Car sputters a bit then dies, hard to start

[zeke1985]

My 1995 Nissan Altima sputtered once or twice and then died today...4 times. 3 while driving and once while idling. The car was hard to start afterwards, it would trun over but took several times and about 10 minutes to get going again. I used my nifty ODB bluetooth adapter and pulled these codes :
-P0340 camshaft position sensor A circiut bank 1 or single sensor
-P0325 knock sensor 1 circuit
-P0120 throttle/pedal position sensor
Which of these could be causing this? The TPS has been throwing that code for a few weeks now and had been idling rough with rpms all over the place but stopped till today, the knock sensor has been giving that code for the same amount of time, but not the camshaft code, that popped up today.Thanks guys!!

 

[147_Grain]

Any of those codes. Without the codes, I'd say check the fuel pump.

 

[salv]

Distributor.

 

[slug_bug]

Replacing the camshaft position sensor on my 04 PT cruiser fixed similar symptoms with the same P0340 code. It was an easy 20 min. job on the PT. Good luck!

 

[yonyon]

If you have a Nissan with a P0340 you have a faulty camshaft position sensor. If you do not replace it, you will get stuck. They do that.

Edit:
I didn't notice the year at first. It's not all that common on yours, but I think maybe it's still a good idea to avoid getting stuck. A reman distributor might be a nice easy way to go if you like easy.

 

[zeke1985]

I have the repair manual for my car and it says the camshaft sensor is in the distributer and MAY be serviceable if not then I need a new distributer, anyway to tell if I can service the sensor?

 

[yonyon]

Oh, it's serviceable, but it isn't an easy one.

If you're the kind of guy who might leave your oscilloscope on the kitchen table or maybe you manually edited the BIOS on your PC because something about it annoyed you or your ride to work on a motorcycle that uses a frame you built yourself from an original design or maybe you just like to build plastic models from a kit in a box this could be an amusing distraction for a half hour or so.

If you're a guy who's car broke and you want to fix it when you get home from work tomorrow with time left over to play with the kids, watch TV for a while, and still get to bed early, a dizzy might be a better option.

 

[zeke1985]

I took the cap off and I noticed that the o ring was broken around the distributor and the bottom screw that holds the cap on had oil on it. I then pulled the distributor out and I had some oil come out, is this normal when you remove the distributor?

 

[dishdude]

Yes, if you totally remove the distributor it is normal for some oil to come out with it. It is run by the camshaft and the distributor shaft after the o-ring is exposed to oil.

 

[zeke1985]

Can anyone tell me how to remove the sensor from the distributor? I see 2 screws that seem to be holdng it in place but there is a thin metal wheel that looks delicate in front.

 

[yonyon]

This is where the "not easy" part of replacing just the sensor comes in. That plate must not be damaged at all. The holes in it are the pattern for the sensor signal and even a little bit of dust clinging to the edges of the holes is enough to make it run like a steaming pile of corn poop, which is to say, not very smoothly even downhill.

You're pretty much doing a rebuild of the distributor yourself. You may find a little bit of making tools and some small press work will be necessary.

On the up side, if you do break something you can still probably put it all back together and use it as a core.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: zeke1985
I took the cap off and I noticed that the o ring was broken around the distributor and the bottom screw that holds the cap on had oil on it. I then pulled the distributor out and I had some oil come out, is this normal when you remove the distributor?

Oil coming from the valve cover may be okay, but if oil is inside the distributor, something has gone wrong, and I recommend a rebuilt distributor.

Be sure to replace any O-ring you may have disturbed when removing the distributor.