2001 Chevy Venture van. 3.4 liter. Replaced Fuel Filter, Car starts and runs then dies while driving sometimes surges then dies. Thought it was fuel filter related so I changed the filter. Then I thought it might be the crankshaft positions sensor, but I don't know for sure.

How can I tell for sure and what is the procedure for replacing the cps if it needs replacement?

Answer: If the fuel filter that you replaced was extremely clogged, you could have a fuel pump going out. A fuel pressure test will tell if you've got proper pressure and if it holds, but you'd need a gauge for that. If you're thinking crank sensor, that will usually set a trouble code and I see you stated that you have no SES or check engine on. There is wiring that goes down the front side of the block to the crank sensor that sometimes gets chaffed and shorts out intermittently, so that should be checked too. If the sensor needs replaced, the harmonic balancer would need to be removed. You might want to check the cam sensor at the front of the intake and its wiring too. If you can get your hands on a scanner, you can drive around and watch the live data to watch for whatever is glitching out.

Thanks for the info, I did put a fuel gauge on the fuel rod and I am getting around 50psi. When the engine cut out, the fuel pressure never dropped so I know that my fuel pump is OK. I also put a code reader on, ran fine for 40 miles and then died with no faults in the computer. I checked all the harness connections I can find but they all look good. I'm still getting fire when the engine cuts out and I'm back to square one. Seems that since I'm still getting spark and air, the only other thing to check is the injectors and computer. Is that my next course of action? thanks again...
Bobby

Answer: You definitely have an odd one, that will take some looking in to. If you can disassemble the air cleaner box and access the PCM (computer), try banging on it while the vehicle is running. If it dies out, you know you have a bad PCM. You can try to remove the intake plenum and check the resistance of each injector with an ohm meter. They should be around 10-12 ohms each. You might want to check the wiring and connectors going into the PCM too, I've seen broken and corroded wires at the connectors before. If none of that does it, you're either going to have to get it to a shop, or get a good scanner that shows live data. Your code reader won't do the trick. With a proper scanner you can see what is going on when the vehicle dies out and have it take a snapshot of the data and then you can tell where your problem is.