1992 Nissan 240SX: Symptoms of a bad Distributor/CAS? (KA24DE) Code 11, 21

General discussion forum about the 240sx, and a great place to introduce yourself to the board!
User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

Hey what's up guys,

For the past few days, my car has been undriveable because it took a dump on me...well it runs like crap. At first, it ran great, but slowly, it would sometimes hesitate and bog for a bit when I shfited from 2nd to 3rd, when the engine was cold. It ran fine when it warmed up.

So, about a few days ago, I was driving and it started to buck a little bit from 4500RPM-5500RPM. And then it would sometimes bog from 2500RPM-3500RPM, and when it reached 4000RPM, it would just kick as if I had just hit 30psi (this is a bone stock KA BTW). And it would happen again, but this time it would accelerate very slowly from 1500-5000RPM, and then just kick it all the way to the redline. The only reason I know that would cause this is bad timing, or a faulty knock sensor, but I got no CEL.

On the second day of driving, it was much better...for a while. Suddenly the car would shake violently when I lightly pressed on the gas pedal, and the car just wouldn't go over 3000RPM's. When I floored it, it seemed like as if it was hitting the limiter at 3000RPM's. The car had no accelerlating power whatsoever, it just bogged and hesitated. Also, the idle was going up and down, really lumpy.

So I got home, checked it out. So I went on NICO, searched and found out my MAF could be dirty. So I got myself a MAF cleaner and cleaned out the MAF. No difference. Got a new fuel filter...a 300ZX one , changed that, same problem. Then I bought and installed a new cap and rotor, a set of NGK wires, NGK Iridium plugs, took out the fuel injector harnesses one by one to see if any were leaking, and also cleaned every ground I could find. Car still ran like crap.

But now, it still had the lumpy idle, but it was a "smooth" lumpy idle. And the throttle was very responsive, till it reached 3000RPM. Also, when I kept on jabbing the throttle, it would sometimes backfire from the air intake , kept on making weird popping sounds. So I ripped off the panels and checked the ECU. I got codes 11 and 21: Crank angle sensor circuit and Ignition signal circuit. Now according to the tutorial, Quote »+ = Check items causing a malfunction of the crank angle sensor 1st, if both #11 and #21 are displayed at the same time. [/quote], it's most likely my Crank Angle Sensor...right? So I unplugged the CAS harness, got an electrical cleaner and sprayed a **** load in there. Plugged it back in when it was dry, still ran like crap. So I searched some more, and found out a bad dizzy can cause this problem. But I doubt it because when I was revving the motor, it would only go to 3000RPM, now when I slowly started to release the throttle, let's say about to 75%, the RPM's would start to go up to 4000RPM's, and then start to drop. I kept on doing to this till I was able to get the RPM's to 6000. Now the car was running flawlessly It would rev up and down no problem, no hesitation, and no bogging. I was even able to bounce of the limiter. However, the idle was still a little bit lumpy. Then I shut off the engine, and started it again, RAN LIKE CRAP!! The car was then again limited to 3000RPM's

Anyways, do you guys think it's a bad dizzy? Cause it actually ran fine for a while, until I shut it off and restarted it. I'm also thinking it can be a bad TPS cause of the weird throttle behaviour, or maybe a faulty knock sensor.

What's your input?


User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

Update: Car doesn't start up any more

jza80king
Posts: 119
Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2004 1:06 pm
Car: 1992 Nissan 240SX
1998 Toyota Supra Turbo

Post

If you got code 11 i'm not sure just spraying a bunch electric cleaner will fix the issue. Mine kept stalling randomly either while driving or sitting at a red light. It got to the point where it did it more and more frequently finally till it wouldn't start at all. I'd have to let it sit then hours later it would sometimes start. Checked the codes and got code 11....changed the distributor problem solved. Before that though I changed my plugs, plug wires, fuel filter, even changed the coolant temp sensor and nothing. It wasn't until I changed the distributor that my car was fixed. Try checking the IAA valve. good luck man

User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

Man, I'm really hoping it's not the dizzy, the price for a reman is around $250 CAD!!

User avatar
Ekinchheng
Posts: 403
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:04 am
Car: 93 240sx Coupe
Location: Philadelphia,PA

Post

I think its your distributor, i had the same symptoms you describe and one day I explained it to my boss and he said it was the dizzy. I had an extra dizzy from my spare motor, switch it and bang problem was gone. I suggest you take a look at your local junkyard or ebay and craigslist.

User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

Bought a dizzy today for 20 bucks from some dude parting out his KA. Came home, took it out, and put the new one in, still not starting. The car cranks, but it just won't start. I checked for spark, and it kinda looked weak. I'll try to get a video of the spark tomorrow if I can, and also check if I'm getting any fuel.

User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

W00t!! Got 'er running :D

Took it to a shop, turns out it was my ECU, and some weird MAF wiring, and also the timing was advanced to 44 degrees!!!

MezaS13
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:15 am
Car: 1991 Nissan 240SX (Coupe)

Post

Did they get a new ECU and MAF? I have the same problem but mine spits gas through the exhaust and ton of white smoke. I did the exact same procedure as you did but I get gas and white smoke.

User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

Forgot to update this.

Soon after I got it back from the shop, it started doing it again.

I added two new grounds with 8 gauge wire.

Solved the problem for me.

White smoke usually means there's coolant entering the combustion chamber.

MezaS13
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:15 am
Car: 1991 Nissan 240SX (Coupe)

Post

Could you tell me where exactly did you add two new grounds?

Its not coolant my coolant levels is the same and it is still green. Doesn't coolant turn brown when there is a leak?
Plus, what comes out the pipe is gas, it wasted 1/4 of a tank just idling in my driveway. I will borrow a MAF from a friend's 240 today, check timing, check compression, and check fuel pressure at the fuel pressure regulator, and then remove the fuel rail for leaks or bad injectors.

Its weird because it started smoking so much like that right after I put a new injector in, a brand new injector with new o-rings and all. I forgot to mention the car still runs after unplugging every injector it runs for about 2/3 minutes and then it dies.

I know this is a very old post, but THANK YOU ALOT for the input!

User avatar
asoomal
Posts: 2374
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 pm
Car: 2001 Subaru Impreza L 5MT (Daily)
1992 Nissan 240SX SE 5MT w/HICAS (Being restored)
Location: Canada

Post

One from the intake manifold to the passenger strut tower, there's a few thread holes on there.

And another one by the left rear side (closest to the firewall, driver's side) valve cover to the firewall.


Return to “240sx General Discussion”