So i bought my first Ford a few months ago. Its a 96 f350 with a 7.5 liter 460. I absolutely love this truck and do feel that Ford is the way to go, although i have been having trouble trying to get the check engine light to go off, and i cant smog my truck til i get that light off. when i first got it about 7 or 8 codes came up. Since then ive changed the fuel filter, rear fuel pump, plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor, fuel pressure regulator, pcv boots, pickup coil, and ive gone through the EGR system and cleaned the mass air flow sensor and tested the coolant temp sensor. the list goes on. I believe i narrowed these codes down and now i only have one problem that i know of. Im getting a P0385 code which is for Crankshaft Position Sensor circuit B. Heres where things get confusing. I found the wire that hooks up to the sensor. It comes off the passenger side fuel rail. The wire wasnt hooked up to anything and hangin over the side of the engine and laying over the exhaust manifold. The wires obviously got hot and were melted together so i cut them and taped em off. Now where the sensor is supposed to be is right above the crankshaft. Well its not there nor is there even a place for it to mount. There should also be a thing with four points on the crankshaft behind the balancer that the sensor reads off. Well thats not there either. Ive been goin out of my mind trying to figure this problem out

Is there anyone out there that knows what i can do? At this point im open to any suggestions. Thanks.

 

Simple: The engine was swapped out at some point. They used a 460 from either a '95 or a non-California-emissions '96. The California-Emissions '96 460s switched to OBD-II which added a crank position sensor and accompanying trigger wheel.

You're going to need the '96 California timing cover, crank pulley and crank position sensor. You might be able to find something on e-bay or a place like RockAuto.com, but your best bet is going to be a junkyard.

 

Well, I am suprised the thing runs. Is your truck a California emissions 7.5 with an OBD-II PCM? I have a 1996 F350 W/ OBD-II 7.5 and most things are different on mine than 49 state trucks. Good luck!! Dale

 

Well i bought the truck from my dads boss which belonged to her husband before he passed away and he bought it off his son who purchased it brand new from the ford dealership and im told it still has the original engine in it although there is no way of knowing for sure since the guy who owned it has passed. The whole thing is very confusing but either way that sounds like a good idea and probably my best bet. thanx Lead Head i appreciate the advice. oh and in regards to your question DALEDIESEL yes it is a california emissions 7.5 with an OBD-II pcm. it should be anyway because its always been registered in california unless of course the engine was swapped and its not california legal and other than this one little problem it runs like a champ. thanx

 

ok so obviously something was changed on my truck but i dont believe it was the engine. i think the ECM may have been swapped out and they swapped it with one that was calibrated for an engine with a crankshaft position sensor. the only thing is im not sure how to go about finding the right ECM. If anyone can help me out here it would be greatly appreciated and also if someone can tell me what year ford started putting those sensors on those engines that may help as well. thanx guys

 

Since your truck has an OBD-II port, it means your truck is equipped with an EEC-V computer. All EEC-V OBD-II computers require the crank position sensor

The EEC-V computer uses a 104-pin connector compared to the 60-pin EEC-IV connector that most trucks of this generation use. They would have had to swap the entire under-hood harness as well as the interior harness to support the OBD-II port.

So what is more likely? The engine blowing, and being accidentally replaced with a non-California 460 - or - someone purposely swapping to an EEC-V computer and replacing every bit of wire in the truck?

 

ok so if what youre saying is true, why is it that you cant even buy a new crankshaft position sensor for a 96 ford f350 with a 460 aftermarket or from a ford dealership? the ford dealership says its no longer available and obsolete. i know this because my father is an auto parts counter person.

 

Because it's a 17 year old truck with an engine/computer configuration that was built for less than two years just for states that used California emissions.