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[kadoi]

well i went out and bought some epoxy stuff that has a pull rating of 2 tons and says it will bond anything to anything. Got some duck tape made it the size of the hole. First though i cleaned it out with some carb and choke cleaner and a rag. Put a bolt in there and i am letting set...says maximum strength at 1 hour. Do you guys think this will work..thanks in advance for any help. BTW put compressor hose in breather hole

[Chris A]

Lets hope it works. Sounds like you have a really stuck one!

[kadoi]

nope it didnt work...you were right to oily. :x  :x  :x   :evil:  :evil:  :evil:

[sleeperred90tgp]

You could have had the pan off two or three times since you broke it off. Looks like thats your only recourse. :( It's not to bad of a job. :wink:

Jud

[kadoi]

taking the oil pan off...hmmm...looks like my final option since the epoxy didnt work...tried it 6 times. How would i go about doing it ...i mean what good would it do to take my oil pan off?

[Chris A]

Then you can acess the crank sensor from the otherside and push it out.

Lets revisit the method I use before we take the pan off (which requires a subframe drop).

You are using a shop air compressor with 100 psi of air pressure available?

The PCV valve is secured in the rear valve cover or the hole in the rear valve cover is sealed?

The oil cap is on?

Did you try it with one or two people? Often the air will push the sensor up enough to get a hold of it with pliers etc, but not always "pop" it out. Maybe you could use the air pressure and shop vac on the sensor hole to get the best benefit of the pressure.  

Sometimes, since the sensor is a magnetic pickup type sensor, the tip will get stuck to the crank. You may want to try and rotate the crank slightly so that the sensor tip is over one of the gaps in the crank wheel. You MAY be able to feel this, but not neccesarily.

Other than that, its off with the pan really. I don't know if its possible to hammer something into the middle of the sensor. it may be enough to pull it out, or to get a screw in it. (just brainstorming here)

Chris

[Dotcutnup]

ok this will sound crazy but this is what i do for gm crank sensors that break, knock it in with a punch.  turn the crank to a position for it to enter block.  the reason is this, an oil pump cannot pick it up, it will not break up into small pieces, and it is heavy enough to remain out of harms way.  one day the oil pan will come off and behold, a broken crank sensor!  Note, you must make sure it is mostly in tact, do not do if small pieces small enough to enter screen( lets say 3mm) are present.

[god910]

That is how I have done it before, but people on W-body.com say you can't knock it into the pan.  Have someone tap on the sensor while you spin the motor slowly and it will eventually drop in.  Make sure you rotate it a few times to make sure it didn't get stuck somewhere else.

[kadoi]

thanks guys...ill give just knocking it into the pan so i can get the car running then i will take the car over to my buddies that actually has a place to work on it and take the pan off and get it out. Thanks for all of your help

[Dotcutnup]

there is one other way, but requires tools u may not have,  get an angle drill , or a small drill driver and use a 8mm bit to drill a hole into the sensor. Ya have to be careful not to go further than about 1/2 inch. then u can take an ez out and install it into the sensor and remove it by counterclockwise turning the sensor, but if you do not have these tools, your dads friend should. :wink:

[kadoi]

yeah thats actually what he said to do :)

[ReallyFastZ24]

Never had one snap off on me, however, i'd have to say that air trick would work.  the gaskets the biggest pain, but it is an effective seal.  Only other place for air to escape would be through the oil drain tube / dipstick tube...  neat trick!

As far as dropping your oil pan, you've gotta pull the boston attitude trick, works every time "i pay to park, its parked, now get the f out of here"

[ReluctantMechanic]

Use compressed air in the breather hole to blow the sensor out.

It is a plastic housed coil with a pickup winding. So a screw won't go into it. You don't have to worry about it falling in, but it will hit the middle of the crank.

I've done the compressed air trick quite a few times and it works well with no side effects (blown out seals etc)

Chris

Chris A, thanks a million for the compressed air idea! 

I had this problem with the crank sensor not coming out.  I also thought I was screwed but thanks to the ideas on this forum I was able to get it replaced without dropping the pan.  Just the air wasn't enough for me though.

My sensor had broken off so that just the metal end was left and two wires connected to the end were sticking out the hole.  I tried the air and pulling on the wires but it wouldn't come.  Then I wrapped some sandpaper around a socket and worked on clearing out whatever oxidation was preventing the end from coming out.  After the sandpaper,  I put a rag around a socket to try to pull any grit out of the hole.  Then I tried the air and pulling again.  It came a little further, but I had to do the sandpaper trick once more before it popped out.

[Dark Ride]

Not sure why it's such a common problem on the 3.1s, but glad you got it sorted out.