93 Altima dies on road

Dtech42 · Mar 6th, 2005, 05:28 PM

I'm a new poster, I just hope I can help some folks while getting some help myself.

I have a 93 Altima that, after 10 or 15 minutes, dies. Upon death, the coil stops putting out spark and this condition remains until the car cools down. Once it cools down (about 20 minutes) it restarts without hesitation.

Initially, I suspected the distributor cap (the coil terminal was corroded) so I replaced it. The problem came back so I replaced the coil. Thinking this was going to be it, I let it go out and ended up having to collect the car on the side of the road. It was doing exactly the same thing. 20 minutes later, it restarted without problem.

Nissan dealer mentioned changing the distributor but I don't see why the coil would quit putting out in that case, unless the CPS tells the ECM to activate the coil??

I did some research, found the ECM and pulled the DTCs. I got 11 (CPS fault) 21 (Ignition Signal) and 34 (Knock Sensor). After it shut down again, I got 54 (Trans to ECM signal)

As far as the trans is concerned, I know this car has a problem with sometimes going into trans limp-mode/lockup. I noticed on this forum that this is a common problem with this model. The car is still drivable because it usually pulls out of this once you try to accelerate. I found that adding ATF helped a little (it was locking up full time when I first got it) and the trans often flashes up a stored code but I'll take care of that later.

Hopefully, someone can help me with this shut-down thing because I can't drive the car a mile. The grocery store is hit-and-miss!

KA24Tech · Mar 7th, 2005, 02:53 AM

Check the crank angle sensor output when it shuts down. I bought my 240SX from a lady because of exactly the same problem because to her it was unreliable but after replacing the distributor, which contains the crank angle sensor the car runs like a champ.

Troy

Dtech42 · Mar 7th, 2005, 03:33 PM

So, the crank angle sensor might tell the ECM to shut off the coil?

KA24Tech · Mar 8th, 2005, 12:58 AM

The crank angle sensor is what the ECU uses to reference the position of the pistons to trigger the ignition signal which is amplified in the power transistor and then sent to the coil. So no signal in means no signal out either.

Troy

Dtech42 · Mar 9th, 2005, 03:23 PM

You know, I had wondered about that whole deal but, being a Diesel mechanic, I don't know so much about modern car ignition systems. I was starting to get the feeling that it must be the distributor but now I can go replace it with the confidence that I have the right part.

Thanks!