car: 1987 300E

I have the CPS, and have traced it from the EZL back to the bellhousing. The only problem is that it is in a pretty inaccessible area of the car. I can just about get the ratchet and hex-head into the space under the oil filter. How can I go about getting the CPS out, and is there anything special that should be done when installing the new one? I noticed quite a bit of grease all over that area, care of the oil filter. Once the new one is in, is it just a matter of cranking it in and everything should work, or is there any adjustment that needs to be made (some other posts have referenced adjusting the CPS)?

Thanks for your help.

John

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87 300E
202k on the clock

Are you working from above or below? It's just tight. Sometimes it helps to custom make a tool for the job.

above i guess, if i need to be below, i can do that too, just have to pop the car in neutral and roll it into the garage.

what would you suggest for a custom tool? I have the hex heads, 3 mm i believe is what fits from last night. Should I think about draining the oil and removing the filter (needs to be changed anyways)? Only problem there is it opens a whole new can of worms being that my drain bolt is almost stripped - thanks to whoever did the last oil change w/ an impact gun or a 4 ft wrench (previous owners).

i guess what i am really looking for is any kind of pointers to get access to the cps, because my efforts last night were in vain.

thanks again.

john

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87 300E
202k on the clock

You need to get underneath and see what you've got - what size and how much room. 3mm sounds a bit small. You may need to cut off an allen wrench. It seems to me like Sears sells some low profile allen wrenches of some sort - not sure about that. Or you could cut off an allen wrench, drive the piece into a nut and put the nut in a swivel head, racheting box wrench. You just need to improvise based on how much room you have.

If the CPS is on the bell housing in the rear of the engine, what is the sensor at the front of the engine by the crank pulley on the left side (USA)? On the '90 and '91 103s, anyway.

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2012 E350
2006 Callaway SC560

That's the CPS too. Strangely there's two parts on these cars commonly referred to as the crankshaft position sensor. The one of the front is also known as the TDC reference sensor. I believe it connects to the wiring harness. The one in the rear goes from the bell housing to the EZL. The latter is the more expensive and the harder to get to.