That sucks man....
Going to try one of those tap out drill bits?
Make sure to spray that thing with some penetrating oil for a day or two before you try.

How dirty was the sensor?

 

Ill see what I can find to get the bolt out. Not much space to work with unfortunately.

The sensor wasn't as dirty as yours when it came out. It seems like your sensor cleaned up better than my sensor. I have dirty crud (almost looks like rust) that needs to be scratched off on the side of the cylinder.

 

Interesting.
I attributed all the dirt on my sensor from my frequent pressure washing of the engine.
I'm guessing that the dirty water was accumulating in that spot.

Now don't think I shove the pressure washer wand in there, but I carefully wash the engine bay down every time I wash the car. (I always cover the alternator with a plastic bag)

 

Is it easier to remove this sensor from the driver side wheel well or by crawling under the car and reaching up right behind the undertray?

 

Crawl under.

 

Well it has been two months since the bolt on my E-Shaft Pos. Sensor broke. I finally got the time to go at it this week since I'm on spring break. At first I got bolt extractor bits but it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a drill in there due to the lack of space. I also thought about using a regular drill bit and drilling the rusted bolt out. Same thing, no space. THe only thing that would fit is my small dremel with a tiny micro grinder attachment. Even then, I was unable to get a proper angle to attack the bolt. I did make a small hole through the mount (which happens to be ~1/2" thick) and decided not to use the dremel any more because it was grinding a sideways hole.

I began using a small needle file to enlarge the hole. After a an hour of filing, I was able to fit a small M4-.7 x 25mm hex bolt through the hole. Unfortunately the bolt was slanted due tot he slanted hole, which means the sensor won't be solidly mounted. The M4-.7 bolt is way too thin for my liking anyways. The next day, I began filing again, but in a more intricate manner. After an hour, I was able to finally make a hole that can fit a M5-8x30mm hex bolt STRAIGHT. It was somewhat thicker than the M4-.7, but still no where near as thick as the original broken bolt. It mounted solidly with a nut and internal tooth washer (which was a total bitch to get on with zero space, I have to glue both to one finger tip) on the back side of the mount and a regular washer on the sensor side.

Cliff notes and moral of the story? **** rusty bolts and the complete lack of space around the sensor. It took me three days and two Home Depot trips (okay I know I could have done it in one long day) to get a freaking sensor remounted.

 

Damn dude ...... what a nightmare.

It might have been worth taking apart all the intake parts and removing all the drive belts and other crap to get a top down approach on it.

I'm assuming you've tried starting the car and everything is fine? Idle?

 

I haven't had the chance to start the car yet. In fact, it has been in hibernation for 3 months. I will try it out this weekend when the weather cooperates.

I have thought about taking everything apart but this will do for now. If I ever have a problem with the hole in the mount, I'll weld the hole and grind it flat for a new surface to work on.

 

My car has had trouble starting and been running rough since i got it. After cleaning the ESS its running a 100 times better....and no engine light. Thanks to this thread.... And the search button haha

 

^ Thanks for searching.

 

You are very welcome

+1
Thanks for searching

 

No prob, 99% of the time i find answers by searching...hence the low post count lol

Well after a day the check engine light reappeared and had trouble starting again. Installed new plugs 1K miles ago and my starter tested out ok, so I'm gonna inspect my coils to make sure its not them before spending $100 on a new ESS

 

Just to give an update if anyone is having this prob.

The resistance checked out fine on the coils but somehow on 3 of the coils a lil bit of loose dirt was on the main contact were the spark plug wires connect. I also had a small vacuum leak on my intake. I'm thinking the combination of these two and a faulty ESS were the problem. Now the car starts without hesitation, and throttle response/smoothness of the engine has improved greatly

 

Not having this problem but a big thank you goes out to you for posting back what your problem was and then remembering to come back and post your solution =)

 

cant get mine out !

 

To the guy that made this thread, Thanks for the awesome write up. Had the same problem; p0335, ran rich as hell, backfired, and died when I put it in neutral. Changed eshaft position sensor and did the reset. Ran fine for about 3 minutes then right back to it. Cleaned maf and connectors, cleaned coil packs, did the reset again and shes good as new.

 

yes, the early covers fulled enclosed the ESS. If you get road salt etc in there the dissimilar metals will corrode and then that becomes an issue. Mazda changed it on the later years to be open, likely because of that problem. For people with that type you’d be well advised to put a light coating of high temp grease or anti-seize on the body of the ESS before inserting into the cover bore anytime you have it out to prevent that problem. You should also put grease or anti-seize on the bolt threads of the hold-down screw for the same reason.