Hate This Thing!!

I have a '01 Alero almost 80,000 miles on it. 5 months ago the car started to give me and my fiance problems on start up and would quit running. Took it to a GM dealership to have the problem fixed and was told it was the passlock system. $400 dollars later the problem was fixed........or so i thought. Now I'm back to square 1. The car is doin the same thing and the same error codes are being put out by the car. PO336. Another dealreship had said that it is the crank shaft position sensor again..... ANY IDEAS?!?!:banghead:

What engine do you have? Judging by the syptoms and the code present, the Crank Position Sensor does sound like the culprit. I believe it is an easy fix if you have the room to get to the sensor. Good luck.

It is the 2.4 L V4

It is the 2.4 L V4

it isnt a v4 its consider inline 4. its considered a v6,v8,v10 or v12 only when the engine makes a V shape. when it is flat it is linear/inline or straight 4 (thats straight 6 and straight 8 but they arent gm products)

Test voltage on the PCMIGN fuse in the Underhood Bussed Electrical Center (UBEC) and the PCM ACC fuse in the Instrument Panel (IP) fuse block.

2. If voltage is low at either fuse at the time of the problem, replace the ignition switch

Just an update. Had crankshaft position sensor changed and ignition switch changed...... car worked fine for a week...... HELP!!!!!

Looking at some more info it seems that there can be a problem with corrosion and or connections in the underhood fuse block.Might want to take a look at that if there is most likly it would be on the back side of the fuse block.Focus on the F/P-Injr fuse and any ing.fuses,but look it all over really close.Check for any sign of corrosion on any of the fuses.

P0336 is a CKP sensor trouble code. But it doesn't have anything to do with the passlock sensor/ignition lock cylinder or the ignition switch. So what is the full story. How many different dealers looked at it? how many times has the ignition switch, CKP sensor, and/or Passlock sensor been replaced? What are the exact symtoms currently (no crank/no start, Crank/start/stall immediately, cranks/no start, long crank/hard start) ?

2 different dealers looked at it. First one said it was the security system steming from the passlock system and the PO336 eror code was caused by the PL system. Second dealer looked at it said CKP sensor was bad and that ignition switch was loose and causing class 2 communication failure. Symptons are long crank/hard start, occasional bogging down and stalling. Passlock, ignition clyinder, ignition switch, and CKP sensor all changed once.

2nd dealer is more likely. A passlock problem never causes a CKP sensor problem or trouble code.
Now depending on how long ago some of this work has been done, some of it should be under a 12month/12,000 mile warrenty on parts and labor. So if it needs another Passlock sensor it might be covered.
Do you have any aftermarket equipment on the vehicle like a remote start. That can interfer with the passlock system. I've seen that a few times. Also I've seen Passlock sensors fail within 12 months before also. There isn't a whole lot you can do but put another one in and hope it a good one that lasts years.

But the final word is that with your symtoms of a long crank-hard start with ocassional stalling sounds alot more like a CKP Sensor problem.

First dealer that did the PL work gave me no warrenty on parts or labor at all. How likely is it that the CKP sensor is bad again in less than a week???

GM Dealers using GM parts usually have a 12 month/ 12,000 mile warrenty. Maybe yours doesn't I'm not sure.
Its very unlikely that your CKP sensor is bad again. Its more likely there is something else wrong with the crank sensor system like a wire problem or a Powertrain Control Module problem. Its might also be possible that they didn't clear the code out of the computer after the last repair and its still stored in there as a history code.