For anyone that has or runs into a 4.7l V8 and they start by getting a P0320 code, it is likely your Crankshaft position sensor that is located at the bottom, right hand side of the block by the bell housing. Mine has ~116k miles on it, oil has been changed religiously, with all necessary and even unnecessary maintenance done (aka PM work).

According to my shop manual, labor is 1 hour. Not for this job, it took me a blasted 2 hours to carefully extract it from the block using a right angle drill and a shop vac. The interior bits of the stock sensor are made of what I think is Bakelite -- extremely brittle. Nothing like sensors of today. After getting the old one out I replaced it with a BWD CSS810P (Crank Position Sensor).

So I cleaned up all my tools thinking I was done. Well, I start it up, and it runs, but it seemed kind of rough. No MIL yet. So I let it idle while I check for oil leaks from the Crank Position Sensor. I then started to rev it, and it backfired and it was rough as it was missing on 3/4 of the cylinders. So I said... gee, it feels like the timing is off. But I knew it was okay even with that bad Crank Position Sensor. So I turned it off, and checked my connector, and it looked great.

Cranked it over again, in hopes it was a fluke, this time the MIL came on. Great! Got my scan tool out and read the code. Now a P1391 code...

According to the factory shop manual, it says it is either the Crank Position Sensor or the Cam Position Sensor. Hmmm... Perfect... Makes no sense, right? How can replacing the Crank Sensor make the Cam Sensor go bad or all of a sudden start reading bad? Again, makes no sense.

I cleared the code, and I decided to get greedy and unplug the Cam Sensor and start it up. Got the same exact results. With the SAME code, a P1391. So I plugged the Cam Position Sensor back in, unplugged the Crank Position Sensor, and cleared the code. Started it up, and it was running at probably ~150 rpms and backfiring. So I immediately shut it off. It did set the MIL and it came up with both a P1391 and a P0320. Great, I figured it out...

So I went out and got a new BWD CSS635 Cam Position Sensor, threw it in, and reset the ECM. Started it up and it worked perfect. Very smooth idle, I revved it and it sounded great. No more MILs and no more weirdness out of it.

The moral of the story is it seems like with this particular engine, you should replace both sensors with the same brand if possible. They are rather inexpensive, the Crank Position Sensor was ~$35 and the Cam Position Sensor was ~$33 after tax.

I have to admit, the BWD replacements looked very well crafted compared to the OEM/Mopar/Stock ones.

Hopefully this saves someone some running back and forth between auto parts stores.

 

But isn't that the charm of owning a Dodge......???

 

Well, I see why there aren't a lot of them out on the road.

Mine has been garage kept, never seen salt or winter roads, and it's sad there is corrosion still present just from driving out in the rain a few times.

I shouldn't be having these kinds of problems... but I think the hands of father time is finally catching up or else because it's a Dodge. Enough said...

 

Why were you looking for oil leaks on a CPS? They go into the bellhousing and are a magnetic pickup that reads the teeth on the flywheel much like an ABS sensor. If you have oil there you have bigger problems!

 

The 4.7l V8 reads it from almost the center of the crankshaft, so it is bathed in oil.

I could've broken it off, pushed it in, remove the oil pan and taken it out that a way... but I felt like taking my time and playing with my right angle drill and my shop vac.

It's funny, my buddy just sent me this:

http://dave.isom.us/broken-crankshaft-position-sensor/

A 2x4, 8 pieces of twine, and a screw? Why didn't I think of that!?