2005 Nissan Altima Engine Dies While Driving – Hard To Restart
Reader Question Hello Mr. Davis
Ive had good blessings working on Nissan’s and they are really good cars, but this one has me stumped
I recently drove to California in my 05 Altima and everything was running fine. All of a sudden (about 3-4 weeks later after arrival), my car just shut itself off in mid transit. For a week and a half I didn’t know what was wrong. I checked the battery and the cells were bone dry. I put water back in the cells and everything seemed fine
Another 2 weeks, I have the same problem except now the car would not start up at all. After 4-6 times, it would again. I thought that my battery was completely bad, so I went to Autozone and got a new one.
When I put the new one in, the car still wouldn’t turn over. It wouldn’t stop in mid transit anymore, but still takes 4-6 times to turn over. I researched the battery and came up to the conclusion that the battery I purchased has 525 cold cranking amps and the standard for the car is 575.
Also, when I had a diagnostic ran on the car, it read that the crankshaft censor was the issue. If I take it to Nissan, that is $300 to fix. Other than that the car runs like a dream. I find it hard to believe a car would malfunction a little over two years.
I’m stymied, can you help me
Thank you
Leroy
Hey there Leroy,
Thanks for your email. I am a little confused here as well, but let me say this and see if this helps you determine which direction to go in.
When the engine dies (while you have been driving) AND the there is NO battery power to turn the engine over, you most likely have a battery, alternator or bad battery cable connection type of problem.
If the engine looses battery power while it is running….it stops running and the battery will be totally dead and you will either need to jump start or boost the battery to get the engine to turn over again.
If when the engine dies as you are driving, AND there is still battery power to turn the engine over and over again to try and restart the engine, then you probably do have a crankshaft position sensor or some other type of sensor type of problem and the size of the cold cranking amps of the battery will have no bearing on this type of “no start” condition…because you have battery power you are either missing fuel pressure or spark to the spark plugs to start the engine.
So to recap, if when the engine dies…and there is NO battery power, I would suspect a bad battery, alternator or bad or loose connection at the battery cables as the problem.
If the engine dies and there is battery power to turn the engine over, then you are missing one of the other main ingredients to start the engine…fuel pressure and spark to the spark plugs.
The crankshaft sensor controls spark to the spark plug BUT I would not run out and replace that sensor until you get a qualified mechanic to diagnose this complaint for you starting from scratch. And AutoZone is not a good place to have this type of diagnosis done, I would prefer the dealership.
One last thing. A crankshaft position code will probably be stored in your computer anyway because the engine died while driving…so the sensor itself might not be at fault it was just doing its job and reporting the error. The codes need to be cleared from your computer memory and the sensors need to be retested.
Blessings,
Austin Davis
Reader Update
Oddly enough, the crankshaft position sensor was the EXACT problem. I took the car to Pepboys this past weekend (was just driving by and decided “what the hell”) and explained to them what I just told you.
I had them run a diagnostic test on the car and the crankshaft sensor was malfunctioning badly. They replaced it with the new one I just brought. The part plus the service was all together was $88.0O. The old sensor was oily and sandy (probably due to the mechanics hands).
Nissan would have charged me 300$ (298.02) to replace that little part. Now the car runs like a dream.
I learned through this experience to check my battery from now on
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I just had this same problem in my ’05 Altima yesterday. Was driving 45 mph and my car just literally lost all power.
Come to find out, this was a recall issue back in Nov. 2007, which I never received notification of. The remedy was to have the ECM reprogrammed. Basically, it stated the crankshaft position sensor would overheat, causing an interruption in the signal output from the sensor.If this interruption to the crank sensor was to brief that the ECM could not diagnose, it would cause the engine to stop running.
I am in a battle right now with our dealership because they are trying to make me replace the entire crank and CAM sensor for $400. They are saying they cannot do the reprogram of the ECM without replacing both of these sensors!
i am going 2 look into that cause altima has been shutting off 2 and i took it 2 the shop at the end of summer and everything was good. i was thinking of gettin a new one later down the road but think i will go with the dodge with the life time warrany friends have had no trouble and they dont take car in for every little thing like i do i am 4 months prego and its getting hot the last thing i need is my car 2 not start one day and get over heated or even after the baby. think nissan should learn 2 get back with people on recalls they have my address and number but havent even heard of anything. thanks for the tip
Tracey Hahn:
“I just had this same problem in my ‘05 Altima yesterday. Was driving 45 mph and my car just literally lost all power.
Come to find out, this was a recall issue back in Nov. 2007, which I never received notification of. The remedy was to have the ECM reprogrammed. Basically, it stated the crankshaft position sensor would overheat, causing an interruption in the signal output from the sensor.If this interruption to the crank sensor was to brief that the ECM could not diagnose, it would cause the engine to stop running.
I am in a battle right now with our dealership because they are trying to make me replace the entire crank and CAM sensor for $400. They are saying they cannot do the reprogram of the ECM without replacing both of these sensors!”
