Can't find the Crankshaft Position Sensor?

[AzAltima]

When I took my car in for the service recall for the ECM programming, they called and said that they could not complete the work because my Crank Position Sensor is bad. So I went and purchased one at NAPA for $65, but I can't find the damn thing. I know it's under the starter motor, but I don't see it. Does anybody have any good pics of the location???

If it's really hard to get to, would it be worth paying the $190 for the dealer to replace it?

2005 Altima 2.5L


Thanks.

[mpe235]

Remove the air cleaner housing and look down the backside of the engine. The sensor is next to the rear motor mount. They are tricky to get to. I don't suggest installing the napa sensors unless they are using the updated part. The new ones from nissan have been redesigned. Instead of being plastic they have changed to a metal covered sensor. This fixes the problem of oil leaking through into the connector.

[AzAltima]

Originally Posted by mpe235

Remove the air cleaner housing and look down the backside of the engine. The sensor is next to the rear motor mount. They are tricky to get to. I don't suggest installing the napa sensors unless they are using the updated part. The new ones from nissan have been redesigned. Instead of being plastic they have changed to a metal covered sensor. This fixes the problem of oil leaking through into the connector.

Thanks! I decided to take the Napa part back. I can only see the wire and the very tip of the sensor, if I'm looking at the right one? It doesn't look like something I want to tackle, looks like I might just have the dealer do it, and have them reprogram the ECM while it's there.

[amtersigni]

I just replaced both the cam and crank position sensor recently on my girl's 2005 altima because it was shutting off in traffic and RPM's jumping around. You can buy the sensors for $34 at Nissan (the new sensors are a cylinder type opposed to the old rectangular type). Nissan said this was the 3rd or 4th revision to the sensor. This is a known issue and a big problem for them.
The cam sensor is easy to replace it will take a total of 5-10 mins MAX. The crank sensor is a little bit more difficult but can be done. It is on the rear right hand side of engine if look at it from the front of car. If you take the plastic cover off of the engine and lean over engine looking down the rear of it, you can see the sensor to you get a good idea where it is located and the green tab you have to push down. You basically have to feel for the sensor. I used a small flat tip screw driver to push the green tab down which released the connector. I used a 10mm to remove the bolt holding the sensor in place (You will have to play with different short ext. for the socket until you find on that makes it easy for you to remove the bolt). Once the old sensor is remove clean the hole where it was located. Attach the new sensor to the wiring harness before placing the new sensor in place.

[nam888]

I bough the crankshaft sensor but still counldn't locate the one on the car. Looking straight down from the air intake, I see two sensor just above the motor mount but not sure which one is the crankshaft sensor. One I can see clearly but the other one I can barely see. Can some help pin point exactly where this sensor is located?

Thanks for the help..

[dpdole]

Okay, I just completed changing out my crankshaft sensor and I thought it was going to be an adventure according to what some people had said. I will say it was a bit challenging but not super hard. Here is what i used, a small flash light (something that you can clip to hoses or small wire, something hands free), a flathead screwdriver, a socket wrench, a 10mm socket with a 2 inch extension, and a wratcheting screwdriver with 10mm socket for it too. The location of the crankshaft sensor is a bit tricky, it took me a little bit to find it. I actually downloaded the basic service manual from this site, and it shows some diagrams on pages 113, and 112 of where it should be. They are a bit hard to decipher but I finely found it. You do have to take off the plastic engine cover and then I removed the EVAP service port too...that made it much easier. If you position your flashlight on a wire against the firewall pointing back into teh back of the engine the crankshaft sensor is almost middle of the engine but more favored to the driver side....there is only one sensor there that you can really see from above and that is it!! You can look from the top of the engine through some of the spaces where the injectors are and with the flashlight correctly positioned you can see the bolt and sensor. It was a bit hard to pull the connector off, and after that was off, it was a bit hard to pull the sensor out after getting the bolt holding it in off. After you pull it out, and you want to place the NEW METAL SENSOR from Nissan, you want to connect the sensor to the connector before bolting it on!!! THAT IS A KEY POINT....so i will say it again.....connect the sensor to the connector before bolting it back onto the engine. This new sensor is deisgned so you can do thus, not like the old one. If you have any questions about what I said or want some more help on locating this sensor email me at usafusmc1@aol.com. I will do my best to get this located for you. Once I located the sensor, it took me maybe 30 minutes to get the sensor out and the new one back in. Sure beats paying Nissan a ridiculous amount to put one in. Also nissan charged me $62 dollars for the new sensor, I am sure it will cost different amounts in different parts of the country. Good Luck

[wood]

THANXS dpdole
i almost took off the wrong sensor!! i had some one try to help me find and remove this sensor and they told me that the sensor was located closer to the bottom of the engine and the best way to get to it was to jack-up the car and get it from the bottom. plus it was located more on the passanger side and it was a 12mm bolt. so i put it off for another day,luckly i did, it was gunna be a mission to get to it too.

so i should look for a green tab right?

