1990 nissan 240 de sputtering no start

[90desilvia]

DAY 1 W/No Start

Hi everyone just want to start out by saying I love this site it is the best

ive looked around and could not find an answer to my problem

about a year ago for one day my car was expirencing some sputtering but after that it went away and never had a problem again

two weeks ago it started again and did not go away. it started to run better for a few hours and then came back on and off for a week now this 2nd week it has not gone away at all

yesterday i ran the car hard and after turning it off and going to work i came out started up and ran beautifully then right when i got home it started up its sputtering again. today i started it and the same thing just sputtering away and while it sputters the engine has a hard shake to it for these 2 weeks not just today, i read it might be the spark plugs so i went to autozone got some ngks and went to town im not a novice mechanic but still no pro, so i pulled old ones off and they looked different where the spark arches on them where 4 metal prongs instead of the now a days traditional style on just one prong. so i gapped to .44 and changed them went to start and nothing....went to start again and it died in 2 sec so i took the new ones back off and putt old ones back on same thing made a loud crack noise though right before it died?????? i checked the distributer and one of the 5?????? was off the cap. so i pluged back in and still no start or a start with a hard chugging then it dies????

Please someone help me wtf is gone wrong with my nissan

[90singleslammer]

my car has been doing the same exact thing for the past 3 days i also had platinum spark plugs in my car and swapped them out with the ngk from pepboys and gapped then .044 but that didnt help so this guy that worked there came out and said his buddy is a 240 god so he called him and told him what was happening to my car and then they said it was the mass air flow sensor so i just bought a new one but it still sputters like hell and there is a huge loss of power it shakes my car like its a drag car and this is my daily driver and its killing me it starts this bs right when school starts i honestly am completely lost. And moneys tight so that makes things even harder anyone have any similar problems? it would be a huge help

[90desilvia]

DAY 1 1/2 Researching

So I just was doing some research and I found someone else was having a problem similar to mine but was fixed when distibuter timing was done????? does anyone know how this is done

singleslammer maybe this is related to your problem as well tomorrow im pulling off the distributer and looking for carbon cracks and checking the rotor so ill kee all posted on my journey to fixing this odd problem that no one has answers to.
thanx to everyone again who adds in their advice

[90desilvia]

DAY 2 Trouble Shooting 9/02/10

So today was partly successful, She is running again but still has the sputtering. I putt the new plugs in and new bosch wires and she started right up. I checked the ecu diagnostis system that comes on these 89-90 ecu's right after I disconnected my battery. Well it threw a 55 code and I read 55 means no malfunction and also read that if you disconnect the batt the ECU erases the codes so I was wondering how long till the ECU will determine whats wrong with the car(th sputtering problem) or will it detect this problem at all???? I will kee all osted who has these similar problems

After the labor day weekend I will start out by changing my Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter,Fuel Filter
I will fill up my fuel and putt some Fuel Injector Cleaner in with it all
and check my fuel rail with a volt meter still need to research what it should read....

once again thanx to all who want to putt their advice into this mix of problems with mine and SinglesSalmmer's 90 240's

[90singleslammer]

okay well todayy my car was running like s*** at first sputtering and bogging out rpms dropping to like 500 then i filled up still running pretty rough then it randomly went away so i was like sweeet but didnt stay that way i go to class then come out to go to wendys inbetween my classes and she does the sputtering again so i went back to schol finished my day then went and got a 95 300zx fuel filter changed the way it was driving instantly and has been good all day all up until im leaving the mall she was pretty rough on the start but then went away so im not sure if that solved my problem or if its still theree well just have to wait and see hopefullly that'll be it but you should deffinitly throw in a 300zx fuel filter its wayy bigger and more efficient and see if that would help your problem

