jdanniel

Hi everyone.

I have a 1986 Nissan 200 SX hatchback with only 113,000 miles on it. I'm the original and sole owner. Can I ask a question or two about a problem I'm having with it? I'm not an expert on cars. <grin>

About half a year ago, when I was living in South Florida, my car began having trouble starting. It sputtered but would kick over, and I could drive it once it did.

I took the car to my regular mechanic, who gave it a full tune-up. The ignition wires, distributor cap, and rotor were the originals, so they were all replaced. The spark plugs and fuel filter were replaced also. The air filter was not, and I did not get the fuel injector cleaned.

I've since relocated to New Jersey, and last week, we had a heavy rain. After the heavy rain, my car had trouble starting. I smelled gas when I cranked it, and figured the engine was flooded. I floored the pedal before starting it, and it kicked in, but the muffler was blowing out a lot of smoke at first.

The car has started since then, but a few times, it's been iffy, although each time it did crank over. I put some fuel additives such as dry gas and fuel injector cleaner in the tank, after the problem arose.

When I drive it, it runs all right, all things considered.

What, in your opinion, is the most likely cause of the sputtering? The full tune-up was done only a few months ago. Could the abrupt change in climate (South Florida to New Jersey) affect anything? Can a distributor cap crack or come loose after just a few months? I took the Auto Train, saving 850 miles of driving, but I still drove a lot to get from West Palm Beach to Princeton.

I am taking the car to a mechanic after Thanksgiving, but I just wanted some idea as to what to consider when bringing it in. Thank you for reading this.
J. Danniel

Nismo5042

it could be that when it rains that somthing on your ignition gets wet. what you could do is take a water bottle with a little sprayer on it and spray over your ignition system. and mabye try spraying over your fuel injectors cause mabye the connection is bad at the injectors.

jdanniel

Hi.

Unfortunately, I have no idea where the fuel injector is. (I wish I knew more about what's under the hood.)

I did pick up a product called Wire Dryer. However, the difficulties I've had starting the car also happened when it wasn't raining, and when it was fairly warm. (It almost hit 70 yesterday here in New Jersey--in late November!)

From what I've been told so far, the problems are indeed due to moisture, most likely around the wires and/or the distributor cap. But it's been several days since it's rained, and it's been pretty warm since then. Can there still be moisture around the ignition despite that?

Jd

simeronbugh

Yes, you can have moisture in there for a while. I have a 1984 Ford work truck that had the same problem. I took some silicone gasket maker and sealed all the openings where moisture could get in and I haven't had a problem since. Or you could use WD40 the same as you use the dry wire, it's alot cheaper.

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