Dodge Repair: crank sensor tip gouged, crank sensor, fly wheel

Question
QUESTION: Replaced transmission 067-1 for a 067-2 in my 1999 Durango ran great before the change. No Bus on dash ground bad ground wire. Now problem is crank sensor needed changing put in the new crank sensor and the Durango turned over fired but very rough would not idle pulled the sensor out and the tip had gouges out of it. To close to the Fly wheel ??  if so how do I fix it. can it be fixed in a home garage. or needs to go to a shop

ANSWER: Hi Corrie,
Which engine is it, and are both transmissions used with that engine when it was sold originally? Is there a different sensor part depending upon which transmission was used (check with dealer parts counter?
You may have to "shim" the sensor to avoid damage. Oftentimes the sensor comes with a thin paper spacer on the tip. You push the sensor in until it touches the flywheel and then lock it in that position. Then when the engine turns over the flywheel rubs off the paper spacer thus leaving the sensor very close to but not in contact with the wheel.
You can get a paper spacer along with a new sensor at the parts counter. Did you perhaps remove the spacer when you installed the one that got gouged?
Please read the PS below.
Thanks,
Roland

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: sorry not sure if the transmission was the original. The motor is a 5.9 L there was no paper at the tip, and how do I lock it into place. what do I use for a shim.

Answer
Hi Corrie,
Unfortunately I don't have a manual for the '99 5.9L engine. The closest similar engine used in the '04 Durango for which I do have the manual is a 5.7L and that one shows the sensor to be mounted on the side of the block at the rear. It is positioned close to a 'tone' wheel with notches in it. I don't see how changing the transmission on that set up would damage the sensor.
It wasn't clear to me where your engine's sensor is mounted. If it is mounted in a hole on the transmission housing then it could be that the replacement trans is different as to the spacing it provides between the sensor tip and flex plate and thus it became gouged as soon as you rotated the engine. If that is true then you probably need to go to a dealer parts counter and see if the sensor is different for that transmission as compared to the replaced transmission. Otherwise unless something is causing the plate to wobble and thus touch the sensor, I am not clear as to what to do. Did you save the old sensor to compare with the gouged new sensor?
If the hole/sensor interface does not provide any adjustment for the depth of the sensor when put it in the hole then you will, if you can't get the correct sensor off the shelf, then notice the depth of the groove in the damaged sensor and then using some paper shim stock (such as gasketing paper/cardboard) material cut out spacers to add to the sensor mounting surface so as to cause it to be moved away from the flex plate by a distance approximately equal to the depth of the gouge. You might be able to "feel" whether the tip of the sensor is or is not coming in contact with the flex plate and if it is add another spacer to move it further away. Ideally you would want it to be a close as possible without touching the plate. It would seem to me that if the tip touched the plate then you would notice that the sensor was not in firm contact with the surface surrounding the mounting hole, so then start cutting out spacers and add them one at a time until the sensor comes to rest firmly in the hole. You might add a thin paper spacer to the tip of the sensor itself which if that just came to fit properly would give you a slight assurance that if the sensor was contacting the flex plate that the paper would wear away and thus leave the sensor close to but not contacting the surface. The parts counter has such paper spacers to put on the tip of the sensor, but you would still need to shim the sensor itself so that when it was bolted into place that there was not pressure being applied to the tip due to there not being sufficiently thick spacers mounted at the hole/spacer interface.
I wish I could be of more help to you but this is the best I can offer.
Thanks for the rating and nomination, which you are entitled to repeat if this is of any help to you.
Roland