Need help ! Sentra won't start

[ahardb0dy]

So my former 90 sentra that I sold to my step daughter and her BF won't start.

She said the engine was making a noise than was running hot, the BF flushed the radiator and than filled it with well water !! The water smelled so bad it was hard for me to describe what it smelled like, I drained it and flushed the system, did not add any coolant yet.

She said the BF changed the oil ( first time in about 20K miles !!!), not very good on preventative maint. that's for sure !!

She told me the engine noise had become less noticeable, the other day she was on her way to our house when she said the temp gauge got to the upper end of hot and than the car back fired and the gauge went down to the bottom (cold), she had to pull over and she checked the radiator and noticed the rad. cap was also cold.

She had the car towed to my house and I started to check things.

Today I pulled the plugs, they were shot so I put new NGK plugs in, I checked for spark at two of the plug wires and it has spark.

I pulled the distributor cap and cranked the engine to make sure the cam was turning, it was.


I pulled the output hose off the fuel filter and had my wife turn the key to on, the fuel pump pumped gas right into the container I was using.

So, car has spark, fuel through the filter, cranks but won't start.

I tried pouring a small amount of gas into the TB but no difference, still won't start.

I checked any fuse related to the ignition and all fuses were good.


I have to test the injector tomorrow, I'm thinking maybe the injector took a crap, I also found a split hose under the intake manifold.


Any other idea's on why it won't start?

No codes in ECU.

I have to get the car back running if I can for her.


Thanks all !!

[ahardb0dy]

Checked the injector just now, FSM says resistance should be approximately 1-2 ohms, I got 3.4 ohms, so I guess it could be shot !

I have the old injector in storage going to check that one, originally when I replaced the injector it was causing an intermittent problem, I want to see what the resistance is on the old injector, if it is within spec, I'll swap it just to see if the engine will start.


Don't want to order a injector for $60 if it won't fix the problem.

 

 

I did find a hose that blew out, under the intake manifold, a royal PIA to get too !!

It's one of the hoses that feeds coolant into the manifold and it was feeding coolant into the TB but a while back I broke a nipple off one of the larger nipples where the hose connects to the TB, so I had to rig up something so the coolant still would go to the thermal element.

No idea at this point why it would overheat, I replaced the water pump and thermostat a while back.

 

 

I went and got the old injector from my storage, I checked the resistance and it was within spec so I swapped it, still won't start, and I can smell fuel getting into the TB.

I'm at a loss now as to why it won't start, need suggestions.

also tried swapping the module near the coil, no difference, was thinking to pull the valve cover next to see if anything looks weird.

I don't have a comp. tester and I guess that would be something I should check ??

Any other ideas?

Edited July 20, 2014 by ahardb0dy

[ahardb0dy]

Sorry forgot to mention this is my former 90 sentra

[gv280z]

So my former 90 sentra that I sold to my step daughter and her BF won't start.

 

 

No you didn't. It might have over heated because of the stupid plastic topped radiators that nissan uses in that car, and our pathy's too. It could have a crack in the plastic and all the water leaked out, or as I saw on a 1.8L 2002 Sentra, the top metal cap that presses down into the plastic was allowing the water to leak right out.

 

If that's not happening and it's not a busted hose leaking all the coolant out, then its gotta be a bad radiator cap. The boiling point of water / coolant rises under pressure, if your cap is bad it's not holding pressure allowing all the coolant to boil out, even though there is no physical sign of a mechanical failure that would show the leak. I can't imagine how the cap could possibly be cold though...

 

What worries me more than that is what she said about the engine noise all of a sudden lessened, and then a backfire. This sounds to me like a failing timing belt or chain that loosened up, causing the back fire and then not starting because the timing is all out of whack. Sorry to go all apocalyptic on you dude.

 

I lost a 22R-E the exact same way once. It had a tick tick tick like a lifter tick but it was a valve tapping a piston, then all of a sudden the noise went away, like it fixed itself, then about maybe a couple weeks later the chain loosened and jumped teeth, punched a valve right through a piston.

Edited July 21, 2014 by gv280z

[Kingman]

The cap can be cold if the thermostat is stuck closed.

 

Have you verified the timing is spot on? Compression test would be nice, yes, but you'll know if the engine is down a cylinder by how it cranks.

[ahardb0dy]

Haven't verified the timing, have to either buy a comp. tester or rent one.

 

When I try to start it if I floor the gas it changes the sound.

 

I found a hose that blew out under the intake manifold, I'm sure that's where the water went. Haven't had any problems with the radiator.

 

One day when I still owned it I was driving home on the turnpike, when I finally came to a light the engine was ticking like crazy, couldn't hear it over the road noise. Stopped at Publix to pick up a few things and bought 2 quarts of oil, I checked the oil before I went in, didn't even need to look at the dip stick it was so hot I knew it was low.

 

Came out of the store and put both quarts of oil in and than the next day another 1/4 of a quart, so it was low,, took about 15 minutes for the ticking to stop but it did and ran fine. Engine holds 3 5/8 oil so it was down 2.25 quarts !!

 

I don't know what noise the engine was making that she heard, I do know I had a problem when I let off the gas in 5th gear it would backfire, but I found the coil wire at the coil was loose, fixed that and than no more back firing.

 

 

[ahardb0dy]

Just checked the compression, don't think it looks good,

Readings:

cylinder
1 - 59
2 - 59
3 - 94
4 - 131

added small amount of oil to 1,2 & 3 and re-tested
1 - 119
2 - 100
3 - 121
4 - did not retest

Service manual shows compression specs of:

standard - 181
minimum - 142

no more than 14 difference between cylinders


So time to look for a engine possibly?

Thanks

[Kingman]

Could be a head gasket, could be the chain jumped. Out of time can drop compression. Could be the rings are shot.

[ahardb0dy]

I've been reading about timing chains jumping a tooth and came across a post on another forum where the guy says it's a myth that even if the tensioner was remoed the chain is so tight that it couldn't jump a tooth?

 

I'm sure if a tooth was worn down it would be possible but I don't know.

 

Could it be a head gasket with no coolant in the oil?

[Slartibartfast]

With a worn chain and/or an engine moving fast enough, I imagine it could throw the chain all over the place, regardless of how "impossible" it looks with a new chain on a stationary engine. Check the distributor alignment against TDC?

 

Given your oil use issues with it, and the compression numbers, I'll bet the current owners checked the oil level about as often as they changed it, and ran it dry.

[ahardb0dy]

Yeah my step daughter and her BF aren't very maint. minded. I changed the oil around 258K and he just changed it like a week ago ( 2 weeks maybe) and I think the car has around 276K on it now.

 

I'll have to part it out if she doesn't want to fix it, I already know someone that wants the rare (now a days) short throw shifter, wonder if the seats would work in my hardbody??

[ahardb0dy]

Car is now gone, junked it today

[SpecialWarr]

Sorry to hear about that man, it's a shame when people just don't care.... ya know?

[ahardb0dy]

I know, well I got my door speakers back and the jack rod I needed out of it