It's the last thing I have to do. Several months back I changed the plugs, wires, and coils and also cleaned the MAF. The car idled and ran great after doing all that work and then I realized I should have cleaned the ESS while I was in there. So now It is having some funky idle issues and I want to try cleaning the ESS, I'm assuming it has never been out either. What is the best plan of attack? Take wheel off to get to it or jack it up and go from underneath? Also, is it worth taking it out to clean it or clean it in place? And is a 20 foot brake stomp reset needed after cleaning it?

Thanks for any help, I did some searching on the club but I'm getting mixed answers on the best procedure. Thank you.

 

If you are skinny enough then you can just jack the car up on the driver side, slide under with a rag and some electrical contact cleaner, spray the ESS as best you can, get your hand up there and wipe it down.

I have yet to see the need to remove it to clean it, unless you physically
cannot get your hand in there.

It is a very tight fit however.

 

Are any resets needed, NVRAM, 20 foot brake stomp?

 

Hello
I don't know, but I don't think it would hurt.
I'm not the most knowledgeable guy when it comes to these things though, so grain of salt may be needed.
I don't think I have ever read anything about it causing any problems if it's really not needed.
Doesn't take but a few minutes.

 

yes, the ECU remembers the profile of the sensor plate, and apparently its picky enough to be able to see production tolerances, so cleaning the ESS is actually a fairly big change.

i've done the ESS a bunch of ways, from the top requires removing airbox, from the side requires removing wheel, and long arm, the bottom only requires lifting the car

 

Yeah I guess it doesn't hurt, I've done it once before but I just hate having to drive it around trying to keep it from not stalling while it's relearning the fuel trims.

 

I think I might try it with removing the wheel, should be drivers side wheel? Removing the air box was a pita the last time I had it off lol. I guess I will try to just clean it in place and then just do a 20 brake stomp reset, that should do it?

 

yep! if you're just cleaning, you should try from the bottom, i like to remove the sensor completely, but i might be the weird one

oh and i don't count 20, i just stomp the pedal until the oil pressure gauge moves, its very very easy

 

Update! So today after work I performed an oil change and decided to check into cleaning the ESS. Did a little looking around and finally located it, couldn't see it from the top so while the oil was draining I took the drivers side wheel off and looked in and saw it, I reached in the best I could and I have no idea how anyone could access that sensor through the wheel well lol. I could touch it but no way could I get a tool in there to do anything, ended up jacking it up a little more and took a look from underneath and it was much much easier to get at it, still a little tight but I eventually got a ratchet in there and took it off. I was unsuccessful in getting the plug off so I just took the nut out and pulled it off, pretty easy really. The condition of the sensor was pretty dirty, if I could have gotten the plug off I would have took a picture. It was completely grime covered and had a good sized metal flake stuck on it, the size and shape of maybe half of a corn flake along with some smaller flakes of metal stuck on it. I took a rag and gently wiped it clean, I didn't use any cleaner as it seemed the rag was enough. I put it all back together, finished the oil change and started it up. Let it idle and get up to temperature and then took it for a little ride. Came to a few stops and it seemed like it was slightly better at idling, I can't really say for certain if there is any noticeable change in the idling, it may just be wishful thinking on my part lol. Since I was in a slight rush I did not end up doing a 20 brake stomp reset even though I had a few people recommend to do so. Should I bother with the reset at this point?

 

You need to do the reset even if your car ran smooth after cleaning the ESS, KingBonacci. As stated below:
Click the link where it explains Real Way to Clear the Memory

 

So should I reset the NVRAM or the KAM?

 

Do the NVRAM reset.

 

Where do I locate ess sencor

 

looking at front of engine its the bottom most pulley (biggest) "crank" pulley under it in about the 4 o clock position. its held in place by one 10mm bolt and a wiring harness is attached to it. after its cleaned do the 20 brake stomp

 

It would be really great if ANYBODY on any message board would have explained how to get to the ESS from under the car. I looked under there and thought for sure I’d have to remove that big plastic splash shield to get to the ESS. So I took off my wheel. That wasn’t helpful, either.

Remember- the 8’s engine sits way back. I had the car up on ramps, then actually looked around. The ESS is just behind where the plastic belly pan ends. If you look above the front of the oil pan, it’s easy to see. I just used a 10 mm socket and a long extension, took out the bolt, and used some MAF cleaner to clean the sensor. I didn’t bother to disconnect the plug. It was so much easier than I had thought.

I’ve disconnected the ESS from the top side a couple of times before. Never again. This was much quicker than taking out that air box!