Fire, but no fuel?

StanzaMoManza · Jun 19th, 2004, 03:13 PM

I don't know anything about Nissans, but my roommate who owns one doesn't know anything about cars at all.

He has an '89 Stanza that won't start. He drove it to work, but left the lights on so the battery went dead.

I went to jumpstart it for him, but it won't fire. It cranks over just fine and it's getting spark from BOTH coils, but it won't start so I'm guessing that maybe it's a lack of fuel (yes, the tank is full).

Here's what's really confusing me; the lights won't come on at all either. The turns signals and brake lights work, but the head and taillights don't. What could be causing that?? (yes, I checked all the fuses). If it's cranking over easily and getting spark, I would guess that it has enough juice to at least turn the headlights on a little, but they don't come on AT ALL.

If MY car was getting spark, but no fuel, I would guess that maybe the ECU is having some sort of trouble, but I don't even know where it is in this car, much less how to check it.

Any advice is appreciated.

Gsolo · Jun 20th, 2004, 12:20 AM

you checked the normal fuses but how about the fusible links?? could have clown a link or two. only thing i can think of is a wire disconnected somewhere or bad ground. Kind of weird that it would happen that quickly so i'd think fusible link. let us know what happens

KA24Tech · Jun 20th, 2004, 03:43 AM

I would inspect the fusible links as well as the fuses in the main block under the hood. Hopefully that should be where the problem is.

Troy

StanzaMoManza · Jun 20th, 2004, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gsolo

you checked the normal fuses but how about the fusible links?? could have clown a link or two. only thing i can think of is a wire disconnected somewhere or bad ground. Kind of weird that it would happen that quickly so i'd think fusible link. let us know what happens

Do you know where the fusible links are in this car? I don't have a manual for it or anything and I'm not sure where to check.
- I should clarify that I did check on the postive battery cable near the clamp, and didn't see one, but I know that sometimes fusible links are hidden elsewhere.

Also, where is the ECU (or ECM)?? The ECU in my Corrado is hard to miss because it's about the size of a 5.5" disk drive, but I don't see anything like it in his car.

I really hate to admit this, but I'm afraid I screwed something up because it was dark so I didn't notice that I had the polarity on the jumper cables backwards at first. The polarity was reversed for a good 20-30 seconds before I realized it. I'm pretty sure ECU's aren't protected against this, but that's what fuses and fusible links are for, right? RIGHT??!

KA24Tech · Jun 20th, 2004, 05:19 AM

I noticed this was a posted thread in both the General and the Stanza sections so I merged the two. Please in the future, only post one thread for a single topic

Troy

StanzaMoManza · Jun 20th, 2004, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA24Tech

I noticed this was a posted thread in both the General and the Stanza sections so I merged the two. Please in the future, only post one thread for a single topic

Troy

Thanks. I was looking for the original post, but couldn't find it so I made another one.

StanzaMoManza · Jun 20th, 2004, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA24Tech

I would inspect the fusible links as well as the fuses in the main block under the hood. Hopefully that should be where the problem is.

Troy

Does anyone have a diagram for the wiring harness under the hood? I need to find where the fusible links are.

Gsolo · Jun 20th, 2004, 12:19 PM

umm....trying to remmeber under the hood of a stanza i think the fusible link box is near the drivers side shock tower, little black box rectangular. Has 4 fusible links in it i think. the cover is usually a b*tch to get off, and i mean that. And the ECU is under the drivers seat in the stanza wagon, not sure about the sedan.

StanzaMoManza · Jun 20th, 2004, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gsolo

umm....trying to remmeber under the hood of a stanza i think the fusible link box is near the drivers side shock tower, little black box rectangular. Has 4 fusible links in it i think. the cover is usually a b*tch to get off, and i mean that. And the ECU is under the drivers seat in the stanza wagon, not sure about the sedan.

I'll go take a look. He went ahead and had the car towed to a shop, but I'm hoping I can save him some money, if possible, by fixing it before they get to it when the shop opens tomorrow. Especially considering that I'm still afraid it's my fault that it's screwed up.

Hey, I'm not too far from Wenatchee if you want to swing by and help. I think it's only an 8 hour drive or so.

