Crank sensor removal

[phat46]

My brother is working on his daughters 2000 Chrysler Cirrus 2.5L V-6. He has determined that it needsthe crank sensor replaced. The sensor is apparently in a bad spot, down on the bellhousing between the engine and firewall with no room to work. The sensor is plastic and has been broken off nearly flush with the housing. He was told that it might need to be drilled out to remove it. All the shops and mechanics we talked to about it are very familiar with it and know that they can be a problem to remove. Does anyone here have any tricks for getting these out? He really doesn't want to pull the trans just to drill out a plastic sensor, but it's looking like that may be the case.

[wayne petty]

there have been people that have drilled a small hole in the sensor.. and used a deck screw to pull them out..

deck screws are stronger than drywall screws...

[enjenjo]

I was thinking you could drill a hole the same size as a needle grease tip, put that in there, and force it out with grease.

[wayne petty]

jacking it out with grease really won't work...

as it is open to the inside of the bell housing..

the crank sensor counts the windows in the ring on the flywheel..

so its really important that you don't drive it in farther..

unless you were joking?

[enjenjo]

jacking it out with grease really won't work...

as it is open to the inside of the bell housing..

the crank sensor counts the windows in the ring on the flywheel..

so its really important that you don't drive it in farther..

unless you were joking?

I did not realise it was a through hole.

[phat46]

there have been people that have drilled a small hole in the sensor.. and used a deck screw to pull them out..

deck screws are stronger than drywall screws...

That's actually what we can up with as a possible solution. The only problem is getting to it to drill. It's on the firewall of the bellhousing under the master cyl and A.C. lines. We decided to take off the intake plenum and pull the distributor.  My brother called last night and said he got a 45 degree angle drill from a neighbor and was drilling the sensor. Then he thought he could put a slighty larger than the sensor socket over the sensor and thread a heavy screw into it and pull it out.....I haven't heard from him yet today...