Crankshaft sensor broke in block

[AaronDoesntCare]

I have a 2005 Dodge ram 4.7 and today while driving home check engine light started flashing (once again) and started making a rattling noise so I shut her down and towed it to the house check engine code is p0335 i.e. crankshaft sensor so I pulled the sensor off so I could go get another one (good thing I spent the extra cash for the lifetime warranty) and when I pulled it the metal tip and some of the plastic was gone stuck my fingers in the block to see if I could feel for the broken peices and couldn't feel or see anything...

Why would the sensor break like that while driving?? What should I do because I don't want to just put the new sensor on and run the truck and the prices mess up the motor.

 

[Fast69Mopar]

Well, a couple of opinions. First, the sensor is probably the original sensor and is 14-15 years old. Over time these plastic sensors in the block become very hard and brittle and can easily break upon removal. Now, when you said you heard a rattling noise, did you look at your oil pressure gauge to see what was going on? I have seen a 4.7 crankshaft tone wheel become loose on the crank and hit the sensor causing the metal tip to fracture and break off.

Now, for the piece of the sensor that didn't come out. I would drop the oil pan and remove the broken pieces. Pick up a new oil pan gasket, some oil and a new filter. While the pan is off you can inspect everything to see if anything is abnormal. Try and wiggle the crankshaft tone wheel to see if its loose. Also, since you said you heard a rattling noise, make sure all the rod bolts and main cap bolts are in place and torqued to spec.

For reference, to this day, I have only seen a total of 2 crankshaft position sensors break while bolted in the block and come in contact with the tone wheel causing a noise first along with a check engine light and then the engine dies due to the loss of crank position.

 

[AaronDoesntCare]

I just replaced both the cam and crankshaft sensors shortly after buying the truck.
The oil pressure was normal. I'm dropping the pan in the morning so do you have any tips that could help with that process? Anything I should be aware of on these trucks? This is my first dodge and the finances are limited so i don't want to break anything

 

[Fast69Mopar]

It is pretty simple to pull the oil pan,. Nothing you need to worry about. Its just nuts and bolts man. When you have the pan off check the crankshaft position sensor tone wheel to make sure it is not loose or sustained any type of damage from some type of debris.

 

[AaronDoesntCare]

Well she's tore down for the most part and just from what I can see she threw a rod and split a piston in half... only on the rear driverside piston and rod appears to be damaged and the tone wheel ( if that's what I think might be the tone wheel..) has a couple small chunks misses off the teeth...