Hi guys...

So the car has been doing pretty well up until Sunday...

Temps have been in the 30's and 40's here and the car hasn't had any problems starting or running...of course until Sunday...

I stopped to do some brief shopping and came out about 10 minutes later and the car wouldn't start...the starter engaged and you could hear the car trying to turn over...but nothing...waited about 15-20 minutes and it started with the check engine light coming on...

Google turned up a few things and I drove it briefly twice to see if the CEL would reset itself...it did

Drove the car Monday about 60 miles total to work and back...it had a full workday to rest in between starts...and things were fine...

Stopped to pick up some cookies after the Flyers game last night and the car barely kicked over and the CEL was back on...

Drove it this morning and the CEL was off and the car ran fine...parked it at work...drove it about 4 hours later...parked it and headed to pick up the girlfriend...

While idling after about 30 minutes of driving...the car died and the small battery light and the seatbelt lights came on as the car stalled...

Waited 15-20 minutes and the car wouldn't kick over...same problem as Sunday...

Unhitched one of the battery cables and reattached...car started...then stalled at a red-light a few miles later...did the battery thing again and the car started with the CEL light coming on...

Seems like some electrical gremlins or possibly a sensor/fuel supply issue...but I'm not sure...I'll be cleaning the battery terminals tomorrow with some wire brushes and planned on doing plugs Sunday anyway...

Car runs and drives fine once it starts and I'll be taking it to the local auto supply shop to run codes in the AM...so far there isn't any smoking...I don't notice any leaking or particularly odd smells coming from the vents...

Any thoughts on what this could be? Sorry for the long post...Thanks!

 

Well sounds weird that you unhook the battery, reattach it and it works again . . . . there are lots of posts about the relay board having poor solder joints, and the crank position sensor going out . . . perhaps check there . . . or, maybe it is a bad alternator/battery scenario ??? Kinda hard to diagnose without seeing the car . . . anyhow, check the threads on the above items . . .

Cheers

Mark

 

If you take it to Autozone or other parts store and have them read the code it should be P0335.. crankshaft position sensor....

You can but the part and replace it yourself very easily... takes about 10 mins or so... part should be $40 - $70 online... I think NAPA gets about $75 for them.... dealers want about $150 for them..


edit: just search crank position sensor and you should find lots of discussion and how to fix....

 

Thanks for those quick responses!

I ended up taking the XF to the local Advance Auto Parts where the guys have always been great to work with...

Had the Battery/Starter/Alternator test done and it passed with flying colors and the codes were read with the CPS being the only issue...

Ordered the part and paid something like $60 and it arrived Christmas Eve...It was installed a few days later and I haven't had an issue since...

I will say that without removing the heat shield...the CPS was a bit of a bugger...

I utilized a 1/4 deep "star" socket and with an extension arm and a small ratchet to loosen it...then a bit driver with a magnetic 1/4 socket to remove it without loss...installed the bolt in the reverse order...

Thanks again!