1990 240sx will not start

[dlloyd]

I have a 1990 240sx with 150K miles that will not start. It had developed a rough idle the day before it stopped. The day before, I had let up on the accelerator and the engine died. I stopped the car and it cranked, although it sounded like it was only hitting on 3 cylinders. Everything returned to normal until the next day. Going down the road, I started loosing power, the engine was running rough and it died.

I have done the following. Verified that I have spark on each plug. The plugs are wet with gas, so I think the injectors are operating. I did pinch the fuel line to verify I had pressure when the switch was engaged. I checked for corrosion on each sensor, as recommended in other posts. I looked at all of the vaccum hoses and they look fine. The computer reports "55" all clear.

The car had recently had new spark plugs and distributor cover installed. It was running great before it died.

I checked the service manual and the first step was to verify that the tach showed 250 rpm during cranking. I don't get that, the hand on the tach does not move. I do get a funny smell when it attempts to crank, like maybe it is trying to burn the fuel, but no speed up in engine rpms during cranking.

I thought maybe there might be a timing problem. I put the flywheel on the TDC mark on the compression stroke and pulled the valve cover and verified that the keyway in the sprocket was at the 12 oclock position.

I know something is keeping it from starting, but don't know what do do next. After reading some of the posts, I checked the water temp sensor resistance and it was ok. I am wondering if the coil is providing adequate spark.

Any suggestions will be welcomed.

Danny

[Prelude Guy]

I have the same problem with my 89 240. It seems like the KA24E injectors are notorious to leak. I am going to change mine to see if that fixes the problem.

I literally just went outside to try starting my car. It ALMOST started. If it doesn't start the first time, it floods.

I noticed that this issue has come about after I ran a tank of injector cleaner. I'e heard that injector cleaner is know to increase the demise of injectors if they are bad.

I'll change them and if it fixes the problem, I will let you know.

Good luck.

[dlloyd]

After more checking, I found I had no compression. Looks like the head gasket is blown.