I was having the same issue and they told me the same thing. I bought the two sensors for about $30 each. I replaced them myself and the car has worked like a dream since! It took me about 3-4 hours. One sensor is really easy to replace (one simple screw on the side of the engine). The other one was more difficult (at the bottom firewall side of the engine). I do a lot of minor work and decided not to give them $500 for this job. If I did it again it would only take about 30-45 minutes to do. I suggest your try this if you are pretty handy.
Hope this helps…..
Jeff Hartman
I have a 2005 Nissa Altima and it just shut off while I was driving (scary) so I pulled over thinking it was the battery or alternator and it was neither. The dealership stated it was the CAM/Crank Shaft Sensor..what my question is… are there 2 sensors??
yes, there is both a cam and a crankshaft sensor. In most cases….at least in my shop, the crankshaft position sensor fails more often.
Same here, same car-Altima 05 and same problem. Lost power few times while driving last few days. Every time I was able to start the car again after 10-15-20 min. Check engine light came on, also saw some oil splash coming from engine or around, battery was fine and everything else. Found out to be the crank sensor problem, never got a letter about the recall. Love this car, really don’t want get rid of it and hope not to have more bad surprises in future. It’s scary when your car dies while driving, no one passing by thinks you have a real problem,because Altima 05 is a good looking car. For the last 3 days full with problems on roads, only one lady stop and offered me help.
Not sure this is connected or not, but sure hope it is. Four days ago brake light and battery light began to come on intermittently, and then increasingly over the days. The lights would spike brighter, and at the same time there would be a drop in RPM. Finally today driving home the car would not drive more than 5MPH no matter the position of the accelerator. Let the car sit at home for about 2 hours, then tried to start it, and it turned over a couple of times and then got the usual dead battery clicking. All lights available, though. A little later after checking for similar complaints online, went out and cleaned off terminals which did show corrosion. Still acted as if dead or alternator out. Jumped it and it started. Idling, there was some further spike or electronic whatever, the RPM dropped and it died. It will need another jump. Strangely, while it was idling, the backlight to the speedometer and gauges would go out, then come back on. Brake lights would come on, but when I touched the brakes it seemed it made things worse for a moment.
These last phenomena are similar to a lengthy online thread elsewhere, with no consistent solution. Any thoughts this might be the same trouble? 2005 Altima 2.5.
Im hoping this is a defective alternator problem causing strange voltage and dashboard readings….I have seen similar issues in the past in similar situations. I would make sure your battery is good…if its older than 4 years old, replace it anyway, then get a mechanic to check your alternator output. the voltage regulator is inside the alternator and I think you probably have a problem with it which would require a new alternator or rebuilding this alternator at an alternator/starter repair shop.
i have a 2005 altima i had the same problem shutting off at redlights and hard to crank i went to auto zone paid $24 for a camshaft sensor looked up on the web where it was located replaced it and its fine now but on the same web page it also showed me where the crankshaft is located and its just as easy to replace
i actually just today went and also bought the crankshaft sensor for $30 and am replacing it to just so i dont have to deal with this again when it actually does go out too but i am a female that knows nothing bout cars and i did and am doing them by myself it tells u step by step instructions on the web i hope that i have helped good luck
Shannon,
Can you share the web site info that you used to replace the sensors?
Thanks much.
I have a Nissan Altima ’05 that has begun with these same issues. Doesn’t have a problem until it gets hot. Either it will take four or five times of cranking and pumping the gas or it’ll stall while driving. Haven’t gotten it to the dealer yet for the recall because the check engine light keeps going on and takes a few days to go back off. They won’t do the recall reprogram with the check engine light on.
You might want to have your local lube place clean the throttle body for you and see if that helps. Its just a guess, but the throttle body should be cleaned periodically for maintenance anyway and it should improve idle speed and starting.
I have a ’05 Altima also, and my car is doing the same thing. My husband replaced the crankshaft position sensor, but the car is still doing the same thing.
Is there a camshaft on this car, if so where is it located? I googled it, and went to autozone.com to find the part but always come up with crankshaft position sensor.
I’m getting very frustrated!! HELP PLEASE!!
Yes, there should be a cam sensor as well, I found this http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/altima/8873-camshaft-sensor.html which might be helpful
Bought a 2005 Nissan Altima, 4 cy. 2.5L on June 18th 2010 I started having problems with the crankshaft sensor.I did replaced the crankshaft position sensor,but the service engine soon light kept coming on.. It reads the same error every time, crankshaft sensor. Recently (07/10/10) my car just stalled on highway made a loud knocking noise blew a big smoke –the fire men and police that showed up believe it threw a rod because it leaks oil everywhere..and is not drivable.Nissan states they reset the (ECM) but my Vin# isn’t in the recall for the crankshaft position sensor so I would have had to pay for that.I then was able to get online and see that alot of Nissan Owners were told the same exact information the (ECM) would be reset for free but you would have to come out of pocket for the Crankshaft Sensor to be fixed,if this amount of complaints are identical..then really it boils down to Nissan Corp is ignoring and doesn’t care that their Crankshaft Sensor is failing along with the (ECM) and because of this some lives are gonna be lost ..as me and my 2 kids faced a stall on highway I75 with many people going well over 70mph..we could have been KILLED!