brohr

For the past month I've been having trouble starting my altilma. I can always get it started, eventually. Sometimes it cranks right up and other times it takes 15 minutes. I noticed the issue shortly after I powerwashed the engine bay. I wrapped all the sensitive parts with plastic bags. Here is what I have done so far to try to fix the problem: replaced spark plugs, wires, distributor (previous distributor leaked oil), #4 cylinder feul injector (the car started to misfire once I was able to get it started due to a clogged injector). The car is in the shop right now. They are going to replace the starter b/c of the excessive starting in the past month. Luckily it's under warranty b/c I had it replaced back in March of this year at the same shop. But the mechanic says there's something screwy going and he'll need to check out the wiring. He said that it gets a spark sometimes, but for the most part there is no spark. I guess that's why I'm able to eventually start the car. The wierd thing is the car runs great after it starts. In order for him to check out the wiring, he wants me to commit to 6 hours of labor. Not meaning that he would charge me for 6 hours even if it only took him 1 hour. This situation sucks... if he looks for 6 hours and still doesn't find the problem, I'm out $420 and a POS car that doesn't start. Sorry for the rambling, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance.

Brian

brohr

Does anyone think I would be better off taking it to the dealer for troubleshooting? The shop that has it now won't be able to start working till Monday. I think the dealer would have more experience and better equipment in dealing with issues like this.

Altima SSS

It certainly wouldn't hurt to call a dealer or two and tell them what's going on, and to see if they have seen this before.

One advantage to having a dealer look at it is that they might have seen this problem before and then they might know how to find and fix the problem much faster.

What's strange with this problem is that once it's started it never dies. You would think that if it was an intermittent electrical problem that it would cause it to die sometimes after it's started.

Only thing I can think of is maybe during the actual cranking of the starter, something takes away most of the spark for the plugs and that prevents it from starting without repeated and long cranking sessions.

Is this an automatic or stick? If it's a stick, you could try to bump starting it without the starter to see how easily it starts up.

jserrano

I think the problem is likely something having to do with the distributor or at least ignition related.

__________________
'94 Nissan Altima SE 2.4L, 5spd. Ultra Red (AJ4).
Erebuni 905, Hotshot CAI, UR Pulley, HUD retrofitted.
ATC conversion. SilverStar bulbs.