[Brandon]

Ive been looking for the green tab on the nissan altima 04 and cant find one. Ive tried to locate it but having trouble to figure out which sensor it is. Where can i go to find some pictures. Or does anybody know an easy way to find it.

[COLE]

I found and removed the crank sensor but I cannot get the new one to lock to the harness or is there a trick that I don't know, I am thinking I could have broken it during removal, Is the green lock suppose to be one piece inside the housing and if I broke it how do I replace the coupler or just the lock?
THANKS COLE

[deeznuts]

I don't believe you can just replace the "green lock", but rather the entire connector. But then that opens up the argument of replacing the entire harness as opposed to just the connector. Have you tried (once you have it "connected") pulling out on the green locking tab with a screw driver? Why do you think you may have broken it? Many times the only thing more difficult than getting it to disconnect, is getting it to reconnect.

[raidr067]

What is the trick to removing the connector, I see the green lock on the connector but I don't know how to remove it

[mpe235]

Originally Posted by raidr067

What is the trick to removing the connector, I see the green lock on the connector but I don't know how to remove it

Push the green part toward the engine and pull the connector away from the engine.

[raidr067]

Thanks mpe235, I'll give it a shot tomarrow

[raidr067]

It took a little while because of the limited space to work with, but I was able to switch the sensor and now my car is back to normal running condition.

[preludedez]

Man oh man what a pain in the man. Well, after the dealer bs and trying to charge me 175 for the job, I told them no thanks. Not only did I tell him what the problem was, he also said well it could be a fuel filter or ecm. I siad ok call me when you verify its the crank position sensor. Well, I got the part on my own and the head ach wasnt worth 175 maybe 90 but you know. For those of you who are having a hard time removing the sensor, you have to push the green tab in until it clicks. The tab is on the side of the passenger and it is spring loaded so if it comes back and you feel that sponge feeling, it didnt click. After that is when the fun starts getting the bastard off. Well, i am done with that bs.

On another note, I wanted to ask all those who have done this already, when you pulled put the old sensor did you notice it had wear in groovs? I noticed that on mine. Thanks all for the post I was ableto read and get I deas on how to do this.

[bjones2482]

i need help on a 1994 nissan altima i have looked at the haynes manual and it shows a picture of the sensor just to the right of the oxygen sensor on the bellhousing well i dont know if it is because the transmission has been replaced or what but i have beeen looking for this thing for a week so if someone can please help DO IT PLEASE!

[jubei1972]

FYI I called my Nissan stealership and asked them about the CPS warranty. The service rep said it's warranted for 150K miles and that I could bring it in and have it replaced at no charge at the same time I took the car in for the ECM recall. Had it replaced over the weekend, took a long 2 hour drive down south, drove around SD all weekend, then drove back home Sunday evening. No probs yet (knock on wood), no engine stalling, no problem starting engine when it's hot, etc...

[mpe235]

Originally Posted by jubei1972

FYI I called my Nissan stealership and asked them about the CPS warranty. The service rep said it's warranted for 150K miles and that I could bring it in and have it replaced at no charge at the same time I took the car in for the ECM recall. Had it replaced over the weekend, took a long 2 hour drive down south, drove around SD all weekend, then drove back home Sunday evening. No probs yet (knock on wood), no engine stalling, no problem starting engine when it's hot, etc...

You must have an aftermarket service contract. Nissan only warranties that part 3 years or 36,000 miles.

[leontuesday]

thanks for your help, follwed your directions & worked fine

[mikeo1313]

You guys mention a "metal" revision of the sensor thats the latest revision. (and will supposedly save you headaces down the road.)

I went to Nissan and took the sensor I bought nearly 2 years ago I was never able to find b4 I ran across this forum, to try and buy the "new" "revised" metal one.

They said the one I got is what they sell, all day.

The Position & Phas sensor came in 1 box grey box with white labels, the # on the label is

B3731-6N26k

Its not like I can demand a refund. My mechanic installed the Phas sensor almost 2 years ago and the Position sensor has just been laying around since.

I'd like to get ahold of the good / updated part, how can I???

From what it seems the Miami dealership will sell me eactly what I allready got, which is why I made this post. My car is Nissan Altima 2.5 2005.