[90singleslammer]

okay well todayy my car was running like s*** at first sputtering and bogging out rpms dropping to like 500 then i filled up still running pretty rough then it randomly went away so i was like sweeet but didnt stay that way i go to class then come out to go to wendys inbetween my classes and she does the sputtering again so i went back to schol finished my day then went and got a 95 300zx fuel filter changed the way it was driving instantly and has been good all day all up until im leaving the mall she was pretty rough on the start but then went away so im not sure if that solved my problem or if its still theree well just have to wait and see hopefullly that'll be it but you should deffinitly throw in a 300zx fuel filter its wayy bigger and more efficient and see if that would help your problem

[srpowered240sx]

90desilvia, next time you start it and its sputtering along, unplug the mass air flow sensor. see if that changes the way it is running. if it doesnt change at all, it sounds like a maf problem. if it changes the way it runs or the engine dies, then your maf is fine. then repeat with each spark plug. see if it seems to be one cyl in particular. if not, move on to fuel pressure, a shop should be able to put a mech gauge on to find out if its making/holding proper fuel pressure. or just buy a gauge, theyre cheap.

id lean towards maf or bad vacuum leak. but the way it came and went makes me think its the electrical side; maf, dist cap/rotor issue.

[90singleslammer]

okay well todayy my car was running like s*** at first sputtering and bogging out rpms dropping to like 500 then i filled up still running pretty rough then it randomly went away so i was like sweeet but didnt stay that way i go to class then come out to go to wendys inbetween my classes and she does the sputtering again so i went back to schol finished my day then went and got a 95 300zx fuel filter changed the way it was driving instantly and has been good all day all up until im leaving the mall she was pretty rough on the start but then went away so im not sure if that solved my problem or if its still theree well just have to wait and see hopefullly that'll be it but you should deffinitly throw in a 300zx fuel filter its wayy bigger and more efficient and see if that would help your problem

[90singleslammer]

gotta love slow computers sorry about the multiple posts

[90desilvia]

ok so I will do all filters when I get back from camping for Labor day weekend and I will use 300zx filters I know the Air and fuel filters fit but do oil 300zx ones fit?

srowered240: First off want to say that 240 is sick wit it. looks amazing and its sr20 whoowee boy thats what im aiming for a nice S13 ok so I unplugged my maf b4 and it didnt run any different so thats pprobably my roblem I was going to get to that after the plugs but then I was side tracked after my wires broke so I will get on that also after this weekend im hoping to make some money monday so I will have some extra money but"SINGLESLAMMER" Said he did his maf and no difference so i can always buy it see if it makes a difference and if not just return it.
thanx so much for keeping me posted on ur car singleslammer it really helps to hear from someone else who is having similar problems and trying different things troubleshooting etc so thanx so much

srpowered thanx for your help also like I said I will try and and let all know what is the outcome

by the way my motor was making some weired noises since I bought it like in high RPM'S it seems like the motor is under severe stress and wants me to change gears to relieve stress"compression" off the motor also when I start the car whether its warm or cold it makes this "crackeling" noise and it goes away after 1500-1900 RPM'S when I start to drive it but always is their once I stop or bring the RPM'S down under 1500-1900. I know its not good and I need to hurry up and get the money together for my S13 but I need this motor to last me aTLEAST THRU THE WINTER.........??????? Any thoughts from anyone on what this could be??????

ALL ADVICE IS APPRECIATED THANX

[srpowered240sx]

ok so I will do all filters when I get back from camping for Labor day weekend and I will use 300zx filters I know the Air and fuel filters fit but do oil 300zx ones fit?

srowered240: First off want to say that 240 is sick wit it. looks amazing and its sr20 whoowee boy thats what im aiming for a nice S13 ok so I unplugged my maf b4 and it didnt run any different so thats pprobably my roblem I was going to get to that after the plugs but then I was side tracked after my wires broke so I will get on that also after this weekend im hoping to make some money monday so I will have some extra money but"SINGLESLAMMER" Said he did his maf and no difference so i can always buy it see if it makes a difference and if not just return it.
thanx so much for keeping me posted on ur car singleslammer it really helps to hear from someone else who is having similar problems and trying different things troubleshooting etc so thanx so much

srpowered thanx for your help also like I said I will try and and let all know what is the outcome

by the way my motor was making some weired noises since I bought it like in high RPM'S it seems like the motor is under severe stress and wants me to change gears to relieve stress"compression" off the motor also when I start the car whether its warm or cold it makes this "crackeling" noise and it goes away after 1500-1900 RPM'S when I start to drive it but always is their once I stop or bring the RPM'S down under 1500-1900. I know its not good and I need to hurry up and get the money together for my S13 but I need this motor to last me aTLEAST THRU THE WINTER.........??????? Any thoughts from anyone on what this could be??????

