'10 Cobalt LS P0336 Code

[RodC]

New to forum - just bought a 2010 Cobalt LS a few months ago. Yesterday I noticed a few times that during light acceleration there was some momentary hesitancy before acceleration and the shift appeared to be a bit jerky, not the normal smooth shift. It was rather random, not every time. A little while later I noticed the Check Engine light had come on. I have a basic code reader so when I got home I attached the reader and it gave me a "P0336 – Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Range/Performance". The light was still on as I went to work today but I went out on an errand this afternoon and I noticed the light had gone off but I also noticed that the tach wasn't reading any RPM's, the pointer stayed on zero. When I started the car again after my errand, I noticed the tach was again working properly however a very short time later there was another momentary hesitancy and I noticed when that happened the tach fell back to zero and stayed there and within a minute the engine light was back on.

I do have a some mechanical skills when comes to basic things like replacing parts, etc (as long as you don't have to dismantle half the car to get to them) and I always try to get a DIY repair manual for my vehicles. But diagnostics I tend to leave to more knowledgeable mechanics. I have a trusted mechanic (not a dealer) and I'll likely take this to him next week (it's still a little cold here to work out in the driveway) but thought maybe it would be good to get some opinions here first as to what to look for.

Cars have gotten a lot more complicated from the first one I drove - my grandfather's 1949 Ford! That was just shy of 50 years ago. Our family still has it although it has been in the barn for the last 40 years - regretfully we never had the money to restore it.

Rod

 

[YelloEye]

Sounds like your crankshaft position sensor, ECU, or the wires that connect them are bad. Could just be a bad connection. Try checking the connection at the crank position sensor. A replacement is ~$25 or so if it needs replaced. It's located under your oil filter housing.

 

[RodC]

Thanks - I'll take a look at the connection soon as I get a warm day when it doesn't rain (driveway mechanic!) In the meantime I'm holding off calling my mechanic as it's worked perfectly for the last two days - engine light is off, tach is working, no hesitations. Maybe it will stay that way.

PS - Sensor price here is about $50 (Canada)

 

[YelloEye]

Ouch, that Canadian Dollar isn't doing you guys any favors these days.

 

[RodC]

Not so much for us, imports are more expensive but it should be helping our exports (presuming we have any - everything I see has a "Made in China" label!) Travelling out of Canada is expensive too but hey, if you guys want to come north for vacations this year the dollar will give you some bargains!

 

[RodC]

Just closing out this thread. Turned out that the problem actually was a chafed wire in the harness which has been repaired and everything working well now.

 

[YelloEye]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad you got it figured out. Wiring issues suck to track down.

 

[Travis Martinez]

I'm having the same issue, I've replaced both cam sensors and the crank sensor with still no luck. Where did you find bare wires at?

 

[RodC]

Travis, unfortunately I can't answer that question - I don't know. I'd taken it to my mechanic and he hunted it down and fixed it. Never asked where he found it.