First, thank you to the members of this forum for very helpful information on troubleshooting and fixing car issues that we have used in the past.

There have been many great threads on Camshalf Position Sensor (CPS) and related problems in this forum. We are not trying to duplicate those threads or topics, but wanted to share our experience that is a related to the CPS that did not seem to match some of the symptoms in those threads. Hopefully, when someone needed help and are search for some key words that matches and might help them.

We also have a few questions (below).

Our car is a 2004 Nissan 350Z. In 2014, both CPS were replaced by the previous owner due to Service Engine Soon (SES) light and the related OBDII codes of P0340 and P0345. Four years later when we got the car, the car symptoms were:

1. The engine would randomly shut off ONLY at idle.
2. Very infrequent so engine only shuts off three times within the last four months.
3. There was no SES light or OBDII code to troubleshoot.
4. Once the engine shuts off, it takes 2-3 cranks and the engine would start right back up with no issue for the next time like another month.
5. The engine shuts off at any duration of driving after a 3 miles drive, 7 miles, 30 miles, etc. Sometimes we drive for 100 miles and nothing.
6. The engine would never shuts off during driving.

Suspecting the CPS, but we could not pin point the issue until the last time where the TCS, SES and the Slip lights were on. After driving back and restarting the car, all lights except the SES and the related code P0340 was on. We now know what the issue is based on the OBDII code (P0340 = CPS on passenger side). We replaced both CPS by on-line purchase from the local dealer at $97 each. Going directly to that local dealer's part department, the price of the CPS would be $127. Hopefully, some one can benefit from this tip.

Does anyone know if there there a way to diagnose the CPS issues without the OBDII codes in our case?

For our CPS, the parts numbers were:

Passenger side = 23731-AL61D Crank Angle Sensor)

Driver side = 23731-6J90D Crank Angle Sensor)

These sensors' tips that stick inside the engine were silver metal that are more cylindrical versus the rectangular plastic shape in what we have seen in many other threads. We panicked and called the dealership and were told that the title of the package does not matters as much as the part number. Also, the metal sensors are the newer improved parts from Nissan. We installed the CPSs and our problem is resolved.

Curious, if folks have seen and installed these newer sensors in their car? Or seen the new package description. Will these metal sensors last longer than the rectangular plastic ones?

We had some oil on passenger side near near the connectors which we clean up with brake cleaners. We greased the latch portion of the connector (excluding the electrical connection portion) so that if we need to remove it later, it would be easier.

We had the valve cover gaskets replaced to stop the oil leak two months ago. Does anyone know if this will fix the oil on the connectors in the future? Also, could the oil in the connector caused our code issue?

Thanks ahead for any feedback or answers.

 

In my '06 G35, there are 4 sensors because it is the rev-up, as opposed to 2 sensors in the non-rev-ups. I got P1084 which turned out to be the exhaust valve timing sensor for bank 2 (driver's side). Apparently, the camshaft position sensors are the same parts as the exhaust valve timing control position sensors.

When I searched for an OEM replacement for 23731-6J90B, it had been replaced by 23731-6J90D and I ran into the same situation as you did where the older model was black plastic and the newer model was silver and cylindrical. After I replaced it with the newer model, I have not had any problems or codes since then. Of course, I have not put nearly as many miles on the new sensor as the old sensor had (100K+ miles). When comparing the two, it appeared that the newer model is constructed better than the old design, so it should last longer.

I also had a little bit of oil on the old sensor when I pulled it which seems to be fairly common. I'm with you and guessing it's due to some bad valve cover gaskets and that seems to be the general consensus, but I'm not 100% certain. I'm assuming the oil may have caused the sensor to go bad. I have yet to pull the plugs to confirm if there is oil in the tubes, but my guess is there will be and some new valve covers are in the future.

I guess the best thing would be to remove the cam sensors, clean any oil off of them and reinstall, replace the valve covers, drive around for a while, and then check the sensors to see if there is any oil on them.