DE camshaft sensor woes. Advice needed.

[SifuSteve]

Aghh! These things! They have become the bane of my driving life, so I'm going to bite the bullet and source the really expensive third revision (metal-shielded) Nissan part. (350Z DE camshaft sensor, for anyone who hasn't encountered them yet).

 

But when conducting my first change I encountered an enigma: The videos and listings I've seen typically show these as a pair. One is flat, one is angled. I assumed that was simply cosmetic to aid in accessibiliy, but it turns out they actually have different plug connections. When I started rummaging around on the back of my engine I was surprised to find I had two of the flat ones in there. Importantly, I also had the corresponding plugs, which suggests it's deliberate and not 'bodged'.

 

A bit of research suggests that during one revision, they opted to ditch the angled sensor in favour of two of the same flat sensors, with the corresponding connectors. But I've since found the opposite may be true: They swapped one of the flats for one of the angled cam/crank sensors. What's the crack?

 

So after that long preamble, my questions are: Has anyone else found the same? Can anyone recommend a place I can buy 2 of the 3rd revision metallic flat sensors (23731-AL60D)?

 

Cheers.

 

P.S. I posted this to the FB group but the post's been waiting for approval for a couple of days and I need to get this fixed as the car's not starting well.

[Ekona]

Tried Nissan themselves? Won’t be cheap, but will be right. 

[SifuSteve]

16 minutes ago, Ekona said:

Tried Nissan themselves? Won’t be cheap, but will be right. 

I'm having trouble with them. The initial contact seemed to indicate they were no longer produced and recommended Hitachi or Bosche as OEM brands. But they weren't sure and promised me a call back... a couple of days ago. 😒

[ZMANALEX]

For the DE, Bank 1 is the straight one and Bank 2 is the angled one.

 

The only exception to this on the DE is if you have the later rev up engine (not the HR)

 

The rev up engine has 4 cam sensors.

 

Alex.

 

[SifuSteve]

17 minutes ago, ZMANALEX said:

For the DE, Bank 1 is the straight one and Bank 2 is the angled one.

 

The only exception to this on the DE is if you have the later rev up engine (not the HR)

 

The rev up engine has 4 cam sensors.

 

Alex.

 

Yes, it's the rev-up, which explains why it's 4 of the same. Thanks for clearing that up.

[ZMANALEX]

In that case, please refer to the schematic below and take this with you to the Nissan parts department. but you will have to tell them what sensor you require, unless you want all 4.