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  #1  
Old 08-08-2012, 07:06 PM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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Default 2003 Altima Camshaft Position Sensor

My girlfriend's check engine light came on and we got the P0340 code. The car would run but would stall at 2500 RPM. I went to Advance Auto and got a replacement sensor and replaced the bad sensor. The car wouldn't start. I put the "bad" sensor back in and it starts but it won't get past idle now. Any ideas? A match and 5 gallons of gas?
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  #2  
Old 08-09-2012, 07:03 AM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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I went and picked up another sensor this morning. Installed it and the same thing happened as last night, the engine turns over but acts like it's not getting fire. I put the old one back in and now it runs. It still stalls at 2500 RPM. Is it possible to get 2 bad sensors? I got 1 at Advanced Auto and the other at Auto Zone. Is there anything else that I'm missing?
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  #3  
Old 08-09-2012, 10:35 AM
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bennyb53 bennyb53 is offline
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1. refer to engine control manual. if you have the VQ engine, you have two camshaft sensors. P0340 is bank 1 or firewall side.
2. do a spark test on just one ignition coil to see if you're spark. you can buy a spark tester for under $15. or buy a $3. spark plug, gap it. remove one coil and insert the plug at the end of the coil boot and crank engine. you can use your jumper cable as ground. during the day you may need help to crank the engine cuz its difficult to see the spark. at night just turn off your garage light and easy to see.
3. if you are not getting spark, replace your crankshaft sensor. hope this helps.
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Old 08-09-2012, 10:42 AM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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Thanks BennyB. The car starts and runs with the "bad" cam sensor. When I put in new sensors the car acts like it is not getting spark. Is that when I should check for spark? All of these different sensors throw me off. Should I go ahead and replace the 2 cam sensors and the crank sensor and be done with it? I don't understand why it runs with the "bad" sensor (P0340) but won't start with new sensors.
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  #5  
Old 08-09-2012, 11:54 AM
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NissanTech NissanTech is offline
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Quote:
Should I go ahead and replace the 2 cam sensors and the crank sensor and be done with it?
We usually recommend replacing all 3 sensor.

Quote:
I don't understand why it runs with the "bad" sensor (P0340) but won't start with new sensors.
Never had that problem before. Check the connector, make sure the connector click when goes all the way in with the new sensors.
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  #6  
Old 08-15-2012, 06:03 PM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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I replaced all 3 sensors with sensors from Advance Auto. The car started with the new crank sensor and hit over 4000 RPM when it first started. Then it would sort of "bog" down when you hit the gas. I replaced the other 2 sensors and the car wouldn't start. It would turn over but it didn't seem to get any fire. I removed the Bank 1 sensor and replaced it with the old sensor and it still wouldn't start. Then I replaced the Bank 2 sensor with the old one and the car starts up. This is driving me crazy and my girlfriend isn't very happy either. We took it by Peacock Nissan in Houston and after they diagnosed it they said it needed the Bank 1 sensor and the Crankshaft sensor. Should I get the Nissan Sensors and try them? What if I get the same results?
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  #7  
Old 08-15-2012, 07:12 PM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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Just went out for a test drive. When cold the car barely gets over 1500 RPM before it starts choking. After it warms up it will get up to about 2100 RPM. The girlfriends mouth is red lining at about 6800 RPM on this issue. Any ideas?
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  #8  
Old 08-21-2012, 12:48 PM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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I checked the codes again and all I get now is the P0340 camshaft sensor. I guess that the crankshaft sensor from Advance Auto worked OK. I ordered a Nissan camshaft sensor online, hopefully it will work. The car now only goes about 52 MPH tops.
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  #9  
Old 08-27-2012, 11:28 AM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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Took the car to Peacock Nissan to get the camshaft sensor replaced. The only code showing was the P0340 code. I had them put the bank 1 camshaft sensor in. The mechanic said that it ran fine during his test drive. My girl drove it about 5 miles and noticed the check engine light was back on. We took it back to Nissan with 3 codes now (P0011, P0021, & P0340) and they said that it was the other 2 sensors (bank 2 and crankshaft) so we had them replace them. We went to pick it up and they gave us an estimate of $1762.00 to check the timing chain to see if it jumped time. The mechanic said that after he put the other 2 new sensors in that it started throwing a bunch of different codes. Does this sound Right? We just spent over $600.00 and are back at square one. Any suggestions? Could it be the computer and should Nissan have picked that up during their diagnosis? The car idles smooth and runs smooth up to the 2500 RPM.
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  #10  
Old 08-28-2012, 04:38 PM
NissanAltima01 NissanAltima01 is offline
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Did you purchase the metal version or got the same OE (plastic) version as what has been installed since production? The plastic version is a wide spread problem because of the heat it cannot take and goes defected, which should of already been looked at by Nissan. Anyhow i thought the Camshaft Position Sensor had only one location, now there is another Camshaft Position Sensor location? Here is the one that i'm replacing since i'm getting the P0340 code (URL BELOW). The other location at the firewall is the Crankshaft Position Sensor which is really hard to get at and that was already replaced several years ago with a metal version since i was getting the P0335 code.


