on power, massive drop in RPMs. It also says it can cause the starting issues you are having.

I would recommend replacing the sensors with OEM parts. They may be a little more expensive than auto-parts store brands, but they seem to be much more reliable.

Like i mentioned originally. I only changed them last summer as preventative maintenance. I did save the originals though. So when I am able to I am going to swap them out and see what happens.

anyone else had same/similar issues as I have described?.

 

[XXSNOTRODXX]

:UPDATE:

So, today before going to families for Easter dinner I unhooked the battery on the Jeep and let it discharge for a couple hours while I was gone. Got home and hooked the battery back up. Initial start up was still a 10 second long crank before it fired. Check engine light came right back on. I drove it around the block and parked it.

I ran the DTC report again and this time only came up with 1 code (P0340-cam sensor). So I took the sensor out of the engine and noticed some slight scrape marks at the end of the metal "pick up" on the end of the sensor like it was coming in contact with the cam. I sat it side by side with the original cam sensor (the one I took out last summer that was still good) and in fact the "new" sensor was SLIGHTLY longer by about maybe a 1/32".

rather that had to due with the sensor failing or something else I am unsure but I know it was not right. And this was BWD brand. so anyone out there getting replacements be sure to check the length just in case so you don't end up with a larger part like I did.

Anyways, put the original cam sensor back in. and she fired right up. no check engine lights, no extended cranking. runs great. Thanks to those that chimed in with ideas and suggestions.

apparently when a cam sensor goes out it can in fact trigger crank and knock sensors to throw codes aswell.

I hope this thread will be useful to someone in the future.

 

[Rustycowl69]

I don't know if this is directly relatable to your situation, but when I changed the cam sensor in my 02 Intrepid with a Mopar replacement, it came with a sacrificial self adhesive fiber washer on the end to be inserted, which automatically gave you proper clearance/gap to the cam tone wheel.

 

[XXSNOTRODXX]

I don't know if this is directly relatable to your situation, but when I changed the cam sensor in my 02 Intrepid with a Mopar replacement, it came with a sacrificial self adhesive fiber washer on the end to be inserted, which automatically gave you proper clearance/gap to the cam tone wheel.

nope,nothing like that came on this one.