93 ka24de won't start

[diptenkrom]

i have tried searching and searching and searching for 2 weeks, and i have given in and i need help now. i have been reading this forum, and i think i was a member years ago, but anyway i signed up again and here is my issue:

i have a good bit of experience with cars and have had a few nissans before that i have worked on, another 93 240sx included. i have diagnosed many problems and fixed them. i have a big problem now that i haven't had much experience with before.

i just bought a 1993 nissan 240sx SuperHICAS 5speed. i drove it home over an hour from the guy i bought it from. engine was replaced about 60000 miles ago. it was hard to start when i got it as it took about 15secs of starting to get it to fire. i figured it was a timing/tuneup issue. i started it up over 6 times that day and the next. it drove fine while i was driving it, just did not seem to have the right amount of higher end power. then i parked it and started to work on it. i started with new plugs, dist cap, rotor button, and fuel filter. did not replace wires because they seemed like they weren't very old, and were aftermarket silicone type wires. i did do an ohm test on the wires and they were not out of range.

from that point the car has not started. i did test for a spark and i got one, not sure if it was timed properly or strong, but it was there. also tried starting fluid with no start. fuel pump is priming and getting fuel to the injectors. injectors ohm tested fine. i have ohm/continuity tested the coil and the main connector to the coil. everything tested out right, except i couldn't get a good reading on the ohm test, it is hard to keep the probes on the little connectors. i plan on swapping another coil to rule this out but have not as of yet. i checked the fuses and relays dealing with the charging and ignition system and ecu. also the ecu connectors. i have another ecu somewhere i was going to try but i have not found it yet.

i thought the timing could be off, so i took off the top timing cover, set TDC and removed the top timing chain and reinstalled it with the marks lined up as they should. so i know that the cam timing is now right, it may have been one tooth off in the intake side, but not sure. when i reinstalled the distributor i made sure the motor was still at TDC and installed it so the rotor ended up at the center of the #1 spark location. (i feel as if it was off a tooth before i removed it.)

i am also installing a cold air intake and removing the belt fan, so they are out of my way but neither would keep it from starting. and the maf was hooked up when i tried to start it most every time. i do not want to put a bunch of money into this motor because i only plan on driving it around as a "work in progress" until i get it to the physical/structural place that i want it and then doing an sr20det swap.

[diptenkrom]

wow 3 days and no posts...

well a friend suggested that i check the "ignitor" - nissan calls it ignition transistor i believe. anyway i went to the junkyard and picked up a couple coils from an altima and a sentra (b13) as they show as the same part. i also got a couple of the ignitors off altimas and the sentra. the code on the 240sx one says PWR-1 and the others i picked up say PWR-2. but i read that the z31 guys are using PWR-2 as an upgraded part that idles smoother and starts better and whatnot, but in the z31 it requires swapping 2 wires on the plug. however i looked at the FSM for both altima and s13 and the harness layout is the same, so i just plugged it in. car did not start. so i removed the whole coil bracket and swapped coil and ignitor over and hooked it all back up.

car still did not start... i read while searching that another guy had a bad ignitor and had flooded the engine from trying over and over again to start it. so had i, so i went out and took all the plugs out of the engine, sure enough they smelled of gas. so i left them out and poured a small amount of ATF in the cylinders in case the gas had washed the oil off the walls. gunna let it air out and then try again tomorrow.



more info on the PWR-2 > the components inside it are upgraded to operate faster and cooler. most of the reviews on the z31performance forums say that the idle was smoother and the power seemed like it had been "held back" and this opened it up. one person said that his car had a stutter at a certain rpm, and the tach would reflect it. he said that it smoothed out the stutter and the tach also reflected by not jumping. not sure what the difference is between the PWR-1 and the PWR-2 because the z31 uses a different unit altogether. i was just throwing the info out here in case someone else was curious and happened onto my thread. they do not seem to be motor size or cylinder dependant because they do come in pathfinders, maximas, d21's, sentras, g20's, and altimas. (vg30e, sr20de, ga16de, ka24de, and ve30de)

[diptenkrom]

Okay. After swapping the dist, coil, and ecu into another car and it all worked, was at a loss. Then I ran across something about coolant temp sensor keeping car from starting. 240sx shares this with the b13 ga16de sentra. So I went to junkyard and got 2 of them with wiring clip to fix mine that looked a little rigged, and it started! Pwr-2 still installed just for info. It does work!

[d-maxkx]

Hi I have a hard starting 240sx I need ideas! I have tried everything fuel pump filter injectors fpr ecu temp sensor, it's a 1993 coupe with a 1992 ka24de the colder it is the harder it starts, sorry I am new I don't know how to start a new post