-Camshaft Position Sensor that i'm replacing this Friday.....
http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/Pr...r_location.jpg

UPDATE: Sorry i didn't notice that your engine was different than mine, i got the 2.5S.

Last edited by NissanAltima01; 08-28-2012 at 04:44 PM.
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  #11  
Old 08-28-2012, 06:36 PM
Gman969 Gman969 is offline
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Thanks NissanAltima01. I don't know what Nissan put in. I had them do the work so that I would have a warranty on the parts. It is now worse than when I took it in. I don't think that they tried to diagnose the problem, they just want me to pay for parts and labor until they figure this out. I was at a mechanic friend's shop today and he was showing me a computer program that he has that shows how to diagnose this sort of thing. I think that the manual on here shows a lot of what needs to be checked. I'm sure I know how I'll spend my Saturday.
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  #12  
Old 09-01-2012, 05:01 PM
NissanAltima01 NissanAltima01 is offline
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So did you finally get to the bottom of this issue? Those two codes you stated in your previous posts "P0011 and P0021" are Intake Valve Timing Control Performance Bank 1 and Intake Valve Timing Control Performance Bank 2. Have you checked the spark plugs to see if they are okay? When was the last time you changed the oil? You know it is so easy replacing the Camshaft Position Sensor yourself, but if you want the parts warranty i can understand. But if you want to find out which version of the sensor they have installed why not take a look at it for yourself because if they have installed the plastic version it will come back defected again later. Besides the metal version is alot cheaper compared to the OE version. I hope this helps in some ways...

-Metal Version of the sensor...
http://www.samarins.com/diagnose/sen...ion-sensor.jpg

-The Original Equipment version (Plastic) of the sensor
http://www.auto-parts-online.com/upl...1282214895.jpg

-Here are the other two codes...
http://www.nissanhelp.com/diy/obd_co...11_nissan.html
http://www.autocodes.com/p0021_nissan.html

Last edited by NissanAltima01; 09-01-2012 at 05:07 PM.
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  #13  
Old 02-11-2013, 05:45 PM
Jacarter220 Jacarter220 is offline
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I've seen this exact problem... These things do NOT like aftermarket sensors. I've literally taken out a brand new aftermarket sensor and replaced it with a Nissan one. Problem solved. I've never seen a cam code caused by anything other than a sensor. Get your money back from the parts store and get an OE one. I will almost guarantee that'll fix it.
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  #14  
Old 02-24-2013, 01:44 PM
NissanAltima01 NissanAltima01 is offline
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So did you finally get it working?
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  #15  
Old 05-21-2016, 07:23 PM
Ronin Ronin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacarter220 View Post
I've seen this exact problem... These things do NOT like aftermarket sensors. I've literally taken out a brand new aftermarket sensor and replaced it with a Nissan one. Problem solved. I've never seen a cam code caused by anything other than a sensor. Get your money back from the parts store and get an OE one. I will almost guarantee that'll fix it.
Seems like this is worth a shot.
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