How to distinguish between cylinder bank 1 and cylinder bank 2 in the Teana V6?
3 Answers
Standing at the front end of the engine hood, the left side is cylinder bank 1, which consists of cylinders 5, and the right side is cylinder bank 2, which consists of cylinder 6. The working principle of an automobile cylinder is to guide the piston in a straight reciprocating motion within the cylinder, where air in the engine cylinder converts thermal energy into mechanical energy through expansion.
After working on the V6 Altima for so many years, there's actually a simple but practical way to identify cylinder banks 1 and 2: Stand at the front of the car, pop the hood, and face the engine. The three cylinders on your left side (driver's side) are cylinder bank 2, while the ones on the right (passenger side) are called cylinder bank 1. Why this division? Because in the manufacturer's numbering system, cylinder #1 is at the front right position, and counting towards the rear gives you cylinders 1-3-5 on the right bank and 2-4-6 on the left. Last time when fixing a car throwing P0155 trouble code, it turned out the oxygen sensor in cylinder bank 2 was faulty. Even during exhaust manifold modifications, you must pay attention to this grouping - disassembling the wrong side means rework. Remember, spark plug wire colors make identification more intuitive: red wires for the right bank, blue for the left.
When I was driving the old Teana V6, I studied this, and the most reliable method is to check the diagrams in the repair manual. Simply put: sitting in the driver's seat and looking into the engine bay, the left bank of cylinders closer to you is Bank 2, and the right bank farther away is Bank 1. This is especially noticeable when replacing sensors, such as the air-fuel ratio sensor—the left connector's wiring harness is shorter, while the right one has to go around the engine. When the repair shop's computer reads the trouble codes, B1 indicates a fault in Bank 1, and B2 means Bank 2. If you're doing it yourself, checking the ignition coil labels is more straightforward—the right three are labeled 1/3/5, and the left ones are 2/4/6.
