Engine problem

I had a 1993 Nissan Altima that had a bad cam shaft position sensor. It would run fine one day, stutter horribly the next or some days not run at all. No computer codes were ever generated. On the Altima the sensor was part of the distributor. The O-Ring on the distributer leaked allowing oil to get to the sensor. The distributor had to be replaced at a cost of $500. Warranty covered it.

AllData says that camshaft sensor drives fuel injection sequence, and in case of failure ECM switches to limp mode (but still runs!). Crankshaft sensor, however, generates ignition pulses for ECM... it is not mentioned specifically but I reckon lack of ignition pulses will cause total ignition failure. There were no error codes generated, however.

Peter