06 Cayman S - I need to replace my crankshaft position sensor.
Not sure where to access it from, and what to do to replace it.
I think I can get to it from the top access point.

Anyone done this and can give me some advice?

 

It is a Hall sensor that faces the teeth on your flywheel. If you are looking at the flywheel end of the engine, it is at the 3 o'clock position. Pictures below are taken of my engine, which is out for rebuild. I have no idea how hard it is to reach when it is in the car but you will most likely come in from below.
Fun fact- modern crankshaft postion sensors and the ECU are so sensitive they are used to determine if a cylinder has mis-fired. They learn the "pattern" of the flywheel rotational speed and more importantly they learn that the pattern ripples as each cylinder firing stroke gives a short jolt to the rotational speed of the flywheel. If the pattern is disrupted i.e. a particular jolt is missing, the ECU can sense this as a mis-fire and isolate it down to a particular cylinder. Pretty impressive!

 

Harvey, thanks for the pictures! That verifies what I figured out last night. To reach from the bottom there are two coolant lines that prevent me from reaching it, I even had the wheel off. (I'm short so short arms) The manual I have says the connector is accessible from the top. Since I have to do all the work to get the roll bar off, I'm going to see if I can access it from up top. I'll also be replacing the AOS. I'll take the AOS off and then see what kind of access I have.

 

Good deal. Sometimes the hardest part of the job is figuring out how to release the connector. It seems like Porsche did not standardize the design of the connectors. Or maybe they idiot proofed them by making them unique!

BTW, I'm not doubting what you say but to my knowledge there are no coolant lines back at the engine/tranny interface area. Maybe some other kind of line? Or is your car a PDK, which may explain what you are seeing?

 

It's a tiptronic, so maybe they're ATF cooling lines. They're mounted on bank 1 and seem to totally block access to the sensor.

 

seem to totally block access to the sensor.

But of course

 

I pulled the top cover off, what a pain, have to remove the roll bar...anyway, found that I can get access to the sensor and it's connector from above. I'll also be replacing the AOS while I'm in there. Wish me luck!

 

UPDATE:
Replaced the crankshaft position sensor, AOS, and put that mini-cat device on the o2 sensor that's before the cat on bank 1.
Started car, cleared the codes that were stored, went for a 45 mile, very spirited drive, NO CODES!!!!
Also, I was getting around 13mpg, today it was 19.8mpg!

Thanks everyone for all the help!

btw, the secret for a car with Tiptronic is you have to unbolt three places where the trans cooling lines are attached, and then you can pry enough room to get at the sensor. Also, if you pull the AOS it makes it even easier.

 

From a forensic standpoint, this would have been a little more satisfying if you have done one fix at at time and identified which one solved the problem. But I'm glad to here you are back in business!!!

 

same exact car. Just did mine. In the car. You don't even need to remove belly pans.

I used the Bosh from pelican for $50 not the $300 Porsche oem. And I just drove the car 500 miles this weekend with out issue. The $50 Bosch is safe.

It's located on the right side between the transmission and engine. It takes about 15 min on a lift. You will get to it best from under the car. The wire connection has its own mount on the right rear corner of the engine, up high. Very near the air/oil separator. It's a star bit I think 4 or 6 mm Maybe a number 30? I can't remember. You will need a ratchet, extension and bit that fits the screw. One screw

 

Shark - is yours a standard? Mine is a Tip and you can't get to it from the bottom due to the trans. cooling lines. I had to get to if from above, and remove the AOS to get access. Also, the bolt on mine was a 5mm allen, could be that Flat-six innovations changed the bolt out.

 

At the risk of being the nudge that I am, pictures would be great.
But thanks for the thread.

 

Not of the actual work.