brief history...

2003 350z
6 spd touring
i had a built engine but on along a tt kit, sold the built engine and bought a stock engine and used tranny.

I kept getting the same codes "cam positioning sensor" and the car was in safe mode. I changed the cam sensor but thats not the problem.. i read somewhere to try the crankshaft sensor.. I disconnected the crankshaft sensor and the car runs fine. I bought a new crankshaft sensor and replaced the connector with a new one cause the old one looked a little stripped... I put everything back together and the car still in safe mode, it wont rev past certain rpms. I then again disconnect the crankshaft sensor and after cranking it for a few seconds the car runs fine.

so its not the sensors... or the wire harness.

the guy i bought the stock engine and tranny said it came out of a 2004 350z... im wondering if maybe the flywheel is from a fwd vq???

what can it be? and why does the car run fine when i disconnect the sensor but safe mode when its connected..

any help will be much appreciated.

 

Was it a 2004 or a 2004.5? Big difference in ECU between the two. 2004 was essentially the same as 2003.

 

Um using my original wire harness and original ecu which worked just fine with the built engine I had.. What's diff about 04.5?

 

Starting with 2004.5, the engine was a ULEV (Ultra low emissions) model. Wideband O2 was added, etc. I haven't looked at ECU wiring but there was definite differences in other wiring from the 2003/2004 to the 2004.5. In general, you have to have an ECU that matches the engine, and there are definite part number differences in the 2003/2004 and 2004.5 modules.

From what you're describing, the ECU is not controlling the engine properly. My guess is that they're incompatible.

 

sounds like a zinger! def. something to check first

 

Zinger? I don't get it

 

dave sounds like he has the right idea, that engine might have been from a 2004.5 which is different than what your wiring harness is setup for.

That would be a rev up engine, i think you have to change some things to make it work. I'm not an expert on it but i'm pretty sure there is a way to use a rev up engine in a non-rev car but things must be done to make it work.

The other thought of mine is the flywheel is incorrect. You will get those sensor errors if the flywheel isn't marked up with the proper line on the crank. If everythign checks out with the engine you might have to pull the transmission to make sure the flywheel was lined up properly when they installed it.

 

The rev-ups didn't start until 2005 on the Anniv cars.

Check out the Courtesy website CLICK. There are 26 different ECUs listed for the 350, varying by year, model, transmission.

BTW - there's no way that I'm aware of to tell by the engine serial number if it's a 2004 or 2004.5. If you have the VIN number of the car it came from, we can tell from that.

Here ya' go - look at the differences in the pin-outs of the 2004 vs the 2004.5 ECU.

 

ah, i get backwards on that stuff. widebands and ecu change then 05 was the engine change. my bad

 

Def not a rev up engine

 

It's not the sensor or the harness... The car runs fine when I disconnect the crank sensor and I know the crank sensor reads the flywheel... I just need to know if it's possible to have the wrong fly and still b running good without the crank sensor?

 

crank sensor is there for a reason.

like i stated above, the crank sensor will throw a code if the flywheel isn't properly aligned on the crank when it's installed. You have to line up the flywheel marks with the crank marks.

it's a simple fix, but it sucks to do it. pull the trans, unbolt flywheel and line it up. problem should be fixed.

 

that my friend sounds like a good solution. I just wanted to be 100% sure b4 i had to drop the tranny for the 5th time!!!

 

lol, ya, it's a pain but you should be able to do it in under an hour now with experience! i can do it in under an hour from pulling it so many times when i had clutch issues.

wait til you pull the motor that many times. I feel like i should be able to do it blindfolded now.

On a serious note, i think it's probably a good chance that is the issue. If it's rotated just 1 bolt off from being lined up you'll get issues. The plus to it being this problem is that it costs you only time and zero money to fix.

 

i didnt think you could install the flywheel incorrectly... i thought it only went one way... can it be the wrong flywheel? also can it be facing the wrong way? or does it just need adjustment clock or counterclockwise?

 

lol, i guess i didn't make that clear. Ya turned clockwise or CCW is what i mean by "off".

It wo'nt install "upside down".

The flywheel is balanced and that sensor is marked so it knows the position when it spins. If you don't have it bolted at the correct bolt holes it will either advance or retard where the sensor sees the flywheel and it throws codes.

When you pull it apart you'll see there is a triangle on the flywheel that lines up to a mark on the crank.

I've made the mistake on my buddies mustang. I was in a hurry and it slipped my mind to line up the flywheel and we had issues. Soon as we fired it up and had issues i knew what i forgot.

 

awesome. i will get working on this as soon as i get my R1 ready... (general maintenace)