engine died now won't restart

1538 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Nick Danger, Oct 9, 2008

pcbisnice

Discussion Starter · Sep 11, 2008

Hi, i am now having a new problem with my car. I had responded in someone else's post but it was getting cluttered. I have searched countless hours the last 2 days on this also.
I was driving down the road and i lost all power. Hitting the gas gave me even less power. So i coasted to a stop and popped the hood. Noticed the distributor was a little loose somehow so i lined up the timing marks and tightened it back down. The car will start but its real rough and idles in a chugging style till it dies again. When my friend towed me home i started it when we got back to my place and it started and idled fine, but would not rev. now its back to starting for 5 seconds of roughness and dying. I disconnected the line at the fuel filter and fuel came squirting out pretty hard then stopped after a couple seconds. turning over the motor for a second makes it squirt fuel out again. So it SEEMS to be getting fuel, but is it enough? Air filter is new, no vaccum lines appear faulty. The car will crank over all day long so i don't think its the charging system or starter. I have NO check engine light on either, which baffles me. tried pulling the fuel pump fuse and starting it, then putting the fuse back in. Didn't work, but not sure i did it right. Tried the pedal to the floor while cranking also, didn't work. There seems to be a smell of gas that smells kinda old everytime i crank the car. however i don't see any leaks anywhere. Has new spark plugs. No oil in the dist. cap. rotor also seems clean and in good shape along with the dist. cap. Wires seem to be new and are making solid connections. I'm really out of ideas and i dont have any money to take it to a shop. Any ideas or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

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pcbisnice

Discussion Starter · #2 · Sep 11, 2008

BTW: the car is a 1994 sentra.
i got a new fuel filter and some water remover and put it in the tank. Still no go. If i floor the gas pedal while im cranking it over and my friend sprays starter fluid in it starts right up and revs strong. Which leads me to think its prolly a fuel problem. when i changed the fuel filter and disconnected the lines from the filter fuel came squirting out with pretty good pressure. When i turn the ignition on i can hear the fuel pump if i put my ear to where you put gas in the car, so it sounds like the fuel pump is working. Am i correct to assume if the timing was messed up the car would start and rev strong with starter fluid? is there any sensors or electrical components that go bad and do not trigger the check engine light? Is there a way to see if all my injectors are working/spraying fuel?

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pcbisnice

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 11, 2008

30 some views and no responses?

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Nick Danger

· #4 · Oct 6, 2008

You can use a solid rod from the injectors to your ear to listen for the injectors clicking. You can feel the fuel rail for pulsating to check for fuel flow. You can pull the plugs and check for wet for injection. You can lay the plugs on the engine metal with wires connected and crank to observe spark. The oil in distributor problem is not necessarily in the cap. It is oil on the pick-up coils that causes problems. These are deeper in the distributor and pick up the teeth rotating on the shaft to let the ignition module know when to fire the ignition coil. This may be my problem.

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sunnysentra

· #5 · Oct 9, 2008

mmm... you have good spark?? 9-10 times its something like this. If the distributor crank angle sensor is shot, this will really cause the engine computer to act to try to retard/advance timing. If you ever played with the distributor back and forth while running, it will get rough. the timing is important. You need to properly set the timing first. if it will run at 2,000 rpm constant for 2 minutes. then remve the TPS sensor on the Throttle body. then run it 2,000 for 2 minutes, rev 3 times and then attach the timing light. I forget the 92 timing. the 92's had 10 degrees normal. get that in spec first.

You can go into the ECU and turn the screw on the side that puts in diagnose mode. watch the flashes from the yellow light, record the flashes, it may read the code Crank angle sensor if that is the issue. it may be the TPS, you just don't know. But at least you can read the ECU and not get a nissan consult from the dealer. they charge 80-100 for that!!

Chris 92 classic

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Nick Danger

· #6 · Oct 9, 2008

Thanks for responding, Sunny. I finally got it running by cranking without the fuel pump and holding then with the pump, holding the pedal down. It ran rough and I did find one small vacuum leak. Then it idled smoother. It still does not have consistent power. Sometimes it feels like nothing is wrong, then it feels like it's being held back--yes like timing. I put in new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter. Plenty of pressure, as I found out taking the fuel line apart. I did it on purpose just see how well the regulator was holding. I pulled codes from the ECU and got a 55=no problems. One thing that is bothering me now is that after reading multible posts about how to pull codes, none had mentioned what the ActronIII Sunpro book says: "It is critical to mark the set point of the screw (potentiometer) BEFORE you turn it clockwise to start the process, so that it can be returned to that point at the end of the test." First of all, I could not see the screw; I just felt for it and did the test. And now what? I can't put it back where it was. I was thinking of putting it somwhere in between and pulling power to reset the ECU.
I guess I will try the timing procedure but I am not sure where the timing marks are and if I'll be able to see them through all the stuff around the crank pulley.
David

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