5 pages of how to fix coolant issues and next to zero discussion of WHY his car won't start. Unreal.
Half or worse of the "logic" being offered here is pure crap w/re to leading to resolution of your problem. It's super easy to have someone state a problem with a bunch of leading info that takes you down the wrong path, I understand that. After 5 pages however, someone here should have said forget the overheating issue for now,
follow the basic "car does not start" troubleshooting steps! WTH, 210/212 deg F is normal in hot weather, 217 vs. 214 deg is noise!
[INDENT]1) Unless compression is
completely off the bottom of the scale, the basic NA motor
will still run even with crappy compression. It just runs down on power and usually due to ring issues it will drink oil. From what I see here, the car was running hot but otherwise not awful, wasn't belching blue or white smoke, etc. So yeah, compression test a good idea, but not before you figure out why the motor isn't even running, it's not a "first step" unless the motor is FI, highly tuned, etc.
1)
Oil temps in excess of 250 deg F can occur with much lower coolant temps (yes, like 220-230) and wreak havoc on the motor. I didn't see an oil pressure gauge or oil temp gauge. Yes 210 or 212 deg is normal for coolant, but no, the levels of coolant temps are
no guarantee that your oil temps didn't spike a hell of a lot higher. I cannot count even using both hands the number of dead SR20's I have seen due to
oil overheating, lack of
oil pressure, lack of
oil, etc. I
can count the number of blown head gaskets, etc, on one hand, which is more relevant to 'coolant too hot'. But none of those symptoms are present. And, if the car has been sitting overnight, and is stone cold, a bad coolant temp sensor isn't likely to keep it from starting. Oil-related damage in normal use is a gradual process for normal engines, not sudden death,
2)
Oil around plugs is irrelevant to the OP's problems. Anyone who has owned Nissan I-4's for more than a few years knows the o-ring seals are good for ~5 years or so, they just tend to leak with age. Has zero to do with damaged head issues, the VC clamps those down against the collar around the plug. Non-issue, fix it when you can, soak the oil out and watch the dipstick level. Buy a new VC gasket at the same time. Also realize you may see some
evidence of misfiring on a plug that was left soaking in oil for way too long, but that's a
rough running issue, not a "won't run" issue.
3)
Car will run from a cold start a)with one, b)without one or c) with a stuck thermostat. It may get hot quickly, but most of the time our tstats fail OPEN, not closed. Car tends to take a long time to warm up, that's about it for problems unless you are talking Winter use. I've had three failed OEM thermostats, all three failed
open. If they fail
closed that happens usually when they are new and defective, not many thousands of miles later. And even it it's missing or the thing is shut, it
won't stop the motor from trying to fire up. If closed, motor will just start to get very warm after normal op temps (e.g. 175-180 deg F). BUT - motors that don't start, and don't run, don't have overheating issues, short of parking the car in Death Valley in summer or dropping it into a volcano.
[/INDENT]
What you
should have heard page one is
follow the basic troubleshooting steps for a car that does not start, do not get sidetracked on an issue that yes, you need to deal with, but is pretty irrelevant if the motor does not run. These steps are so well documented I'm not going to waste space and time repeating them. Until you methodically check the usual culprits, you're wasting your time. You would have done better to pick up a consumer manual for the car than the advice you've gotten here w/re to getting the car running.
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. Has anyone else ever experienced anything as bizarre with a bad CTS? 
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