(I'm in Bellingham on the other side of the mountains)

Gsolo · Jun 20th, 2004, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StanzaMoManza

I'll go take a look. He went ahead and had the car towed to a shop, but I'm hoping I can save him some money, if possible, by fixing it before they get to it when the shop opens tomorrow. Especially considering that I'm still afraid it's my fault that it's screwed up.

Hey, I'm not too far from Wenatchee if you want to swing by and help. I think it's only an 8 hour drive or so.

(I'm in Bellingham on the other side of the mountains)

about 5 to 6 hours, but no gas money and very busy...sorry

i like to help people in person but i've got to many projects going on here and getting ready for wedding and getting ready for moving in august. If you need more help though just ask here or email me...whatever works

Good luck....

and if its not fusible links i can't think of much else except for a bad relay somewhere like an ECCS relay if it has it...i'll have to dig out a wiring diagram i suppose. I'll do it tonight after working on my dads kawasaki (figured i'd help him put it back together being fathers day and all)

StanzaMoManza · Jun 20th, 2004, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gsolo

about 5 to 6 hours, but no gas money and very busy...sorry

i like to help people in person but i've got to many projects going on here and getting ready for wedding and getting ready for moving in august. If you need more help though just ask here or email me...whatever works

Good luck....

and if its not fusible links i can't think of much else except for a bad relay somewhere like an ECCS relay if it has it...i'll have to dig out a wiring diagram i suppose. I'll do it tonight after working on my dads kawasaki (figured i'd help him put it back together being fathers day and all)

Haha, no problem. I didn't really expect that you would want to come all the way over here.

I checked the fusible links and found that one of them had blown. I replaced it, which made the lights and the gauges work again, but the engine still doesn't fire.

So I'm guessing it's either a relay or the ECU. I'm just praying to GOD that it's simply a relay, but I don't know how to check them either way, so it looks like the shop will have to take over from here. I'm assuming they'll have the neat little diagnostic tool that they can just plug into the harness somewhere.

Unless anyone has any more ideas.

Gsolo · Jun 20th, 2004, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StanzaMoManza

Haha, no problem. I didn't really expect that you would want to come all the way over here.

I checked the fusible links and found that one of them had blown. I replaced it, which made the lights and the gauges work again, but the engine still doesn't fire.

So I'm guessing it's either a relay or the ECU. I'm just praying to GOD that it's simply a relay, but I don't know how to check them either way, so it looks like the shop will have to take over from here. I'm assuming they'll have the neat little diagnostic tool that they can just plug into the harness somewhere.

Unless anyone has any more ideas.

actually there is no diagnostic tool to plug into on these cars

that would make things to simple. I've heard that these relays pop before the ECU does so hopefully....but you never know. if its the ecu let me know i might have an extra one but i'm not sure

StanzaMoManza · Jun 22nd, 2004, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gsolo

actually there is no diagnostic tool to plug into on these cars

that would make things to simple. I've heard that these relays pop before the ECU does so hopefully....but you never know. if its the ecu let me know i might have an extra one but i'm not sure

Here's an update:

What the shop is telling me is that the fuel pump itself is bad. What's really weird is that they say that they were able to supply power to it and get the motor to spin, so the actual mechanical part of the pump is bad, not the electrical part. Now it seems like a pretty big coincidence that the pump happened to go bad not only the same day that the battery went dead, but at the same time the polarity was reversed on the jumper cables.

What's worse is that they're telling me that the in-tank fuel pump is very hard to find and costs $400. So it will be over $600 for parts and labor to replace it, and that doesn't even count the $110 they've already charged for diagnostics.

AND THEY CAN'T EVEN TELL ME FOR SURE IF IT WILL FIX IT!!

I asked them if they could tell me whether or not the injectors are even trying to fire (you should be able to hear them), and they couldn't tell me.

What they said they could do is hook it up to the injector service machine (which will cost another $50), which will bypass the fuel pump entirely and will tell us if the rest of the electrical system is working.

Also, this particular stanza for some reason doesn't have a fuel pump access panel, so they have to pull the fuel tank in order to change the pump.

StanzaMoManza · Jun 22nd, 2004, 04:03 PM

By the way, could anyone tell me what the part # is for the fuel pump in an '89 Nissan Stanza and maybe offer some places online where I might find one?