P0335 on Nissan: How to Diagnose & Fix

Multiple owners report the Cube stalling unexpectedly while driving at various speeds, including highway speeds. The engine shuts off without warning, causing loss of power steering and power brakes. In some cases, pumping the accelerator at the moment of stalling can catch the engine before it dies completely. The issue has been linked to faulty crankshaft position sensors, throttle body failures, and ECM software bugs.

The Z32 uses an optical crank angle sensor built into the distributor at the front of the driver's-side (rear-of-engine) cylinder head. It reads engine speed and crank position via a slotted disc and photodiodes (360 slits plus six 120-degree reference slits). With age the internal LED/photodiode optics degrade, the sealed bearing wears, and the connector corrodes — producing intermittent or total spark/timing signal loss. Because the ECU relies on the CAS for both ignition and injection timing, a failing unit causes hot-restart failures, stalling, and no-starts that are notoriously hard to chase. Many are misdiagnosed when the real fault is corrosion in the harness connector.

The crankshaft position sensor's internal electronics degrade with heat and fail intermittently. As the engine warms the sensor signal drops out, causing the engine to stall and refuse to restart until it cools, then run normally again. It sets P0335/P0336 and is frequently misdiagnosed. Nissan owners report premature failure of cheap aftermarket sensors, so an OEM/Hitachi unit is recommended; on many Sentras the camshaft sensor is replaced alongside it.

On certain 2.5L QR25DE Sentras, the crankshaft position sensor is affected by temperature and can overheat, causing a brief interruption in its signal. If the interruption is too brief for the ECM logic to diagnose, the engine may stop running without warning while the vehicle is driven at low speed. Nissan campaign R0606 (NHTSA 06V242) covers certain 2003 Sentra QR25DE vehicles, and NHTSA 07V527 covers certain 2002 and 2005-2006 Sentra with the 2.5L engine. Both remedies are ECM reprogramming.

The defining electrical failure of the 1990s Sentra. On both the GA16DE (1.6L) and SR20DE (2.0L), the crank angle and camshaft position signals are generated by an OPTICAL sensor (a slotted disc read by an LED/photo-diode) housed inside the distributor. Two age-related failure modes dominate: (1) the internal distributor shaft seal fails and engine oil weeps up into the distributor, coating the optical disc and electronics; and (2) the optical encoder/electronics degrade or the encoder wheel works loose. As the sensor warms with the engine it drops out intermittently, so the classic pattern is an engine that runs, then stalls once hot and refuses to restart until it cools. At high mileage it becomes a hard-crank or no-start. Because the sensor is integral to the distributor, Nissan supplies it only as a complete distributor assembly.

Circuit boards inside the crank position sensor and cam position sensors were built with improper solder joints; heat stress accelerated by flux residue cracks the joint, so the sensor drops out intermittently as it warms up. The engine stalls without warning while driving, or refuses to restart until it cools. Nissan recalled the affected sensors under NHTSA campaign 03V455000, covering 2003 350Z among a very large group of VQ-powered Nissan and Infiniti vehicles built in the affected sensor window, with owner notification beginning December 22, 2003. Beyond the recall population, crank sensor failure remains one of the most common causes of hot-stall on 2003-2006 VQ35DE cars in general — a recall-repaired car can still fail again years later on an aftermarket sensor.

A well-documented failure on first-generation Frontier V6 trucks is the distributor assembly, especially the internal cam/crank angle sensor and bearing wear inside the distributor. Owners report intermittent bucking, random stalling, hard starts, and eventual crank-no-start, often after the engine warms up. Nissan issued service information for distributor-related drivability faults, and owner complaint patterns are consistent across Frontier and related Xterra applications using the VG33E/VG33ER.

The first-model-year 2003 Nissan Murano is included in NHTSA recall 03V455000. On affected vehicles, the circuit board inside the crankshaft position sensor or the camshaft position sensor can have an improper solder joint. Heat stress deforms the solder, and flux residue left behind during manufacturing accelerates the process, so a sensor that worked fine when new can fail later in service. Because the Murano's engine management depends on these signals, the failure shows up as a Service Engine Soon light, a crank-but-no-start, a sudden drop in power, or the engine simply quitting while the vehicle is being driven - which NHTSA notes could result in a crash. The campaign covers about 630,000 vehicles in total across all Nissan and Infiniti models included, not the Murano alone.

The crank and cam position sensors are a well-documented weak point on the 4th-generation VQ30DE Maxima. Internal solder joints and the sensor's electronics degrade with heat and age, producing intermittent or lost signal. This is the same failure mode Nissan later formally recalled on the 2000-2002 cars (NHTSA 03V455000) for improper solder joints; 1995-1999 owners experience identical symptoms without recall coverage. (Note: unlike the earlier VG30 engines, the A32 VQ30DE is distributorless with coil packs; the crank position REF sensor sits near the oil filter, the POS sensor at the rear of the oil pan, and the cam sensor at the front timing cover.)

The V6 Pathfinders of this era use a camshaft-driven Hitachi distributor that houses the optical crank/cam position sensor and rotor inside a single unit. It is one of the most frequently reported failure points on the WD21 (1990-1995 VG30E) and early R50 (1996-1999 VG33E) trucks. Internal wear, a degrading optical disc, a failing internal coil, or the rotor-retaining screw working loose leads to intermittent or complete loss of spark and timing signal. Failures are often heat-related, showing up once the engine is warm and worsening under load.

Altimas in this period frequently suffer from failing crankshaft position sensors and camshaft position sensors, especially on the 2.5L and 3.5L engines. Owners report intermittent stalling at stops or while driving, extended cranking, sudden no-start conditions, and check-engine lights. Nissan issued service information and many owner reports describe repeat failures with cheap aftermarket sensors.