Cam Sensor Issues

[Stratoraptor]

A Nissan in the garage is having trouble while running. Hitting the gas sends the engine in a rumble. The cam sensor when disconnected allows the engine to run well, but when you turn it off, it won't let it start up again.

Anybody knows what gives?

[RandomTask]

Is it possible that the timing walked on you? When you disconnect the sensor it goes into a default timing. When its connected it signals for a retarded timing... just a guess...

[sierrap615]

i remember working on a amitma i beleave in class. with a 4 cylinder and opitical sensor inside the distributor. the valve cover gasket leaked just a little bit of oil into the distributor/sensor. it had a miss at idle/rough idle. the tach dropped to zero while the engine was running randomly then when back to normal. my teacher used to work at a nisson dealership and said it was fairly common for that engine, but i can't remember what size it was, it seemed better when warm. the distributor and valve cover gasket needed replaced. i talked to the owner and he said two years ago the distributor was replaced for a simular problem but the valve cover gasket was not.