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I am in dire need of help. I am an aspiring “car guy” but currently have little to no experience working on cars outside neckbeard level hours of YouTube videos.
I need help getting this car back on the road and would really appreciate any advice you all have to give. I’ll share everything I know as of March 31, 2025, along with some pictures. Hopefully, this will help diagnose the issues.
Car Details:
Year/Model: 2005 Nissan 350Z
Mileage: ~180,000 miles
Aftermarket Parts: Cold air intake, Z1 exhaust, partially installed subwoofer, and a star roof (which is a bit ridiculous but is slowly growing on me).
Not a Rev Up version.
Current Issues:
Screeching Belts: There is a horrific screech in the belts. Very loud. I haven’t done the water test yet, but I’m not overly concerned due to other more pressing issues.
Engine Tick: The engine has a top end tick. It is also very loud and relatively fast. The tick originates from only on the top driver side of the engine.
Interior Smell: The car stinks like a wet dog.. a swampy disgusting dog. There’s no visible mold or water damage, but I’ve found a few empty vape carts tucked away in random mystery locations throughout the interior—you never really know where one will fall out next. It’s only bearable if I take a moment to balance my chakras and focus some positive vibes into the two-inch quartz crystal I shoved up my redacted (butt).
Old Oil: The oil is old and dirty with very fine shiny metal particles visible on the dipstick. Not a lot, but it’s noticeable.
*This picture doesn’t show it very clearly, but at least you can see the color.
Dead Battery: The battery is totally dead.
Turning Over Issues: The car does turn over given enough juice, but it is not easy. I was not able to jump it with a jumper kit on the old battery.
My testing:
My main concern is the engine tick. I’m hesitant to try starting it again until I’m confident doing so won’t cause more internal damage. Otherwise, I would have included audio of the car (which I will do if deemed necessary to get proper help).
Here’s what I’ve done so far:
OBDII Code Read: Plugged a BlueDriver Pro into the car and ran a diagnostic report.
Visual Inspection: Visually inspected both camshaft position sensors and their connections to the harness
Sensor Testing: Tested camshaft position sensors using an INNVOA 3320 multimeter and a fresh car battery (making sure the battery was unplugged during sensor removal).
While the sensors were plugged in, I tested the signal wire to ground and waved some metal in front of them to watch voltage.
While the sensors were removed, I tested power to ground voltage of the harness, signal to ground resistance, and continuity of signal to ground.
Sniff Test: Sniffed the interior and passed out. Duration unknown.
Testing Results:
OBDII Codes (BlueDriver Pro)
P0345: Cmp Sen/Circ-B2
C1111: Pump Motor
C1101: Rear-Right Sensor 1
C1140: Actuator Relay
B1054 (History): Driver Airbag Module (Open)
C1706-N08(History): Flat Tire Rear-Left: Below Min Threshold
C1708-N07 (History): (No Data) Front-Left: No Signal
C1709-N07 (History): (No Data) Front-Right: No Signal
C17010-N07 (History): (No Data) Rear-Right: No Signal
C1711-N07 (History): (No Data) Rear-Left: No Signal
C1726-N12 (History): (Battery Voltage Low) Rear-Right: Abnormal Voltage
C1729-N13 (History): Vehicle Speed Signal Error: Value Out of Range
Cam Position Sensor Inspection
Both sensors are aftermarket (silver metal)
*Shown in this photo of the driver’s side sensor
Appear visually undamaged
Harness connectors look undamaged
Multimeter Testing (INNOVA 3320, with good car battery)
Note: Multimeter capped at 12V
Passenger Side Sensor:
Signal-to-ground voltage: Initially read 0.7V then dropped to 0.2V and would rarely move even when metal was waved directly in front of the sensor
Power-to-ground voltage: 11.8V
Passenger Side Harness:
Signal-to-ground resistance: 9.94 ohms
Signal-to-ground continuity: No beep
Power-to-ground: 11.9V
Driver Side Sensor:
Signal-to-ground voltage: Constant at 0.2V; briefly jumped to 0.67V only once while I was waving metal in front of it
Power-to-ground: 11.9V
Driver Side Harness:
Signal-to-ground resistance: 9.9 ohms
Signal-to-ground continuity: No beep
Power-to-ground: 11.9V
My thoughts and questions:
Is the ECU bad and sending too much power to the sensors? Why are the sensor readings not representative of what they say online? Are they bad sensors? Why did they take club penguin away from me when I needed it most? When should I take off the top of the engine to inspect buckets and camshaft wear? What do you think I should do next?
These are the questions I have been asking my therapist.
Screeching Belts: Tighten belt. Probably alternator belt trying to charge the battery
Engine Tick: Change the oil and send it. Junkyard motor is $1300. If it's not in the bottom end then it will probably never give you issues except ticking.
Interior Smell: Ozone generator off Amazon left for a couple hours then aired out. Rinse and repeat if needed
Thanks, Deadeye! I hadn’t heard of ozone treatment before, I've read about it and it definitely seems effective. I’ll be sure to explore that option to get rid of the stench.
I’ll also make sure to check the tension on the belt going to the alternator first when I start working on the belt issue.
Just to clarify a few things about this project:
My main goal with the car is to learn as much as I can. Getting it on the road would be a huge bonus, but it’s probably never going to be my daily driver. However, It is always going to be my funmobile.
Eventually, I’d like to LS swap it. But since I’m still inexperienced, I really want to spend time learning all I can by restoring the car before taking on something as big as an engine swap.