ALL ADVICE IS APPRECIATED THANX

300zx oil filter does not fit, and would not make any positive difference. get a video/sound clip of the "crackling", from the sounds of it, id say timing chain tensioner or guides. just cause it didnt make a difference in single slammers car, the maf could very well be faulty in yours. worth a try. you could borrow one from a friend to trouble shoot it too.

thanks for the compliment on my 240. ive owned......i dont know how many, 9 or 10. seen a lot of them. had the original since i was 17, had every part on and off the car numerous times. all work done myself.

[90singleslammer]

well the filter did not solve my problem my car stalls then wont start i actually started to take off from at a light and my car just died and i coulodnt get it started for about ten minutes and its boggs out in low rpms and it runs fine when it wants too and then other times it runs horrible so after i got the car started in the road i went and talked to my friend jason hes a mechanic and i asked him what he thought it would be and he wasnt sure but he was like ill give you alittle homework to do and told me to go check the cap and rotor my coil crank sensor and my knock sensor and to buy a cheap harbor frieght meter to test the resistance but i dont have a service manual does anyone know where i could find the information to do this properly so i can find out where the sensors are and what not

[90singleslammer]

soo im not veryy smart when it comes to electronics with cars and i got a multi meter and i was trying to figure out how to work it and i was messing with my coil and my car was running and i was curious what would happen if i took the plug off the coil and it electrecuted me haha so does anyone have any advice on how to correctly use a multi meter

[90desilvia]

i dont know how to man i was going to use one on my fuel rail but I need to do the same research as you do

[90singleslammer]

yeah i have this 421 dollar snap on multi meter that i had to get for school but yet no idea how to use it and i have a vaccum pressure test kit and no idea how to use thatt yet.
my car keeps running fine and then randomly it will shut off and not start until i take of my battery cables and then it takes like 10 seconds to start while im holding the key and flooring it then it comes alive barley and then starts running like s*** but then it runs fine a few seconds after there are kids in my class who work at shops and they think its something with my timoing but there not quite sure anyone know how i can clean my IACV with a vivid description

[90singleslammer]

i took out my fuel pump to check it out everything looks fine and i also took off my cap to my distributor and some pieces fell out and dropped down into my engine bay and i was putting it back on and i snapped the bolt off anyideas how to get it out?

[90desilvia]

old post but still need help
i replaced cap and rotor and ran better but still sluggish and same shake. but once the weather changed and got real hot out my car switched mid drive and ran fine for the rest of the time untill the weather dropped about 30 degrees??????? any ideas maybe o2 sensor

[90desilvia]

well no one answered me so when it got hot out again it ran fine again so im changing the 02 sensor and the coolent temp sensor and will wait till its cold out again and see if that was my long time problem

[Armstec_S13]

Yeah try that temp sensor, disconnect it and see how it starts, also check all your grounds in the engine bay, my car ran like that come to find out there were two grounds that weren't tightened, the grounds were on the front of the motor right under the valve cover and the wires ran into the harness with the fuel injector wiring, I tightened the wires and BAM! runs like a champ, don't forget to check you fuel injectors, hope this helps out your problems

[Armstec_S13]

Forgot, do you have any kind of mods done? Any alarm, stereo, lights you know anything electrical? Also any intake, header?

YouTube a video of the popping please, that would help out to see what it is, I see the title of your tread is 1990 Nissan 240 de sputtering no start "de" you have a dual cam swap???

[airman86]

Well...did you ever check the timing? You asked how to do it, but no one answered because that information is everywhere - google it if you haven't.

[Armstec_S13]

probably the ignition coil.