5.7 Hemi Bad Crankshaft Position Sensor Symptoms (Explained)

One of the essential parts of your 5.7 hemi engine is its crankshaft position sensor that keeps your engine working properly. The crankshaft position sensor has the vital job of monitoring the engine’s many moving parts – including the crankshaft, engines valves, and pistons. 

However, if you have encountered 5.7 hemi bad crankshaft sensor issues, you will see that ECM can’t synchronize fuel injection, control variable valve timing, or spark ignition (for gasoline engines). 

But many users could have prevented the problem if they were aware of the initial sign and symptoms to get a hint. 

Therefore, in this very article, let’s learn how to detect when your crankshaft position sensor needs immediate attention.

What Is The Sign Of 5.7 Hemi Bad Crankshaft Position Sensor?

The most common and obvious signs of 5.7 hemi bad crankshaft position sensor are blinking check engine light, difficulty to Get Your Vehicle to Start, Backfiring, Vibration, and so on. 

Since crankshaft position sensor monitors all the valuable parts of the engine, any wrong sign can indicate a faulty crankshaft position sensor.

5.7 Hemi Bad Crankshaft Position Sensor Symptoms

There are other significant symptoms by which you can easily identify when your crankshaft position sensor needs proper inspection and repairing or replacement. 

So, let’s learn more about those symptoms and how to detect 5.7 Hemi crankshaft position sensor failure –

1. Starting Issues

The most common symptom of a bad or failing 5.7 hemi crankshaft position sensor is facing difficulties starting the vehicle or not being able to start at all. 

As the job of a crankshaft position sensor is to monitor the crankshaft’s speed and position, and other parameters, while starting the engine, it has a vital role to play. 

And to detect that bad crankshaft sensor under this symptom, what you’d have to do is check the crankshaft sensor when facing trouble with starting. Thus, a vehicle not starting or having trouble starting is a symptom of a bad crankshaft position sensor.

2. Check Engine Light

Your vehicle’s Check Engine Light primarily detects problems regarding the engine. Besides, the crankshaft position sensor works with the engine like when the engine is starting. 

There’s a possibility that problems coming showed by Check Engine Light can be of the crankshaft’s problem. 

Although, Check Engine Light can also be set off for other issues regarding the engine. If you see the light set off, make sure to troubleshoot to detect a bad crankshaft sensor.

3. Stalling

Stalling can be another symptom of a bad 5.7 hemi crankshaft position sensor. If you find your vehicle stalling or backfiring, this might be because of a bad crankshaft sensor. 

In this case, backfiring is less common than stalling. Check for interruption of the crankshaft signal to detect stalling because this can cause your engine to be cut off. So stalling sometimes can be a very important symptom to identify a bad crankshaft sensor.

4. Issues with Acceleration

The crankshaft position sensor helps with making adjustments to the Engine Control Unit (ECU). Basically, the adjustments need to be made to spark timing and fuel injection while the engine speeds up. 

With inaccurate input from the crankshaft sensor, adjustments cannot be made, resulting in uneven or slow acceleration. Thus if you’re facing issues with acceleration, check for a failing crankshaft sensor.

5. Vibration

Another symptom of a bad 5.7 hemi crankshaft position sensor can be the vibration of the vehicle. However, a bit of vibration from the engine hood is common. If you experience a drastic increase in that, this can be because of a bad crankshaft. Vibrating can happen for other reasons like a drop in fuel economy, but a bad crankshaft can also cause this.

These are the most commonly identified symptoms that indicate the 5.7 hemi bad crankshaft position sensor. So, if you also own one of the 5.7 hemi engines on your vehicle, make sure to keep them in mind.

What to Do When You Detect 5.7 hemi bad crankshaft position sensor?

Whenever you encounter any symptoms indicating that your 5.7 hemi crankshaft position sensor may fail or has any damage, make sure to follow the given instructions in order to fix the problem.

After identifying a bad or failing crankshaft position sensor, it’s best to replace it. If your sensor is broken because of engine heat, vibration, electromagnetic energy, or intermitted short circuit fixing the crankshaft sensor can be troublesome. 

So let’s talk about how to remove and replace it. If only removing and cleaning does the job, you could skip replacing for now. 

Removing the Crankshaft Position Sensor

First, disconnect the battery to avoid accidental short circuits. Then clear the way to access the sensor. It depends on the placing of that particular sensor. 

Then inspect the sensor area. The location can be a bit oily, and it’s best to clean that out for a clean job. 

Now release the electrical connector. Push and pull will do the job. Then remove the sensor mount bolt. After you’ve done that, you can remove the sensor.

Installing the New Sensor

After you’ve removed the sensor, in order to install another one, first match the sensors meaning check if the new one is identical to the previous one. 

Then install the sensor after properly cleaning the area. Reconnect the battery, and you’re done. 

Is Replacing The 5.7 Hemi Crankshaft Position Sensor Expensive?

A crankshaft position sensor is a vital part of your vehicle regarding the engine’s welfare. Now when the sensor is failing, it needs replacement. Usually crankshaft sensors cost between $ 8.00 and $49.00 (US). 

Now on top of the price of the sensor, you’ll also have to pay for labor. Labor cost mainly depends on the position of the sensor. Sensors can be easy to access or very difficult even to reach. Still, approximate labor costs would be between $60.00 and $180.00 (US), which seems okay. 

Although the cost of replacing may seem expensive to some, the impact from a bad sensor can damage the vehicle where you might have to spend more to fix that. And if you can replace the sensor yourself, it would save the labor cost. 

Thus while the idea of cheap and expensive is really relative, it’s up to you to decide what to do with your bad crankshaft position sensor.

Final thoughts

The crankshaft position sensor of the 5.7 hemi engine is an engine management component that monitors the position and rotational speed of the crankshaft and sends the information to the engine control unit to make appropriate adjustments based on operating conditions. 

Usually, a problematic crankshaft position sensor will produce the symptoms that I have mentioned earlier. So, be alert of a potential problem that should be serviced.

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