Cam Sensor Issues

[avalontom]

Just traded in my 03 Avalon for a 2006 M45 sport. Picked it up last Tuesday. Fun car! Driving home Friday night it just dies. Lights go off, no power, etc. It restarts with a bunch of warning lights, including service engine soon light. Got me home fine. Restarted with only service engine light on. Took to O'reillys and had them scan it. Came up with a cam sensor error. I bought 2 new sensors (they said it had two) and took it to the place I bought it from. They installed the one they said is the only one on this V8. Service engine light was gone! I'm feeling better about the car now.

That work was done on Wednesday. On Thursday morning on my way to work, the Service engine light is back on. The dealer I bought this car at is over a 3 hour round trip on the parking lot we call I-4 through Orlando. I'm thinking about picking up a OEM sensor, but cannot figure out exactly where the sensor is. All the videos I have watched and diagrams just confused me, and I don't have a manual yet. My questions are: Is the fact that I used an aftermarket sensor an issue? Is the sensor located on the passenger side of the motor or the drivers side? I can get to the passenger side of the rear of the engine, but the cables and hoses, etc. on the drivers side make me want to take it back to the dealership to refix.

Appreciate advice in advance.

Bob

[Brian35XR]

what is the code exactly? could be a crank sensor...

fwiw i've used cheap autozone sensors in the past and theyve done good.

[Costee]

It could be any of the following:
P1140:Intake valve timing control position sensor Bank 1
P1145:Intake valve timing control position sensor Bank 2
P0335:crankshaft position sensor
P0340:camshaft position sensor
For the first pair you'd require oem sensors with this part# 23731-2Y52A; for the lower pair it is 23731-4M50B
So let's know the specific code pulled.
Somehow, all these sensors are described by Nissan as Crank Sensor!

[CPJ LB]

Welcome to NICO...sorry to hear about the issues...

since it is your 'new car', it might be a good idea to change out all sensors (cam and crank) with OEM sensors. The OEM sensors should last a while after you change them... you can also order them thru OC Infiniti's online store or just give them a call. They are good at shipping... Otherwise, go to InfinitiPartsUSA...

[JoshTex]

Welcome to the Forum!! Do yourself a big favor. Replace all 3. My friend owns a shop and he just did this same repair on a customers car.

[Costee]

Welcome to the Forum!! Do yourself a big favor. Replace all 3. My friend owns a shop and he just did this same repair on a customers car.

They're 4 on M45.

[Brian35XR]

Can I just ask why everybody (including everyone this thread) ALWAYS recommends changing all the sensors the same time if one goes bad. There is literally no benefit to doing this. I could see if they were all in same spot to save you from having to rip your car apart again but they're not...

[Costee]

Can I just ask why everybody (including everyone this thread) ALWAYS recommends changing all the sensors the same time if one goes bad.

I wouldn't put it that way. What is recommended is that if you have the originals in there, you may, for the purposes of preventive maintenance, change all if one goes bad.
When one of mine went bad at 95k, I converted the rest to spares for emergency purposes.

[avalontom]

Okay. Got an answer from the dealership today. They are saying the cat converter is causing the codes (it was 340). They are going to replace it next week at no charge. They reset the Check engine light, but it's back on after about 60 miles. Hopefully the cat replacement will fix it. We'll find out next week. Now I can focus on the other issues. I appreciate all the quick responses. This forum is one of the main reasons I felt comfortable buying this M45 over the A8 I was looking at. They have a lot of questions on that forum, but not many answers!

[Costee]

What's to be replaced? The cat or cam sensor? Frankly though I'm puzzled with the connection made between the two. But I guess they're the experts. You didn't mention whether you have again experienced intermittent shut down. That's the classic symptom of a bad cam sensor.

[avalontom]

Costee, the car hasn't died on me again. It runs fine and the only warning lights on now are the Service Engine soon light, and the TPMS light after about 20 minutes of travel. I did just notice that nobody mentioned whether the #2 cam sensor was on the passenger side of the engine or the drivers side. It would be accessible to me (should I ever have this issue again) if it's on the passenger side, not so much on the drivers side.

[Costee]

Costee, the car hasn't died on me again. It runs fine and the only warning lights on now are the Service Engine soon light, and the TPMS light after about 20 minutes of travel. I did just notice that nobody mentioned whether the #2 cam sensor was on the passenger side of the engine or the drivers side. It would be accessible to me (should I ever have this issue again) if it's on the passenger side, not so much on the drivers side.

Strictly speaking there's no #2 cam sensor. What we have are: IVT sensor bank 1 (driver's side) to the left side of the engine oil dip stick; IVT sensor bank 2 (pasenger side) behind the power steering fluid reservoir; the cam sensor directly under IVT sensor bank 1 (remove the air box to access); and the crank sensor further down beneath the engine. All are DIY. Good to hear that the car has not shut down on you again, but since the SES light is still on you have to check by scanning the car again. You could eraze the code if the same one and see whether it'll resurface. As for the TPMS coming steady on after some minutes' drive, one or more of your TPMS sensors is bad and not sending signals to the receiver and the module. I think you could identify the faulty sensor(s) by accessing your TPMS option on the info screen. You'll see **psi for the particular side where no signals are received.

[avalontom]

Just to update. The dealership replaced the catalytic converter and my check engine light is gone. Disappointed that the simple scan at O'Reilys pointing to the cam sensor was a mis diagnosis based on the simple scanner they use. But the dealer paid for it, and even provided a rental car. Pretty good service considering they didn't legally have to take care of it. I bought the car at the Audi South dealer in Orlando.