So my car died on the road a few days ago while driving. it kind of just sputtered to a stop. would start up after about 5 minutes only to die again.. limped the car home and now it wont start at all, but cranks very strong. No cel.... could this be crank or cam position sensors?I know most threads about it mention codes coming up for it, but I have no codes. Fuel pressure is normal, throttle body working, and I can't think of anything else wrong. I did order the sensors but theyre not in yet. Has anyone had the same experience and no codes?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

kinda sounds like the camshaft sensors

 

thanks Trav, thats what I figured too. I tried to unplugging crank sensor trick and still didnt start so im thinking cam sensors. But is it normal for them to not throw any codes?

 

my buddies 03 never did, it would be running fine, die, take about 10 min to start up again... run fine for a bit, studder, run, die

 

That's exactly what it does!!! but now it won't start at all.. and cam sensors fixed his car and made it run normally?

I have both cam sensors and crank sensor on the way(Nissan OEM). They should be here next week, so I hope that fixes it.

 

ran like a cat on fire after he swapped them

 

Thanks! well, I hope that those sensors will fix it for me. If so, hopefully a full engine build will be coming soon.

 

I'm concerned that a bad sensor didn't trigger a CEL. You can test the sensor. It just takes a minute to check the signal with a DMM that reads Hertz Frequency or better still, a basic lab scope.

 

My moms non Z car had same symptoms never triggered a Cel. Swapped out the crank pos sensor and runs like new. Sure to bet one of the two are your issue.

 

Count me as a skeptic if a CEL wasn't triggered. The diagnostic system is usually quite accurate in identifying such problems in my experience. What type of code reader are you using?

 

I am using uprev software for code reading. I borrowed spare cam sensors from a friend(mine come in this week) and changed them out late last night. the battery is very low though so the car did not stay on, though it did start up a couple times and let me rev it but dies shortly after. the car did not have enough juice to crank after that. will hook it up to a jump starter today and see if I can get it running.

Once I figure it out I will keep everyone updated. I am glad the engine at least turned over before the battery died. It only turned over after changing the driver side cam sensor.

 

update: changed out both cam sensors with used ones, changed crank sensor with new oem, jump started car and it started up twice but won't stay running. revs normally, but just dies out after 30 sec. Seems similar to the tps problem I had before but no CEL shows up. I will take my laptop out there and try to reset the ecu with cipher then try to start again. If that does not work, I will be swapping the throttle body and MAF today and see if that fixes it.

also, the brand new oem passenger cam sensor should be in today, so will swap that out as well.

 

I'd check into the Throttle Position Sensors. That can put you into limp mode; I had an issue with mine, but it was throwing the code (tps), can't remember off hand the code #. I ended up doing what the dealer recommended and carefully wiped the inside of the throttle bodies with TB cleaner on clean rag a couple of times in both TBs (he said not to over spray it, just be thorough); get the valve hinges too and I haven't had any problem now for a few months. Mine had thrown the code and went into limp mode; all lights came on 2 times in a month; turned car off and it fired up, ran fine and only ses light on, cleared that and read code, etc.

Just thought I'd throw that out for you to consider due to the limp mode thing; strange that no ses light has come on. Mine did it 3 times, always on a "re-start" after sitting for a while and once kind of idling through a parking lot, never under any throttle pedal, but it seems to be solved. * I used a white little rag and it did a job because there were some black areas on it from inside of TBs. Good luck with it all!

 

Has the battery been charged and checked? Hate to go to all this work only to find it's simply a weak battery that could be easily changed.

 

Battery works great and car cranks strong. Its dying now though only due to me cranking it 50 times without successful start. I changed maf and tb and reset ecu. Car will start up and i can keep it alive for a bit by revving it but it eventually dies after 10 sec. I need to watch fuel pressure next time i get it started. Fuel pump could be bad as it feels like its running out of fuel
Or something once the fuel in the rail runs out

 

Inhad a problem a few weeks ago with the car not starting because base fuel pressure wouldnt go above 20. Then after letting it sit for 5 min it worked again like nothing happened. Could a week/dying fuel pump be a possibility? i havent had a fuel pump push 40psi in on position but possibly be bad/week before. Just had it totally fail.

 

put in new passenger cam sensor, took some logs(will post later, theyre on laptop). while logging, I got the car to turn over, but I noticed cranking voltage was pretty low even with the jump start box. It went down to

 

Ok, so fully charged battery, car still wont start. ran codes and it intermittently throws p0605. The car had that code in the past but I cleared it and it worked fine. could the ecu finally be really dead?? I can still do uprev reflashes and cipher can read the ecu... So I find it odd that all that is working yet says p0605

 

last sensor should be in today, and also ordered a used matching ecu(it was cheap). Hope these will fix the problem.

 

all sensors now brand new but still not running, ordered a used ECU, should be here in a few days. will change that out and hopefully that fixes it...

Anyone have any other ideas what could cause something like this??