Continued troubles with acceleration

Well I posted this and another problem a month or so ago, and I would love to be posting on that thread that my problems had been solved. Instead I am starting a new thread focusing solely on my remaining problem, as today I finally gave up on my current dealership mechanics (7 months is to long with no fix) and have started looking for another alternative.

To recap what has been happening:

1) while accelerating or driving through the RPM range of 1700-2100 there is usually a distinct rattling noise and what can be best described as a metal slipping on metal sound. Also loss of acceleration.

2) when accelerating into the 4000+ RPM range the engine stops accelerating, the car begins to "shudder," and then lose acceleration.

3) 2 months ago I requested the mechanic ride with me to experience exactly what I wanted fixed. After replicating the problem, I was told it was reporting a Crank Shaft Sensor B error being displayed. I was told this needed to be researched and their "page was missing from our manual." After finally having to call them to ask what was going on, I scheduled an appointment for today. I got my car back, was told the error was not showing up now and they did not know what to do.

I proceeded to ask, "would 2 months of driving on it clear the ECU or at least have new data in it that might not show a bad chip if it was faulty not just dead?" I was told that I was speaking over his head and that he did not know. I just asked for my car back.

With more details then I had when I last asked for help... does this sound like a crank shaft sensor problem? Has anyone experienced something like this before? Anyone near me on the West Coast and wanna help me fix it (jk) Seriously though, any thoughts (or trusted nearby mechanics) would be appreciated as this is killing my enjoyment of my car.

Thanks for reading and any help!

[Chiketkd]

Dude, I'm not sure what to say...

Someone in my office just had a crank shaft sensor go bad on their '95 Grand Cherokee. The car just stopped running while she was idling in the parking lot.

Now I can see a faulty crank sensor causing the ECU to dial back timing at 4000+ rpms so that you don't do permanent damage to your engine. So the loss of acceleration seems normal as your car is probably in 'safe mode'.

I'd replace the crank sensor and go from there. The metal-on-metal grinding doesn't sound good. A bad crank sensor wouldn't cause that to happen...

-Chike

Another question I meant to ask was if I am feeling up to it, how hard would replacing a Crankshaft Sensor B be if I did it myself?

I priced it out a bit last night and seems to save me a lot of money. My previous car experience is doing all my own work on my last car, including dropping the under half of the car to replace the clutch plate using nothing but a Haynes manual and a 4 day weekend. I have shied away from working on this car, but as I look around for shops with SVX experience its looking like I might need to start.

Thanks again!

[dcarrb]

Don't know anything about the crankshaft sensor, so I can't speak to that, but I think you should go ahead and work within your mechanical "comfort zone" on your SVX, just as you would any other car.

[GreenMarine]

about 4,000 rpms is when the IRIS system opens up isn't it?? (Harvey) I would say that there has gotta be something going on with your ECU... Just get yourself another one from a wrecked SVX somewhere and plug it in and try it out

[Chiketkd]

But if the CE light is on and a code for Crank Sensor B is displayed, when your car is in 'safe mode' acceleration will taper off...

-Chike

Originally posted by GreenMarineSVX
about 4,000 rpms is when the IRIS system opens up isn't it?? (Harvey) I would say that there has gotta be something going on with your ECU... Just get yourself another one from a wrecked SVX somewhere and plug it in and try it out