P0336: Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Range/Performance
Do not keep driving
Expect rough running, stalling or hard starting. Ask for the sensor tip and reluctor ring to be inspected visually — debris on the tip is a common and trivial find that mimics an expensive fault.
What this code means
The crankshaft signal is present but wrong — the pulse count per revolution does not match what the module expects, or the pattern is corrupted. This is the code that catches a damaged reluctor ring: a chipped or bent tooth produces a missing pulse in an otherwise perfect signal, which the module reads as a timing discontinuity. Metal debris clinging to the sensor tip does the same thing and is far cheaper to fix, so it is worth looking before anything is dismantled.
Likely causes
Start here
- Damaged reluctor or tone ring · specialist
- Metal debris on the sensor tip · easy
- Faulty crankshaft position sensor · moderate
Less common
- Incorrect sensor air gap · moderate
- Stretched timing chain · specialist
- Electrical interference from ignition leads · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
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What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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