P0344 Intermittent Camshaft Sensor, Dies, then restarts after turn off.

[Tedd Hankinss]

My 2006 Liberty will die at any speed. It shuts down completely and I have to get to a shoulder immediately. After turning the key off, the car re-starts and runs just fine until it happens again. Gap between incidents is random, but never more that 30 miles between times. It seems to be more frequent and has happened about 8 times.

I replaced the CPS with a Mopar unit, and the Crankshaft Sensor (Autozone). I checked the harness and found no obvious problem. I ran the engine and wiggled the harness and connectors looking for this intermittent problem.

The CPS connector had a lot of oil on it dripping from the CPS hole. I cleaned the connector as thoroughly as I could by dousing it with Brakekleen and blowing it out with compressed air.

A couple of times it did not die completely but did that thing others have had where it won't go about 2200 rpm. Unfortunately every posting with that symptom has not been followed up with the solution.

So far it has always re-started after turning the key off for a few seconds and re-starting.

I am thinking of removing the ASD relay and jumping it, but other than checking that relay which I could do by swapping it with the blower relay, I am not sure what that would prove. Since it runs perfectly between occasions, it cannot be the reluctor ring or jumped time.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Billwill]

Is this a 2006 KJ?
Gasser or CRD?

If you download the 2006-KJ-SM below, on the Index Page there is the DTC Index where you can find this code P0344 listed three times. Scroll up the DTC Page to go to the pages listed which will give you advise on what to do. The pages you are told to go to are usually slightly wrong but scroll up and down a bit and you will find your Code hopefully!

They tell you some things to check as voltages and continuity tests.
These you can do but when they call for the Dealers CP3 Reader you are screwed.

They show you a few relevant Wiring Diagrams but you may need to go to the complete wiring Diagrams at Section 8W.

Once you find the wiring diagram that shows where the Cam Sensor plugs into the ECM/PCM you may need to replace the three wires one at time from point to point with completely new wires......including splices coming off these wires...shown as S123 for example....where that splice goes off to it may be shorting to ground...or another random wire....sometimes!

As your problem is intermittent you probably have a short to engine/chassis somewhere so best to cut the wires off at all ends and replace with a new one. The ECM/BCM plugs are hard to get to...you need a special tool to extract the pins. Here you need to cut off the correct wire....check the wire colors....about 2 inches from the connector and solder and insulate a new wire onto the 2 inch stubby.

I have done the above about 13 times now due to damage from a front end collision!

www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ/