MajorCommonElectrical

Holden Commodore: Crank angle sensor cracks with heat - stalls hot, restarts only once cool (3.8 V6)

Crank angle sensor cracks with heat - stalls hot, restarts only once cool (3.8 V6) is a common electrical fault on the Holden Commodore on the 1988–2004 cars, and we rate it major. Putting it right costs $250 to $550 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. Below is what goes wrong, the symptoms to notice on a test drive, where to look, and what to ask the seller before you hand over any money. It is one of 51 documented faults on the Holden Commodore.

Vehicle: Holden Commodore
Engine: 3.8L / 2.5L / 2.8L / 3.0L / 3.2L / 3.5L / 3.6L / 4.3L
Years: 1988–2004
Fuel: petrol
System: Electrical

This page covers the Holden Commodore as a model. Some faults only affect particular engines or build years — enter a plate below to narrow the list to one car.

All Holden Commodore faults51 documented faults on this model

What you are looking at

No photograph available

We do not hold a verified photograph for this fault yet. We would rather show none than show a picture of something else.

What goes wrong

The crank angle sensor sits behind the harmonic balancer at the front of the 3.8 litre V6 and is the classic reason a Commodore of this era dies without warning in traffic and then refuses to start until it has sat for twenty minutes. The sensor body cracks internally, and as the engine heats up the crack opens the circuit, so the computer loses the crank signal and cuts the spark. The part itself is cheap, but this is one of the most common reasons a Commodore is sold cheaply as an unexplained intermittent fault, and it will strand you. The replacement also has to be set so it runs between the two discs on the balancer without touching, so a rushed or cheap fit often fails again within a year.

What you would notice

Engine cuts out suddenly while driving, usually once hot
Cranks strongly but will not fire, then starts perfectly an hour later
Stalls at idle in traffic on a hot day
Intermittent rough running with no warning light
Tachometer drops to zero at the moment the engine dies

How to check it

Where to look. Front of the engine, low down behind the crankshaft harmonic balancer and the drive belt.

This one is about the test drive, not the driveway. Insist on a drive long enough for the engine to come fully up to temperature, twenty minutes at least and including some stop-start traffic, because a cold engine hides the fault completely. If it dies, watch whether the tachometer falls to zero at the same instant, then wait and try to restart it. Ask the seller directly whether the car has ever cut out or refused to start when hot, and whether a crank angle sensor has ever been fitted. Ask to see the receipt if one has, because a cheap sensor or a badly set one often fails again quickly. Treat any car advertised with the words 'just an intermittent electrical fault' as this problem until proven otherwise. If a workshop inspection is possible: have an auto electrician check the sensor output with the engine fully hot and confirm its clearance to the balancer discs.

What it costs to put right

$250 to $550 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That is for this job on its own, not for the car.

An estimate, in NZD, for the repair as normally carried out. What a specific car costs depends on which part has failed and what it damaged on the way — treat this as the floor for a negotiation, not a quote.

Ask the seller

“Has the car ever cut out or stalled while you were driving it?”
“Has it ever refused to start after a long drive, then started later?”
“Has a crank angle sensor been replaced, and do you have the receipt?”
“Who fitted it, and was it a genuine part?”

Now check the Holden Commodore you are actually looking at

Everything above is true of the model, and it is free. What it does not tell you is whether THIS car has been looked after: its odometer history and whether the reading has ever gone backwards, whether there is still money owing on it, whether it has been reported stolen, how many owners it has had and what it is really worth today. That comes from the official records for that plate. Enter the plate for the free details, or get the full history and a market valuation from $13.49.

Not sure what you would be paying for? See what a full KickTyres check includes.

Where this comes from

The failure described above is documented in the sources below. The inspection instructions and the cost estimate are KickTyres’ own interpretation of them.

Unofficial Holden Commodore Archive (vaber.au) Technical Tips - crank angle sensor failure causing hot-start cutouts
JustCommodores forum crank-angle-sensor tag and thread 'new crank sensor still no run'
VNCommodore.com support forum thread 'Crank angle sensor?'
SensorGal catalogue listing 'Crankshaft Sensor Commodore VP VR VS VT VX VY L27 L36 L67'

Holden Commodore buyer questions

Is crank angle sensor cracks with heat - stalls hot, restarts only once cool (3.8 v6) serious on a Holden Commodore?

We rate it major and common on the Holden Commodore. The crank angle sensor sits behind the harmonic balancer at the front of the 3.8 litre V6 and is the classic reason a Commodore of this era dies without warning in traffic and then refuses to start until it has sat for twenty minutes. The sensor body cracks internally, and as the engine heats up the crack opens the circuit, so the computer loses the crank signal and cuts the spark. The part itself is cheap, but this is one of the most common reasons a Commodore is sold cheaply as an unexplained intermittent fault, and it will strand you. The replacement also has to be set so it runs between the two discs on the balancer without touching, so a rushed or cheap fit often fails again within a year.

How much does it cost to fix on a Holden Commodore?

$250 to $550 at New Zealand independent workshop rates. That figure is for this job on its own. A car showing the symptoms on this page is usually worth either walking away from or negotiating down by at least the repair figure.

Which Holden Commodore years are affected?

Our research records this fault on the 1988–2004 Holden Commodore. Build dates move around, especially on imported cars, so treat the range as the years to look hardest at rather than a guarantee either way. The official records tell you the exact build and first registration date for the car in front of you.