2000 Nissan Altima camshaft sensor

Tiny
HAMADIO
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 NISSAN ALTIMA
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • MANUAL
  • 102,000 MILES
The car will turn off when driving. I took it to the dealer and they said that the camshaft sensor needs to be replaced, however, when they connected the car to the computer another code came out showing the possibility that the timing chain jumped. Question: is the sensor problem related to the timing chain jumping? When turning on the engine it seems that is running ok, how do I know if the timing jumped?
Sunday, August 16th, 2009 AT 10:01 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Hi there,

The chances of the timing chain jumping is quite remote but just to prove the point your mechanic can check the cam reference point quite easily, I would be thinking the the faulty cam position sensor has sent a false signal to the ECU and this has set the code, do you know what the codes were?If so post them here.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Monday, August 17th, 2009 AT 5:36 AM
Tiny
HAMADIO
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
The mechanic is telling me that it mignt not be the camshaft sensor but the timing chain. The two codes that he is getting are: PO340 and P1446. The mechainc needs to remove the cover to inspect the chain and see if it is the chain or the tensor. 5 hours of labor to remove and phyiscally inspect it. Could this be true?

Thanks for your help.
Henry
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Monday, August 17th, 2009 AT 9:43 AM
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Hi there,

The P0340 is the cam position sensor, wiring or ECM fault, the P1446 is the EVAP system which is nothing to do with the cam, I would be replacing the sensor, but I will check a manual to see how long I should take to check the valve timing, but 5 hrs seams far to long.

Mark (mhpautos)
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Monday, August 17th, 2009 AT 5:15 PM
Tiny
STEVEW84
  • MECHANIC
  • 673 POSTS
Don't want to hijack this thread, but I recommend a better way of checking timing that doesn't involve 5 hours to remove the cover. Use a scope and hook up to the crankshaft and camshaft sensors. Once you get a pattern then compare it to a know good pattern. Should be able to find a good pattern on IATN. HTH.
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Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 AT 12:47 PM

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