Engine shut off going down road!

[Brianl197733]

I'm new to forums so please someone help me! Today my car shut of going down the road. Some history on the car is.....I bought it four months ago with 142k on the clock. 2003 9-5 linear 2.3t. Had it a month and oil light came on. Pulled over to the side of the road shut off car started car oil light went off. This happened on several occasions. Drop the sump cleaned out the pickup put car back together no more oil light. Found two small pieces of plastic in the bottom of the oil pan. Engine started making a slight ticking sound. This continued until today when the engine shut off on me. Fuel pump is working I have pressure at the fuel rail. I have not checked yet to see if there is Spark. I'm thinking me timing chain may have gone. Anybody have input for me? Car did make a slight hiccup while going down the road before it shut off on me motor only ran for about 2 seconds after the hiccup.

[DanielZ]

Does it start at all now?

[geoff 9-3]

Could be crank position sensor.

[DanielZ]

Could be crank position sensor.

Yeah, my thought as well.
If it starts and then dies, check if it's in limp home.
If it wont start at all (but cranks as usual) or only when cold, might be the sensor.

[geoff 9-3]

A good sign when the sensor is the problem is the engine starts after it has cooled down.

[Digger]

Good to clean out the sump every now and then and things that don't belong there aren't always the sign of a problem, but they can cause one so it's good to clean out the sump every now and then. Small pieces of plastic could have come from the timing chain tensioner, could have come from a busted sensor casing and every now and then the locking ring from the oil container will go down the snout. You never know what you're going to find in a used car, or know how it got there when you do.


Did you blow a timing chain? did the engine crank like a rocket when you turned the key? or did it crank like it had full compression?


Did the ticking sound you had before this happened come from the upper end valve area, or down in the bottom by the crank? If the timing chain took a dump you won't have to worry about the tick, if the computer shut you down you will eventually need to deal with it.

First things first is pull the codes, what shut you down could be totally unrelated to the tick you've been hearing and what you found in the sump.

[Brianl197733]

I pulled the codes and got two faults P0336 and P0337......both CPS faults! Part is on the way. The plastic is definitely from the timing chain tensioner or the guides. Engine cranks normally. Thank for the input.

[Digger]

As soon as you get the engine running get back on to the tick, if it was just a little engine knock coming from the CPS you're good to go. If it's coming from the lower end, get rid of it as soon as you can.

Sludge has a history well worth knowing. Back before detergent oil there was plain old oil and every engine had some sludge buildup. When detergent oil came on the scene engines that never smoked before started to smoke and engines that never ticked before started to click. As bad as sludge was for the motor, sludge also sealed up the wear it caused and it was keeping the oil inside the bearings it had helped to wear out.

Your ticking started after you cleaned sludge out of the sump and the pickup, you may also have cleaned some sludge from the bearings while you had the pan off, or maybe your oil pressure increased enough to blow out some sludge that was keeping the oil where it belonged. Doesn't really matter what the cause, if your ticking doesn't go away with the new CPS you need to figure out where it's coming from before the little tick, tick, tick becomes a click, click, click.

If it comes from the upper rack you live with it or you fix it. The bearings in the rack don't have the same kind of stress as the mains and it can tick for a long time before it becomes a serious problem. That and the head isn't easy to fix. If it's coming from the crank, you fix it as soon as you can. When the mains go from a small tick to a loud click they are ready to spin and spinning means the end of the engine. Ticking at the crank sounds like terrible news, but the fix isn't to much more work than pulling the pan to clean the sump and the parts are about the price of changing the oil yourself a couple of times. You don't even need to pull the crank, loosen all the caps, remove one at a time and you have enough room to replace the bearing.

You might not need to know this today, but somebody somewhere probably will. When you get a click at the crank after cleaning out sludge, the secret to making this an all day job and a $50 fix is to take care of it before it has time to wear a slot in the steel.

[Brianl197733]

Come to find out the wire harness for the crank position sensor had come loose previous owner must have replaced it when I removed wires to do the sump clean I must have loosened them. The engine is now running slight ticking sound is still there when next thought is to go ahead and replace the bearings on the main. I do have the new sensor that is not installed do you suggest I replace the sensor to see if that alleviates the clicking sound before I do the main

[geoff 9-3]

Where is the clicking sound coming from?