i have a 2002 sentra GXE 1.8L that i bought used with 170,000 miles. needed new shoes and pads, rotors and drums looked ok , tie rod ends , power steering pump and license plate lamp to pass inspection. To get in and out of where i work on my cars in the back yard on a concrete pad I have to move my sentra which is now my daily driver out of the driveway. Not sure if this is climate related ( really cold out now) or something that just crept up. I also have a bubble in the cooling system which I am going to expel this weekend. so I back the Sentra up pull back in and to the left about 10 feet. I did this several times when the weather was warm. The time before when i did this the car started and ran really rough for several minutes the next day when i was going to move it back. Then i did this last week and when i went to move the sentra it would not start. It was getting a spark , squirted some carb cleaner in the opening for the valve cover breather in the intake still nothing. The CEL was on , no codes. Then i tried today and the Sentra started up, ran rough for a few. so it seems the sentra does not like being started then driven only a few feet then turned off ...any ideas?

i would just like to add there was not a CEL

How much gas is in the car? Gas treatment may help. I believe water can accumulate in the tank if it's not full and just sitting.

thanks for your reply. Full tank just got it filled. I think it has something to do with the car being in open loop. I believe as soon as it enters closed loop i can turn the sentra off and it will start again. Going to look at the coolant temp sensor and the inlet air temp sensor, could be the plugs too....although the strange part is the car run perfect warmed up. i think the ECM might think it is colder than it really is and is dumping in more gas, although again from key on it runs great warm or cold, just does not restart due to fouled plugs if turned off soon after starting. could also be the regulator going to check the fuel pressure too.

Cam or crank position sensor could be going bad, I don't think it always throws a code right away. I changed the cam position sensor on a 2004 Altima that had symptoms like yours.

I changed the cam position sensor

what made you think it was the cam position sensor and not the crank sensor?

Wasn't my car, but if I recall correctly, it got to a point where the cam code would come and go.

The car drove fine but once they stopped, the car wouldn't start back up until it sat for a while.

A friend had a Sentra, 2000ish, that had a bad crank sensor and it actually shut off on them on the hwy. It started back up after sitting but continued shutting off and had to be towed. I didn't repair that one though, someone else did.

The cam sensor was about $40 and easy to install.

I believe there was a recall on those cam and crank sensors for the early 2000 models.

so its not quite the same, the sentra will only not start after it has been started and run for a minute or two then turned off. If i drive away and say go around the block and i turn it off it will start. I think it has something to do with still being in open loop. If I start the car and let it run for a minute and turn off then try and start it just keeps cranking. I looked at the plugs and they are fowled.
I think i remember reading that one of the functions of the cam sensor is to fire the correct cylinder. It's not like my 72' Honda 750 4 cylinder where the 2 outside pistons would rise and fall together same for the inside ( probably the same for the sentra) except the Honda both plugs fired at the same time on one set of pistons only one cylinder at a time was on the compression stroke. So now with a computer I think the Sentra fires each cylinder and only one cylinder at a time. i hooked up a plug tester and saw it spark just about every 8th time cranking. so its getting a spark. So the last time it took almost a week before the sentra would start again. this time I took the plugs out , dried them off, and turned the engine over a few times w/o the plugs. put the plugs back in and it started ...rough at first. it could be the plugs too. going to check the fuel pressure next weekend

Sorry I couldn't be of any help!

THANKS For everyone's replies I finally had time to work on the Sentra again. Turns out it was the plugs. Put in a new set and i can start and stop when its cold and the Sentra will re-start. I do have to replace the gaskets for the spark plug tubes. One tube i could not see the "nut" part of the plug b/c it was filled w/ oil..all the other tubes were relatively dry. If anyone encounters this if you take the plug out and the oil drains into the cylinder and you install a plug back in and its on the compression stroke it is conceivable that you could bend a rod. either push in sections of paper towels around the plug to mop up the oil and pull out the paper towels with forceps OR after the spark plug removal just turn the engine over a few times w/o the plugs installed.