Infamous Y34 / M45 Loss of Power

[fabM45]

What's up NICO,

Well today I experienced the all too common problem where the M45 just decides it wants to fall on its face and deprive you of all get up and go power. I was having issues with overheating and realized the cooling fan was no longer spinning when the engine was warm. Read up on some of the threads here and checked the hydraulic cooling fan reservoir. Sure enough, the fluid was very low allowing air to enter the system. I filled the reservoir up with power steering fluid, but a nasty pump cavitation sound remained. Read up on some more threads that suggested unplugging the cooling fan speed control solenoid to bleed air out of the system by forcing the fan to run at full speed. Surprisingly and thankfully the rattle sound went away as soon as I did that. Apparently the sensor that I unplugged was not the speed solenoid, but was rather the driver side camshaft position sensor. Anyways, I drove the car about 5 miles and it ran better than the day I bought the car. It now has 130k miles on the odometer and that seems to be exactly the point at which these sensors fail. I was sitting at a red light and noticed the car starting to shake as if it was misfiring. Idle was rising up to 900rpms and staying there. As the light turned green, I hit the gas as usual and BAM - no power. The car moved forward but would not accelerate no matter how much gas I gave it. No CELs, no VDC, no SLIP lights, nothing. Mashed the gas and RPMS climbed without speed increasing as it should. I was luckily able to limp it home. I checked the connections of each sensor and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I ended up replacing both the camshaft position sensors with units from Autozone for about $28 each. The car runs perfect now. It was very easy to replace the sensors as they are held in with a simple push to remove pigtail and a single 10MM bolt. Both sensors are located in the front top of the engine bay, one on each side of the valve covers. I noticed they were drenched in oil which may have caused them to fail after so many thousands of miles. NOTICE - The sensors from Autozone are not clocked in the same position as the OEM sensors so I had to undo some clips holding the harness in place to get the pigtails to fit back on. I just wanted to let yall know of my experience with this problem, as I have read many threads about the M45 just giving out around this mileage interval. Hopefully the problem does not arise again, so I can enjoy this car for many more miles to come. I will keep this thread updated if anything comes up.

[szh]

Check out this thread too: scary-transmission-moment-2003-m45-t603050.html for another source of a similar issue.

And, oh yes, welcome to NICO!

Z

[eduardop363]

fab m45 thanks for the info....my 07 m45 just died on me on the road last night....slip,vdc, service engine soon,,,would you happen to know the part numbers for the camshaft sensors from autozone?

[Costee]

fab m45 thanks for the info....my 07 m45 just died on me on the road last night....slip,vdc, service engine soon,,,would you happen to know the part numbers for the camshaft sensors from autozone?

First off, confirm the error codes. If they're for the so-called camshaft sensors, then I'd suggest oem ones.

[MinnesotaM45]

Check the oil as well. When your engine oil degrades or burns to low levels, it will lose power on this engine. Happened to me already.

[JFive954]

I did the same exact thing for both my M45s So far no issues with the sensors Autozone supplied.

[fabM45]

Still no issues with the new sensors.

Here is a link to the parts online:
http://www.autozone.com/engine-manageme ... 113_17366/

Duralast Camshaft Position Sensor - Part Number: SU5745, Lifetime Warranty - $26.99 ea. They also have a Hitachi camshaft sensor for $55.99 that may be a slighter better quality part, but only 1 year warranty.

Oh just FYI, about 3 months ago my alternator died and I replaced it with a remanufactured Ultima from O'reillys for $145. I didn't notice before buying, but they have it listed as a 44 amp alternator. OEM spec is 110 amps. Now my brake and battery lights come on at the same time after driving 5-10 miles or idling for 10 minutes. The car will sometimes jerk hard when shifting only when the lights are on. I think the coils get too hot and it loses charging ability or something. I'm going to replace it with a reman Duralast 110 amp alternator from Autozone $140 to see if it fixes the problem. Thanks everyone.

[jsudaria]

Hello Gentlemen,
My 2003 M45 has recently being stalling and completely dying out while I'm on the freeway. No codes, no service engine light! So I had the spark plugs replaced and the throttle body cleaned 2 weeks ago. Car has been driving great until a few days ago it was jerking really badly when I would accelerate up to 40mph. 2 days ago it died out while I was at 65mph, still no codes. Then, this morning and this afternoon it was shaking really badly for the first 5 or so seconds when I started it. Then tonight while I was driving, the service engine light, slip light and VDC light came on and now I have a P0340. I've read posts that I should replace the Camshaft position sensors. Questions: How many Camshaft position sensors are there? Where are they located? Should I get OEM parts or Napa/Auto zone good enough? Should I replace the crankshaft sensors because as I research the code I find that the Camshaft sensors and crankshaft sensors work together?

Thanks for reading and helping!
-Jason.

[fabM45]

Jsudaria, just curious, how many miles do you have on your M45?

Sounds like you are experiencing the same problem as a lot of owners. I would replace the cam position sensors first and see if that takes care of the problem. There are 2 sensors on the car. Both are accessible from the front of the engine bay. Scroll up for the link to the Autozone part, you will need 2 of them. P0304 is camshaft position sensor bank 1. Same thing happened to me and I just replaced those 2 sensors. Everything has been fine since then, but I have heard of the crankshaft sensor going bad at the same time. I'm attaching some photos to help you ID the part.

