No Start no spark from the distributor?

1999 NISSAN FRONTIER
3.6L • AUTOMATIC
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MOJOE6998
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
My Nissan Frontier died while I was driving through town last week. I towed it to my shop where I work and started to diagnose it. I have no spark from the distributor, so first I changed the ignition coil and distributor cap. Still won't fire up. I installed a new distributor but it still won't fire up. I talked with some mechanics at the shop and we're thinking it's either the crankshaft position sensor, or the camshaft position sensor. Where are those located on the engine?
Aug 1, 2026 at 1:10 PM
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KRAKENAUTO
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 108 POSTS
Are there any active engine lights/codes in the system?

On the v6 model:
The crankshaft position sensor is located on the transaxle housing facing the gear teeth of the flywheel or drive plate.

The camshaft position sensor is part of the distributor.
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Aug 1, 2026 at 1:29 PM
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STRAILER
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 55,594 POSTS
Hello, and welcome to the site, yes it can be the crankshaft sensor, the camshaft sensor will not keep the engine from starting, but before you do any part replacement, I would remove the distributor cap and have a helper crank the engine over with the distributor cap off to make sure the rotor is turning while the engine is being cranked over, here is the location of the crankshaft sensor just in case you want to swap it out. It is on the divers side upper part of the transmission bell housing. Check out the images (below). Please let me know what happens.
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Aug 1, 2026 at 1:33 PM
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STRAILER
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 55,594 POSTS
You are one step in front of me KRAKENAUTO lol nice work.
Aug 1, 2026 at 1:33 PM
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