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Engine Cuts 'OFF' while Driving

116K views 45 replies 34 participants last post by  MDCraft 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yesterday I had the most bizarre thing happen to me. I was sitting at a light and all of the sudden the engine cuts off. No strange noises or anything, it just dies. I tried to start it right back up but no luck. Tried a few more times but had no luck. It was cranking up but not turning over. So as a last ditch effort I cranked it a final time but let it crank for a few seconds and sure enough, it turned over and started up. I had the Service Engine Soon, VDC OFF, and SLIP lights on. I drove it home and noticed that the acceleration was rather hesitant.
I made it home with no issues, but shortly after getting home, I left to meet a friend who has an ODBC scanner. And still had the same issue of having to let the engine crank a few seconds before finally starting. The scanner showed 2 codes both P0340 which according to Google seem to be related to the Cam Shaft Positioning Sensor. My friend cleared the codes and restarted the car a few times to see if he noticed anything unusual and didn't. While sitting there letting it idle it suddenly turned off just like it did to me. So I figured that was enough tinkering and would take it to the shop tomorrow. And sure enough, while driving the car died while I was driving, the exact same way it did the previous two times, except this time I was actually driving and not stopped.
Needless to say, it's in the shop as of this morning, but I didn't know if anyone else had run into such a bizarre problem.
 
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#2 ·
Does sound like the cam sensor is intermittent and needs replaced. ECU can't run engine w/o its input.
First I've heard of it on an X though.
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#3 ·
P0340 is the right hand, passenger side, cam sensor located at the back of the cylinder head. I'd check the connector first, just disconnect and visually inspect. If it looks corroded or dirty, you may use WD-40 on both the sensor and harness connectors. Check the wires going into the connector for wear. Reconnecting may correct the problem. Check the simplest first.

Jeff
 
#8 · (Edited)
MOTOR Labor
Skill Level B (Factory Time) MOTOR Time
CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR, R&R
2005 Nissan Xterra 4.0L
Both B (0.3) 0.4
One B (0.2) 0.3

MOTOR Parts
Mfg. Part No. Price (MSRP) *
CAMSHAFT POSITION SENSOR
Xterra
Left 23731-AL61A $ 76.00
Right 23731-6J90B $ 76.00

* All listed Manufacturer Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP’s) are in US Dollars
Copyright 2009 by Motor Information Systems, a division of Hearst Business Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
_________________________________________________________________


judging by MOTOR labor guide its .02 hours for nissan to do it and .03 hours for an independent repair shop to do so.

since most repair shop average about $70 bucks and hour and it pays .03 hours, wouldnt $120.. be a little steep for labor? after all this is a fairly simple repair..

and here, listed above are the genuine nissan part numbers if you want to look them up.

EDIT: I called my local nissan dealership and the left sensor retails for $91.20 and the right sensor retails for $76.10

sorry man, sounds like your getting ripped off..
 
#10 ·
You may talk to the garage about the price, if you've used them before and trust them. They may have estimated the cost high just in case. They may have just used the DTC to determine the sensor was bad which is not very good.

These are learning experiences, unfortunately they always cost money and time. Anyone who's honest has been there, usually more than once. Get a Factory Service Manual, it can help diagnose and explain how to remove and replace parts.

Jeff
 
#14 ·
we have a 05 X and the same thing happen to us, yesterday. except we were turning at a light and the engine just shut down. VDC and SLIP lights came on. scared the crap out of the wife. thank god i was driving. Cranked engine about 3 times and finally it came back to life. the X sat all night, this morning took it for a drive 10 minutes later. engine shuts down and light are back. we are also dealing with the P0463 code problem. taking to our local shop to help out ( not the dealer). will keep you updated on whats up. thanks for all the post and help.
 
#15 ·
This just happened to me tonite. sitting in a parking lot while idling, it just stopped. got the "service engine soon", "VDC", "slip" lights. it restarted on the 6th or 7th try and then i drove home. it felt normal and strong on the way home.

102k miles with absolutely no problems so far. will a place like autozone be able to pull the codes or do i need to go to dealer?
 
#16 ·
so i got some info on my 05 X with 70K miles and the problems we were having. first lets talk about PO463: called nissan and filled a complaint about the fuel level sensor. they basically told me touch luck. the sdealer wanted a $100 to read the code and $450 to replace the fuel level sensor. i told them to kiss my ass, and went right to my local shop. they charged me $250 to replace it. DONE!
now for the engine shutting down with the VDC and SLIP lights coming on: that is a bad cam position sensor on passenger side $150 to be replaced. the shop i go to has a guy working for them that worked at nissan for 20 some years. he said the cam position sensor is a common problem on nissan cars. so for about $400 and some change, we have the X back in one day. i hope this helps anyone out there that was having the same problems as us.
 
#18 ·
This just happened to me. I was driving and the X died on me. It cranked right back up pulled it into the driveway then died almost right away after I parked. It must be one of these sensors. My truck is a 2005 with about 85,000 miles on it. Going to local shop tommorow.. we see what happens... also my fuel level sensor is broken.. Got to get that fixed too.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I've been dealing with this since Saturday... On my way back home from mountain biking, it simply died at a light. No warnings, no lights, nothing... It would crank super hard, but not start. Towed it to the dealer pulled it off the flatbed and the service girl gets in it and fires it right up. I was tripping. They couldn't find any codes or reproduce the problem. So Monday, out the door she went.

Normally, I try to do all the work on the truck myself. However, this week I'm taking Basic and Advanced disaster life support. In the back of my mind, I knew it was going to happen again. So, I've been driving my wife's new Subaru to the classes. Sure enough, the truck stalls on my wife in Dallas traffic (Tuesday morning). Luckily, after several minutes, she was able to restart it and move it off the road. For peace of mind, she didn't want to risk driving it into Nissan during morning traffic.

Truck is towed back to Nissan and they replace the camshaft sensor and give us their blessings. Cool, I pick it up (Tuesday afternoon) take off down the road and I'd be damned, the truck dies again in afternoon traffic. For some reason, she took my code reader out of the front seat before leaving for work this morning. No check engine light on though... Towed it back to the dealer (Tuesday evening)... And that's where we are.

2007 Xterra S

IPDM? Nissan replaced the ECU <2 years ago

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/11-pow...-**help-please**-p0300-p0301.html#post2009322
 
#27 ·
My crankshaft sensor died just last week. There were Zero indications it was going out as it died just after I paid for a mean in a drive through. Had to push it to the parking lot, because it wouldn't start. Check for leaking fluids, or crunchy metallic sounds in case it's something else. In my case it eventually did start, but I had to crank the started for a Really long time. Pulled the codes and saw p0335 which is for the CRANKshaft sensor. Cost 23 bucks at autozone and about 30 minutes time to replace. The X starts up normally now.

My Symptoms:
1. Car may die while idling
2. Very Hard to start (anywhere from 5-30 seconds of cranking starter)
3. General engine RPMs will not be smooth
4. Service Engine Soon light is ON
5. VDC and Slip lights ON.
 
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