1999 QX4 crank no start, sputters

[professorhm]

First of all would like to say thank you to everyone here for the wealth of information that's on this site. I've been a long time lurker and NICO is usually my first stop when I need help with diagnosis.

Unfortunately(or maybe fortunately since now I'm a registered member!) I have an issue that will need more specific assistance.

This is my parents 1999 QX4 with 280K miles. It started to act up about a month ago where my mom ran it dry and stalled it out. Got some gas in it, but the car would keep stalling out and would not run. Eventually my dad was able to get it to run and drove it back home. Next day car started and worked fine. Then while driving the car stalled out and when restarted it sputtered when giving it more gas. Their mechanic put in a CKP sensor for a friggin P03xx code. Of course it didn't fix it and I told them not to take it to the guy anymore.

So now I'm stuck looking at the vehicle. This is about 3 weeks ago. Car has fairly new set of plugs,wires, cap&rotor(less than 10K miles on them, done early 2013). Vehicle has spark, and it started fine and didn't really have any issues with it. I test drove it a few times, and occasionally going uphill under mild acceleration it would sputter slightly as it climbed up the revs. Still couldn't figure out what was wrong and left it at that, told my parents not to drive it far but worked fine for now.

A few days later my dad is stranded in a parking lot because car stalled out and will not start. Went over and found out vehicle will catch and stall out right away, but when it didn't stall out it'd sputter like crazy and will not go over 2,000 RPM and eventually stall out. Noticed that there was a lack of fuel smell after trying to start all this time. My dad told me banging on the fuel tank(I told him to try this over the phone when it wouldn't start) got the vehicle to start. So I installed a fuel pump thinking its a fueling issue due to the vehicles age and mileage.

WRONG. No change whatsoever. Should've diagnosed it further so my lazy diag bit me in the a**. So checked fuel pressure at the rail, 40psi at the rail with ign on, so builds up full pressure. While cranking drops to
34psi.

I have checked injector resistance, I show between 12-13ohms for 3 of them(didn't check bank 1) and can't find any resistance spec anywhere. I haven't checked to see if there's power to the injectors yet but wondering if there's anything else I should check for?

I've tried disconnecting the MAP and MAF sensors and seeing if that'd help since that generally gets the car to use default readings and generally works if the sensors are defective, no change. Also when supplied with an outside fuel source through the inlet vehicle will run, poorly but it will stay running which is part of the reason why I installed the fuel pump in the first place. Haven't gone through thoroughly for vacuum leaks, but it would have to be some major vacuum leak for it to not start like this and haven't seen any major vacuum leaks.

I'm looking for any other suggestions on what I should check and maybe some of you ran into similar issues?

Thank you!

[Towncivilian]

Have you checked for excessive dust or dirt buildup under the distributor cap and checked the rotor for scorching?

Has the timing belt been replaced at 210k miles? This vehicle should be on its third timing belt and set of spark plugs now (counting factory belt and plugs).

Welcome to NICO!

[professorhm]

Thank you towncivilian!

Yep, checked the cap and rotor just in case and no signs of scorching, slight carbon on the contacts so filed them away, really made no difference.

Timing belt has been replaced along with the plugs and wires early last year.

[Towncivilian]

Have you changed the fuel filter?

[professorhm]

Yep, should've mentioned that in the beginning. It was done earlier last year along with all the other stuff. Verified fuel coming out clear at the rail at 40psi as well.

[kevswack]

Any luck tracking this down. I have the exact same problem and was going after the pump next! Hoping you could tell me what you found out!

[Buzzman]

It started to act up about a month ago where my mom ran it dry and stalled it out. Got some gas in it, but the car would keep stalling out and would not run.

I strongly suggest replacing the fuel filter again.
The fact that your mother ran the tank dry is not a good thing.
Sludge builds up over time in the tank, and as long as you keep it reasonably filled, you're OK.
Running it dry will result in the pump sucking up whatever is left at the bottom, including sludge and dirt.
The filter is probably clogged up, and the fuel pump cannot keep up with the demand when the engine is under load.

[Towncivilian]

I don't feel that sludge / build-up is very common with today's plastic fuel tanks, ethanol-laden gasoline (helps keep it dry), cleaner fuels, and the filters at the gas pump. Most vehicles today have done away with the in-line fuel filter and use only a "sock" on the fuel pump pickup. Not only that, the pump pickup is already at the bottom of the fuel tank, so there shouldn't be much of anything but gasoline in the fuel tank.

[kevswack]

I agree that crud in the fuel is not likely. This is sort of an old wives tail for mechanics! The pickup is on the bottom, crud is on the bottom, if it is there it will plug stuff up regardless of how full the tank is.

So back to the original problem. Any help?
I am experiencing the same problem with a different onset.

Drove to work, 1 mile.
half way there car would rev to 25 or 3000 then sputter. Slowley lost all power so it would barley hold an idle and drive only 5 mi/hr. Then all power lost and it died, no restart.

Next morning, car starts and only revs to 2500 with no load and sputters. Sputters not misses. No popping or snapping out the intake or exhaust. Opening the throttle doesn't help. wide open only gives 2500. Back off and idle is rough and hunting, tries to die and revs to 1000 or so to recover. Then a little while later won't even idle. Just starts stumbles and dies. Then eventually no start.
Totally weird! Changed cap(it was trashed) rotor(also trashed) and fuel filter. No change.
Seems like fuel related or fuel management related. Mass air flow maybe?
I don't get the wait a while and it starts again thing. after the filter change pressures should have been brought back to 0, or equal on each side of the filter but this changed nothing. Still start stumble die, repeat until no start! wait a few hours and it starts stumbles and dies!!!

I was hoping the original poster found out what was up with his rig and could lead me down a path to a running car!

anyone????

[Towncivilian]

MAF sensor for sure if it's limited at 2500RPM, try cleaning it if you haven't yet.

[kevswack]

Thats what I was thinking until I read an "ask the mechanic" type thread. The symptoms were the same. after several tests by the owner he took it to a dealer and they changed the distributor and the problem was solved. I originally thought the coil was breaking down and was going down that path.

good thing I have two cars and can hash this out and not be forced to throw $$$ at it hoping it's fixed.

So cleaning……Think I read somewhere there is MAF cleaner. I'll look that up and give that a try.

Thanks.

[Buzzman]

I agree that crud in the fuel is not likely. This is sort of an old wives tail for mechanics! The pickup is on the bottom, crud is on the bottom, if it is there it will plug stuff up regardless of how full the tank is.

I don't feel that sludge / build-up is very common with today's plastic fuel tanks, ethanol-laden gasoline (helps keep it dry), cleaner fuels, and the filters at the gas pump. Most vehicles today have done away with the in-line fuel filter and use only a "sock" on the fuel pump pickup. Not only that, the pump pickup is already at the bottom of the fuel tank, so there shouldn't be much of anything but gasoline in the fuel tank.

Ok, I guess that shoots my theory down all to heck. Sorry.
I just thought that as the problem manifested itself after the tank was run dry, that somehow it was related to the problem.
I still don't get why these issues started happening after it ran out of gas.
I hope you find the problem, and that you keep us up to date.
Good luck

[kevswack]

tested everything under the sun! ok under the hood and in some cases under the car! It all tested out perfectly.
Read some more threads and decided I'd get a wrecking yard distributor. Swapped it out and she fires right up and runs great. I need to set/adjust ignition timing and Im back on the road for only 125 bucks.

Yeah!

Thanks for the help.

[blkqx4]

My issue when i has that similar problem was the distributor. From my understanding very common problem.