A recent febi ProTip warned that some Nissan Almera, Almera Tino, Expert, Micra, Note, Primera, Sunny, Wingroad 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8 Petrol engines, can have poor acceleration or erratic engine rpms, due to timing chain problems. These problems should be checked for before replacing the crankshaft or camshaft sensors.

Problem
Incorrect camshaft and crankshaft synchronization, giving symptoms of poor acceleration and erratic engine rpm.

The engine control unit may also have a number of fault codes stored, for example P0011 Camshaft ‘A’ timing (Bank 1), P0335 Crankshaft position sensor and P0340 Camshaft position sensor. This could be diagnosed as a simple sensor replacement.


Cause
When diagnosing these faults, these engines are prone to camshaft/crankshaft synchronization issues, which can give the above symptoms, this is frequently due to a worn timing chain.


Solution
Check the position and alignment of the engine timing and replace all worn components as necessary, before condemning the crankshaft or camshaft sensors.

Failure to check all aspects of this system can result in mis-diagnosis.