I had the same symptoms as you described. I was looking for this post to reply to it, but ended up creating a new thread to describe that I STILL have the issue (see the post, "Just Bought CPS, Still Won't Crank).
Your block of instructions were awesome!! I had no problems installing the CPS on my '99 Cat. Unfortunately, the symptoms returned about five hours later while at the petrol station. Any other suggestions? Thanks.
I found that the whole job was allot easier after I dropped the exhaust on the drivers side for ease of access to the CPS, without dropping it you will have to have some pretty small hands and allot of patience. I had photo's but they were lost when my computer crashed the other day If you do drop the exhaust you can count on the bolts behind the cat breaking off, both of mine did and I had to drill them out and use a bolt and nut instead.
I still had these pictures stored on my digital camera after my computer crashed.
These pictures will hopefully give you a little clearer perspective on where the sensor is and how to get to it.
I "just" (5-19-07) bought a 97 Catera, I almost didn't after reading here about all the problems with the car but the previous 2 owners have all ready gone through what I hope is most of the hard times... I think I got it for a good price because it has, guess what, a miss.. They last owner put in about $1000 trying to fix it, no luck... When I took it for a test drive I drove right over to Autozone and had them scan it... Can up with 2 codes - 336 which is the CPS and 302 which is a miss at the number 2 cylinder, I think (no I hope) that the 302 is because of the CPS problem... I was trying to figure out where the CPS was, WOW is it tight in that engine compartment... I'm sure glad that I kept reading these posts.. Thanks for the info above, as a new owner I REALLY APPRECIATE being able to learn from everyone here...
Thank, this post just saved me a bit of cash. Bought my 2001 Catera in 2003 for $12,000 with 19,000 miles on it. I wa working as a used car saleman for a bit when I first retired from the USAF awaiting test dates for my current job. A couple of the guys I worked with were retired auto builders that worked for Cadillac and they swore up and down that the Catera was one of the best cars Cadillac ever built. Honestly, I can't complain as I've had only a few problems and I do love the car.
I did experience a few problems over the past 3 1/2 years. A few months after buying the car the check engine light started coming on for a few weeks at a time. I was having battery issues, which I solved, and at first attributed the light to this. After fixing the battery issue, the check engine light was still coming on so I took it to the dealer (at this time it was under factory warantee) and they told me they were getting a bad code and could not determine the problem. I asked what they ment by a bad code and was told that the code they were getting was for contaminated fuel. Ok, stuff happens and not all fuel vendors sell good gas, but he then went on to say that there is no sensor on the Catera that makes this determination, so it must be a bad code. I had the car in at the dealer 3 times over the next 2 years trying to solve this and finally just drove with the dang light on all the time. Every year prior to emmissions testing I would have to pull the negative terminal to clear the computer then drive for 50 miles to get it to pass the inspection. This year however, it would not pass.
I dreaded taking it back to the dealer as I was pretty sure by now they were clueless so I took it to a local mechanic recomended by some co-workers. I stopped by after work (I work graveyard shift) and he told me to bring back the next morning and that he would research the problem on the internet. Dropped the car off and he called me at noon to tell me it was the mass air flow sensor and I could pick the car up at 5pm. He charged me $230 and it passed inspection without a hitch.
That last few weeks I've been noticing that when I go to start the car after work that sometimes I would have to crank it twice to start. We've had a ton of rain lately and I thought it may be a problem with humidity until one morning it would not start. I oulled up this site and read this thread and the issue you desrcibed was exactly was I was experiencing. It would work fine for a few days then would not start. The next morning it would start just fine.
Well I called O'Rielly auto parts and they had a new CPS for me that same day for $34.99. Put it in this morning, thanks to the wonderful instructions here and it seems to be working just fine. I let you all know if it doesn't. Thanks!
A couple of the guys I worked with were retired auto builders that worked for Cadillac and they swore up and down that the Catera was one of the best cars Cadillac ever built.
off topic i know but seems odd that Cadillac Mechanics think its the best caddy ever and caddy didnt even build it...
i would think they would know that...if they dont then id say your listenin to the wrong people
My Cady Catera 1998 has RPM about 450-500 all the time and no any lights like check engine or somthing,no problems with running and starting at all,just low RPM when you don’t drive. I ran diagnostics at the shop and they found out that crankshaft position sensor needs to be replaced and they wanted 400$ for that. So yesterday I replaced crankshaft position censor like I red on this forum. It was not so hard I spent more time to get a good one from another Cady ( i got used one) then to put it on mine. So as a result- NOTHING!!! A same thing!!! 450-500 RPM with another crankshaft! How I understand if crankshaft died it means no start engine ( like usually) and in my case I might have no good crankshaft sensor but I can't bealive that another one is a same! Cuz I’m preatty shure that another one was good cuz I know that car was running greate. So my question is what’s a main reason of it? I dano what I need to do now…Any ideas???
If you do drop the exhaust you can count on the bolts behind the cat breaking off, both of mine did and I had to drill them out and use a bolt and nut instead.
Re: 98 Catera Crankshaft Position Sensor Replacement - Cranks Won't Start 
