OBD-II Code · Sensors
P0339
CKP Sensor A Circuit Intermittent
Severity
high
Left alone, this one tends to take other parts with it.
Can you drive it
Not for long
Driving on this one risks further damage. Get it to a shop rather than carrying on with it.
Indicative cost (USD)
$150–$400
Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
Intermittent CKP signal.
How a shop works this
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.
Note every code that is set, not just this one.
Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.
Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.
Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.
Confirm the fault is current rather than history.
Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.
Then work the likely-causes list in the order shown.
That order is what a shop checks first for this code — wiring and connections before the component they run to, because a connector costs nothing to inspect and is a common answer.
If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.
Common symptoms
- Intermittent stall
- Hard to start when warm
Likely causes
- Failing sensorMost common
- Chafed wiring
Read the full diagnostic procedureP0339 is the intermittent flavor of the CKP family — the signal disappears or goes invalid briefly and recovers before the engine stalls, leaving you…
P0339 is the intermittent flavor of the CKP family — the signal disappears or goes invalid briefly and recovers before the engine stalls, leaving you with a stored code and a customer complaint of momentary stumbles or shudders under specific conditions (hot weather, hard cornering, going over bumps). This is the hardest CKP code to diagnose because the fault is gone by the time the truck is on your lift.
Cheapest-first ladder
- data-log CKP RPM PID at 100 Hz minimum during a test drive that replicates the customer complaint, and watch for momentary dropouts to 0 RPM that the engine bridges on inertia.
- Wiggle-test the harness with the engine running and key-on-engine-off — flex the loom at known stress points (bellhousing pass-through, near the harmonic balancer, behind the starter).
- Use a heat gun on the sensor body and connector to replicate heat-soak failures.
- Check for loose harmonic balancer bolts — a balancer that wobbles 0.5 mm can pull the reluctor in and out of the sensor air-gap window.
- Inspect the sensor mounting bolt torque — a sensor that has backed out 1 mm will go intermittent at high RPM as the air gap exceeds the signal threshold.
Vehicle-specific patternsBMW N54 hot-start CKP failure presents as P0339 first before it progresses to a hard P0335 — catch it at the intermittent stage and you save the tow…
BMW N54 hot-start CKP failure presents as P0339 first before it progresses to a hard P0335 — catch it at the intermittent stage and you save the tow bill. Toyota 2GR-FE (Camry, Avalon, RAV4, Sienna 2005-2014) sets P0339 above 4500 RPM as the aging sensor's signal amplitude drops below threshold during high-RPM tooth-count windows; the engine never stalls because the dropout is sub-100ms. GM 3.6L LY7 sets P0339 from the deteriorating cam phaser oil-control system before it progresses to a hard cam-correlation code — early P0339 on a 100k+ LY7 means start saving for a timing job. Nissan VQ35 throws P0339 from heat-soaked sensors that pass a cold bench test but fail under exhaust thermal load.
Estimated repair$130 to $1800 (sensor on the cheap end, timing job on the GM).
Look up another code
P0339 — frequently asked
What does a P0339 code mean?
Intermittent CKP signal.
What causes a P0339 code?
Common causes: Failing sensor; Chafed wiring.
What are the symptoms of a P0339 code?
Typical symptoms: Intermittent stall; Hard to start when warm.
Is it safe to drive with a P0339 code?
Not for long. Driving on this one risks further damage. Get it to a shop rather than carrying on with it. Estimated repair: $150-$400.
How do I diagnose a P0339 code?
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed. 1. Note every code that is set, not just this one. 2. Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under. 3. Confirm the fault is current rather than history. 4. Then work the likely-causes list in the order shown.
More free tools