Thread: Engine died, won't restart

I'm at the end of my rope on this one. I've searched and read threads on the forum and still haven't fixed it. So.

91 Sentra SE-R. I was on an on-ramp last Sunday when the motor just sputtered out and refused to restart. I can't for the life of me figure out why. It cranks great, and sometimes it stumbles like it's just about to fire up on its own, but then doesn't. The spark plugs were wet when I pulled them, so it's getting fuel.

Parts I replaced before the problem:

• Spark plugs
• Spark plug wires
• Distributor cap
• Rotor
  

Parts I replaced after the problem started:

• Coil
• Ignitor
• Fuel filter
  

Just before it died, I changed the oil. It's all still in there. And it's clean. I also filled it up with premium rather than regular, since I was about to autocross it (it died on the way to the event). I can hear the fuel pump when I turn the ignition on, and there was lots of pressure to fill a small container of gas when I disconnected the fuel line from the filter. The gas burns well with some black smoke, so I don't think I have bad gas. I have no idea what else to try. Any ideas?

sounds like your injectors arnt working maybe.

Are all the plugs wet with fuel? Sounds like you are getting no spark, have you checked for spark? Guess your regulator could be bad and not controlling flow, hook up fp gauge and see what it says.

remove a spark plug wire and have someone crank it and touch the valve cover , see if you are getting a spark.


wet plugs=no spark obviously you are getting fuel into the chamber, but if you had spark you wouldn't have a dead engine

fuel pump might be out

^ if the fuel pump was going out it would pretty much be a intermitten problem, the motors in the pump would warm up then stop working, then when they cooled off the car would start up again. if you are getting those symptoms then it would most likly be the f pump

Does the rotor spin on the dizzy when cranking with the cap off?

Also, try checking the ohm readings for both plugs going to the dizzy according to the FSM.

you're getting fuel and you can crank, so it's gotta be a spark issue. some simple things to check. first, make sure that you did your wires correctly on the distributor cap. looking at the valve cover from left to right, are cylinders, 1, 2, 3, 4. match the wires up correctly on the distributor cap. the car will crank but not fire up with the wires out of order.

pull the ignition coil wire off and stick a test light in there with the key/ignition at the on position. a test light will light up when it is stuck in the ignition coil plug area, and a VM will read 12V. if you've got voltage here, i guess it's safe to assume your igniter chip/power transistor (whatever you want to call it) is good.

also pull all the spark plug wires out (take off the injector plugs as well so you don't add fuel to the cylinders while checking for spark), and stick a test light in each spark plug wire socket, one at a time, and while turning the key to ignition/cranking the motor, check that the test light is lighting up. this is how i checked for spark alone, and it's best done when it's dark so that you can see the test light lighting up.

Found it. The problem was hidden under the distributor cap cover. The set screw for the rotor had worked its way loose inside the cap, bounced around, and wreaked havoc, including a couple of holes punched in the side of the cap. Wish I'd bothered looking before buying the other parts, but I'd only just replaced the cap and rotor - what could possibly go wrong? Ah well - it's an easy fix, and now I have an all new ignition system.

Good deal. When mine came off I had a huge back fire and blew out my cat. Thought I blew my motor. Took the cap off and the screw was sitting there and my rotor was schredded a lil. Didn't find out til I towed my car home off the rockies 50 miles from Den. This time I said screw it and put blue thread locker on it. Can't believe a .30 screw crippled my car. lol.