A few weeks ago my car developed the dreaded hard start problem that is covered by so many threads in this forum. Starting was the only problem; it ran great each time I was eventually able to get it running. I spent hours reading these forums and the FSMs, then following the troubleshooting procedures in both places but could find nothing wrong. Both Crankshaft Positions Sensors (CPSs) tested fine, the one near the oil filter had the correct resistance and the one on the bell housing provided 5Vdc to the ECM as it was supposed to when a screwdriver was applied. I added multiple engine grounds but nothing helped. I was pretty sure it was due to the sensors or the ECM because I could usually start the car by turning on the ignition 4 or 5 times to really run the fuel pump before I energized the starter. There were no error codes thrown by the ECM.

I was about to start just throwing parts at it but decided to first go back and test the sensors again. Once again the sensor on the bell housing showed 5Vdc when a screwdriver was applied, but this time I happened to remove the screwdriver slowly. To my surprise the sensor continued to provide 5V! Additional testing showed that this sensor would often NOT detect the removal of the screwdriver - something that would prevent it from providing the square wave signal to the ECM that is required to energize the fuel pump when the engine is cranking.

This didn't seem to be a failure of the electronic portion of this sensor. Instead I thought that maybe after 12 years the core of the CPS had become too magnetized for the sensor to detect the tiny magnetic field fluctuations created by the flywheel teeth. I rigged up a simple degausser using some button magnets, tape and a string. (I know it sounds ridiculous.) I attached the string to a Dremel tool to spin it up and spent two minutes degaussing the CPS by moving the spinning magnet sideways toward the base of the CPS (not the shaft) and then pulling it slowly away. When I was done the magnetic field of the CPS was diminished but still pretty strong.

I reinstalled the sensor and the starting problem is completely gone - the engine starts immediately on the first try every time. I don't know for sure how long this will last, but I suspect it will be a permanent fix because the CPS core should take years to again become too magnetic to function properly. If you're having a problem with the CPS consider giving this a try. If you have the magnets lying around it takes maybe 5 minutes to complete and just might solve the problem.

Simple degausser:

 

This man deserves hookers blow!

 

Interesting...

 

You're like the MacGyver of cars.

 

After 5 weeks my car is still starting instantly every single time so the crankcase position sensor seems to be fine now. It looks like this may be a permanent solution after all.