Maybe once the engine is fixed I'll put it through the brickfoot treatment on a track until it blows up. Then I can start my engine swap
But right now the car is in its spa day era. I’m totally fine putting time and money into the project for the educational value, but I want to approach it thoughtfully.
I’d rather ask questions and get recommendations before spending money on parts like camshaft position sensors that might not be the real problem.
If you or anyone else has insight into why my sensor readings were so weird with the multimeter, I’d really appreciate it!
Engine tick could be the bank 2 fuel damper. But to be sure, you really need to listen with an auto-stethoscope. A cheap way to do this is with a long screwdriver touching the engine and held to your ear to transfer the sound. But stethoscopes are cheap and worth having in your tool kit.
The belt squeal could be a locked up accessory or tensioner bearing. This would also cause excessive drag on the crank when trying to start (aka slow start issue assuming battery is good/new). You need to pull off the accessory belts and try turning all the components by hand and listen/feel for bearing noise and/or resistance. Usually it's just a bad tensioner bearing, but could also be the AC Compressor, Alternator, or PS Pump.
For the interior stank, this is common. 350Zs don't have cabin filters and thus mold spores get into the heater and evap cores. The best method I have found to kill the mold and clear out the smell is
kit which is a genuine cleaner kit from Toyota. The maker of the kit is ServiceRite. I had bad mildew odors in my Z when I 1st purchased it. The previous owner had pets but also lived in a more hot/humid climate near the ocean. After using this kit, the odor has been pretty much eliminated after a single use. Sometimes I do get a little odor after running the AC and parking for a few hours, but NOTHING like it was originally. Really, this is the best method to remove odors in cars without getting super intrusive and ripping apart the entire dashboard (massive job). For the carpet and seats, you can try having them shampooed or steam cleaned if the odor is coming from there, it really all depends on how the PO treated the car.
Regarding the engine oil, I would take an oil sample and send it off to BlackStone Labs for analysis before changing it. Drive the car another 3-4k miles and take a second sample and compare. If you have high aluminum and copper content in the oil, then there's a good chance your engine has major bearing or cylinder damage and should be rebuilt or replaced.
Regarding sensors. You really should only use OEM sensors for your specific year. Aftermarket units are typically garbage. I don't trust those CAM sensors you have, I would replace with OEM. Always purchase from a reputable parts supplier. That means NO AMAZON or EBAY sensors unless you know how to spot the counterfeits.
Engine tick could be the bank 2 fuel damper. But to be sure, you really need to listen with an auto-stethoscope. A cheap way to do this is with a long screwdriver touching the engine and held to your ear to transfer the sound. But stethoscopes are cheap and worth having in your tool kit.
The belt squeal could be a locked up accessory or tensioner bearing. This would also cause excessive drag on the crank when trying to start (aka slow start issue assuming battery is good/new). You need to pull off the accessory belts and try turning all the components by hand and listen/feel for bearing noise and/or resistance. Usually it's just a bad tensioner bearing, but could also be the AC Compressor, Alternator, or PS Pump.
For the interior stank, this is common. 350Zs don't have cabin filters and thus mold spores get into the heater and evap cores. The best method I have found to kill the mold and clear out the smell is
kit which is a genuine cleaner kit from Toyota. The maker of the kit is ServiceRite. I had bad mildew odors in my Z when I 1st purchased it. The previous owner had pets but also lived in a more hot/humid climate near the ocean. After using this kit, the odor has been pretty much eliminated after a single use. Sometimes I do get a little odor after running the AC and parking for a few hours, but NOTHING like it was originally. Really, this is the best method to remove odors in cars without getting super intrusive and ripping apart the entire dashboard (massive job). For the carpet and seats, you can try having them shampooed or steam cleaned if the odor is coming from there, it really all depends on how the PO treated the car.
Regarding the engine oil, I would take an oil sample and send it off to BlackStone Labs for analysis before changing it. Drive the car another 3-4k miles and take a second sample and compare. If you have high aluminum and copper content in the oil, then there's a good chance your engine has major bearing or cylinder damage and should be rebuilt or replaced.
Regarding sensors. You really should only use OEM sensors for your specific year. Aftermarket units are typically garbage. I don't trust those CAM sensors you have, I would replace with OEM. Always purchase from a reputable parts supplier. That means NO AMAZON or EBAY sensors unless you know how to spot the counterfeits.
Good Luck!
-Icer
Truly, thank you! This is really great info.
I honestly hadn’t considered the fuel dampers, but after looking up a few videos of ticking sounds caused by them, it does sound similar to what I remember hearing. I already have a mechanic’s stethoscope, so I’m planning to check both dampers as soon as I can — and I’ll poke around a few other spots while I’m at it. I’ll also take a video of the engine running so everyone can hear the noise firsthand.
In the meantime, I ordered both the left and right camshaft position sensors from RockAuto. I made sure to get the Hitachi ones. Here’s what I picked up:
HITACHI CPS0005 Camshaft Position Sensor – $42.99
HITACHI CPS0008 Camshaft Position Sensor – $42.79
Hopefully they arrive soon so I can get those swapped in.
I’m not sure if I’ll have time to deal with the belts or the smell issue in my next repair sesh, but that amazon product is definitely going in my shopping cart. I also read that even though the car doesn’t come with cabin air filters from the factory, it’s possible to add them — so that’s something I’ll probably pick up eventually.
Bonus - my oil test kit is otw. I’m really looking forward to seeing the results from the oil analysis. Testing the oil is a great idea! It will also give me a convenient chance to replace it and change the oil filter.
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