Thread: HELP! Car died while driving, crank crank but won't start :(

any possible way you can get a video standing at the engine when you try and crank it? Man, if you were close to me i'd help you out =\

That would be really helpful...a big part of troubleshooting SR20's is being able to hear what's going on....will follow this post, hopefully I can help somehow

Have been so busy with work and haven't been able to have a good sit-down with the car for the past few days. Going to go with the big 3 again tomorrow after work, test strength of spark, check fuel pressure with gauge, check compression, and go from there. Will be able to record a short video and upload as soon as I can.

Yes please take and post photos of under your valve cover. And if it's back on already, take a video and post it with a friend trying to crank it over. usually someone here can figure it out

BTW did you pull out any of the plugs any see how they looked?

Oh I just wanted to add this is NOT a good idea to do w/ SR20's..

another question though, did you recently over-rev, miss a shift, (even as much as a week ago) or did you ever install bigger cams in your motor? What are your modifications? (If any)

I checked the plugs, they were old but not super bad, replaced anyways but with no change. Didn't over-rev or recall missing a shift, usually just drive and change gears between 3k and 4k rpm. As for modifications to the motor, squat.... i.e. none.

Ok so no mods, and you drive it conservatively everyday. Barring that it's anything electrical like MAF or alternator etc, it sounds like it may be oil starvation, especially since you saw the oil light come on. In Nissans, the oil light does not come on when there's a low volume of oil, only when there's low oil pressure. How are you with the oil changes? Do you keep up with it?

Back in the day (and I'm talking like 2001) there was something called "Old lady G20 syndrome" - where as, an SR20 enthusiast would purchase an Infiniti G20 which was owned by an older person, or person who bought it because it was just a nice car, and who never took it past 5000RPM.. it would be in PERFECT shape, but within two weeks the engine was blown. Spun bearings, all kinda stuff. I'm not saying that's what happened to you but the consensus is that it's a GOOD THING to approach redline in the SR20 motor at least a few times a week, it temporarily raises the oil pressure up top etc.

I hope your engine is OK and the oil light flickered by mistake

I've always been doing oil changes on the car every 5,000km with synthetic oil (5W30, Penzoil, Mobil 1, or Castrol) and the year I worked for a quick lube shop it was probably like every 4,000k cuz of the great deals I'd get on parts and supplies. Owned the vehicle since 170,000km and now approaching 280,000km.

That's funny you say about approaching the redline in an SR20 once in a while because I feel exactly the same way. I'm not super techy but I felt that by driving the car hard once in a while would help extend the life of it and also help to burn out and blow out any bad exhaust thingys hahaha. So, YES I do take the car on the highways and do some strong pulls every now and then shifting gears near 6k rpm.

I sooooo hope my car is okay! Even if it's dead, I can't justify selling it because of how much it'd be worth (as in not worth much haha).

At 280,000 miles that's still not too bad. Although I do have a friend up north of me who has get this, 400,000 original miles on a 91 Sentra SE-R.

If you're not completely sure what your doing, take it to mechanic and have them officially tell you whats wrong. It could be the motor, it could be something stupid. That's the thing I've learned about these motors, and life in general; sometimes it's a stinking loose bolt, sometimes it's the whole motor. You just never know.

If it's the motor you have many options, you could part it out and if the shell is in good shape (no rust or very little) you could sell it. There's lots of us looking for clean shells for project cars. Or you could drop a VE in it or SR20DET in it. Of course, you'd have to have some pretty decent experience mechanically to do those things on your own, and the proper tools and money.

Did you get in contact with Andreas Miko? If not, I would....he knows his stuff, I mean he rebuilds and sells these engines for a living