[Costee]

See this for clarification:
post6691740.html#p6691740

[jsudaria]

Thanks fabM45 and Costee. I have 168,000 miles. In the picture link from member Costee, I see the 2 sensors sitting on top and in the front of the engine labeled as intake valve timing sensor and intake valve solenoid sensor...are these also called the camshaft sensors. I'm getting confused now because I thought the 2 sensors on top at the front of the engine were the camshaft sensors??

Thanks!

[fabM45]

Yes the upper ones (#1) are intake valve sensors, #2 are solenoids, and #3 are camshaft position sensors. You could just change whichever sensors are throwing the CEL, in your case the #3 cam position sensors. Or replace all 4 for peace of mind, they will all fail at some point. I believe #1 and #3 are the same part number at Autozone, but different part numbers at Nissan. Cam position sensors from Nissan are part number 23731-4M50B, and the intake valve sensors from Nissan are part number 23731-2Y52A.

[EdBwoy]

To clarify, you only have one camshaft sensor (phase) and it is located in the #3 position in that picture. It reads the driver side exhaust camshaft sprocket. The passenger side doesn't have one. The crankshaft sensor, which is usually in the transmission bellhousing reading the signal plate, shares the same part number as the #3 sensor.
Some vendors refer to that part as a camshaft sensor while some prefer crankshaft sensor. Costee's part numbers will help you for Autozone and fab M45 will help you with OEM.

The 2 sensors at the top of both intake camshafts (#1 in the picture) work on a slightly different principle. They cannot be used in place of the crank or cam sensor.

...The v8 has its cam sensor at the front of the engine. Although I correctly identified the one you are looking for, I erroneously mixed some sensor names in my first post. Below you will find the correct terminology from the FSM.

Here's a picture from my 06 engine replacement. I hope it helps illustrate where things are.
1. Intake valve timing control position sensor
2. Intake valve timing control solenoid valve
3. Camshaft position sensor (PHASE)

...[/img]

EDIT: linked the picture here for ease of reference

[jsudaria]

Thanks for the pictures guys. When I went to auto zone and asked for a camshaft position sensor, I was given a part that looks exactly like the picture posted by fabm45. When I compared it to the sensor I removed from my car which was located at the top and in front of the engine as shown in the picture posted by Ed of the 2006 engine on a hoist, the auto zone sensor plug area is designed differently. My sensor (and at this point I don't know if I'm correct to call it a camshaft sensor) is designed in a way where the plug is in line with the bolt hole. The auto zone sensor's plug area is turned 90 degrees from the bolt hole. My wire harness is too tight to reach the plug without really putting a strain on the wires. In the picture of the engine on a hoist, is the sensor #3 labeled as the camshaft sensor the exact same size as the "air intake sensors" on the top? Are these sensors interchangeable? Did auto zone give me the correct sensor? I'm so freakin confused!!

[jsudaria]

Took car to mechanic today and they tested my car and got P0340 Bank 1. The mechanic told me bank 1 is on the driver side and P0340 is the code for a "Camshaft position Sensor." Looking again at the labeling of the hoisted engine, my bad sensor should be #3. If I need the sensor labeled as #1, what should I ask for when I talk to auto zone?

Thanks.

[EdBwoy]

With the code you got, you should just replace #3. Check out that link Costee posted earlier, as the OP in that thread had a positive outcome.

I haven't had to buy any of these sensors at autozone yet, so I'm not sure how the aftermarket ones look. What I can say is #1 sensors have holes and look like waffles and #3 are smooth with no holes for OEM.

From autozone:
http://m.autozone.com/engine-management ... m%20sensor
Seems like part# SU5352 is the IVT sensor (#1 in my picture)
Part# SU5745 is the real cam/crank sensor (#3 in the picture)

What's the part number of the one they gave you? Because none of those on their website have the bolt hole in line with the plug.

[jsudaria]

So I went back to Auto Zone and picked up the cam shaft sensor. When I removed the old one, it was pretty saturated in oil. Is this normal? I did have some trouble attaching the plug to the new sensor. I could not get it to click on in place, and tried for a while so I just attached it as best I could and hope it doesn't slide off.

[BlackCat81]

So I went back to Auto Zone and picked up the cam shaft sensor. When I removed the old one, it was pretty saturated in oil. Is this normal? I did have some trouble attaching the plug to the new sensor. I could not get it to click on in place, and tried for a while so I just attached it as best I could and hope it doesn't slide off.

Being covered in oil is normal. And yes, you need to make sure the connector is firmly clicked into place. It'll lose contact eventually otherwise, probably at the most inconvenient time.

[fabM45]

Thanks for the info Edbwoy, autozone only pulls up SU5745 when you ask for camshaft position sensors. SU5352 looks like an exact fitment and the correct part for both IVTC sensors. For the P0340 CEL, you would need SU5745, which looks like an exact fitment as well. Sorry for the confusion, I am currently running camshaft position sensors in place of the IVTC sensors with no issues whatsoever

[EdBwoy]

Yup! Forget this description I gave earlier

...
I haven't had to buy any of these sensors at autozone yet, so I'm not sure how the aftermarket ones look. What I can say is #1 sensors have holes and look like waffles and #3 are smooth with no holes for OEM.
...

I was just cleaning the garage and compared the oem IVT and cam sensors. They are exactly the same. One side smooth, the other side looks like a Lego/waffle. Both have 3 wires and my guess is the difference is only in the harness connector/fitment plus what the computer does with the signal.

I was going to jump here and post that correction. I'll see if I can try to use an IVT sensor in place of the cam sensor since you've proven that the opposite way works fine.