Had the dredded SES light come on Sunday. The engine seemed to be making a lot of noise (valve rattle?) on Saturday night. Sunday, when I was driving it, the light came on. I took it to Autozone on my way home, had them pull the code, and found (2) codes (both were the same). I don't recall the code number, but basically, it stated that the cam shaft position sensor had a fault and that the timing was too far advanced explaining the rattling on Saturday. Couple of questions: first off, am I the first to have this happen on a 2003? I know it was a problem with some of the earlier 5th gens, but I though Nissan fixed it. Second: how tough is it to change the sensor out? Is it a major job, or one that can be done in a driveway, say, next weekend?

Also, the autozone that pulled the code told me that they are no longer allowed to clear codes because some newer cars failed to start after they were cleared. I sweet talked my way to a blank dash, but thought I'd let you guys know what I was told. Don't know if it's now company policy or just in the store I was at.

 

Nissan sent out a recall on this. I had it done on my 03, so I am pretty sure you can get it done for free reguardless of warrantee status.

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB03-124.pdf

 

Thanks. It would have been nice if Nissan had bothered to let me know about it!