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I have a 2007 Nissan Murano. My Check Engine light is telling me that the cam position sensor (bank 1) is bad. I've located the sensors, and they are both readily available and easy to get to.

Is replacing these sensors as simple as simply pulling the old one, replacing it and torquing it down to the right tightness? Or are there any other things that need to be taken into account, such as how far in they go, or any other things that you need to be aware of when replacing them?

Also, the actual sensors don't seem to be too expensive, so would it be a good thing to replace both at once, or should I not mess with the other bank if it isn't throwing a code?

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    Are the sensors the same? If so, can you switch them out to see if the problem follows the sensor? – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2♦ May 28 '15 at 10:40
  • No, they're different unfortunately.. – eidylon May 28 '15 at 12:11
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Camshaft position sensors are usually Hall sensors, which translate changes in magnetic field to changes in voltage.

As far as proximity is concerned, this should be taken care of by the shape and design of the sensor more than the correct tightening torque. By appropriately torqueing down the sensor you are ensuring that it doesn't get loose during operation or damaged during installation.

As far as replacing all cam position sensors in one shot is concerned, this is really up to you as it depends on a few factors including cost, ease of installation and how susceptible the sensor on your vehicle is to drift over time. On some vehicles the health of the CPS has to deteriorate significantly before the vehicle throws a diagnostic code.

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  • So the design of the sensors is usually such that installation is essentially as simple as plug and play. That is good to know, thanks. From what I've seen online the sensors aren't too expensive, so I thought maybe I should just do them both while I was in there (presuming them to both be about the same age), but from the answers, it sounds like that isn't really necessary for these particular parts. – eidylon May 28 '15 at 15:16
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    @eidylon : That is correct – Zaid May 28 '15 at 15:56
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    @eidylon : You're fortunate when it comes to cost. BMW CPS's are expensive enough to make you think five times before you order a replacement. – Zaid May 28 '15 at 16:04
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This is a known problem for the earlier Muranos, my 03 had the same issue and I fixed it by changing the faulty sensor. The sensors from the dealer are supposed to be more reliable than the ones from an auto parts store, and Nissan redesigned the sensors so they shouldn't fail like this again. I replaced both sensors, as I'd read that when one goes out, the other is not far behind.

My car was having symptoms of hard to start and problems accelerating (one time it died after taking off from a stop) Changing the sensors fixed these issues. As others have said, verify you have good voltage at the connector, and that there are no wiring faults. the service manuals for the earlier Muranos are online in PDF format, and have diagnosis and troubleshooting diagrams in them.

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Before replacing the sensor you need to confirm If it is really faulty or not. For that, you need to check the power supply, reference voltage and the signal(if possible using a scope). Like paulster2 had mentioned you can interchange the sensor and check if the part numbers are same(easier way)!!!

Is there any symptoms because of the fault code. Did you try erasing the code using a scanner and check if it is reappears again?

It is not necessary to replace a sensor if it is not faulty

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  • The car is sputtering a little bit, and does have trouble turning over occasionally, which reading indicates are typical faulty cps symptoms. I had just had the car in for some other work (ignition coils), so it had occurred that maybe the computer was just a little confused. I cleared the code to see, and it did come back after about a week. – eidylon May 28 '15 at 15:14
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    In that case it is better to replace and check if the problem gets solved. But before replacing ensures the wirings between the sensor and the ECU is OK. – knocksAndMisfires May 28 '15 at 17:28
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I have a 2006 Murano (same replacement procedure as for your 2007) that threw the code P0345 Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Bank 2. This is the one nearer the front of the engine, on the driver's side (the other is also on the driver's side, but more toward the back/firewall).

The symptom (besides the code) was that the car was hard to start. I would have to tap the gas pedal while it was cranking to make it start (which I suspect caused the computer to adjust the engine timing, and caused it to "get lucky" with the wonky cam timing and start the engine).

Anyway, there were no gotchas. One 10mm bolt comes out, the sensor pulls out, the new goes in, and can only go in one way and to one depth. No worries there.

The tricky parts were: a) getting the electrical connector off - there is a colored slidable tab along one side that you must fully depress downward toward the engine block until you hear a "click". Then the connector pulls right off.

b) getting a socket wrench on the bolt (for the front sensor) is hard because there is a cast pipe right only about 1-1/2" away from the bolt head, leaving no room to get a socket on it. Some guys use a socket with an extension and they get on the bolt at an angle (I've seen some YouTube examples done that way), but when I did that, I could not get enough bite on the bolt to make it turn out. Plan on having a 10mm box wrench so you can get on it from the side with really good grip all the way around the bolt, so it will turn out without rounding off or breaking.

Otherwise... took only about 20 minutes, and all the starting problems went away immediately.

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