Could my week go any worse?

[SickImports]

O.K. Im pretty sure whats wrong with it but, heres the story. Left for Wal-Mart at about 8:00 p.m. was driving down maple and everything was fine and all of a sudden my car shuts off completely, after cruising for about half a mile I pull into someones drive-way. I try to start the car and it wont start. well anyway ive had lots of trouble with the distributor on my car and the timing belt, could that possibly be the problem? im kind of glad it broke now i have an excuse to not drive it, but do any of you have any idea what else it could be that way when i take it to nissan I can give them so points to look on. Thanks

[benemorius]

The first problem is that this was posted in general chat. The second problem is that you're taking it to a dealership to get it fixed. The third problem is that you had the balls to show up and make another post without some promised pictures in hand.

Ok, seriously - Don't take it in yet. Provide some more details on the situation so we can get you fixed up, and get a mod to move this thread to a section where it is more likely to get the answers you need.

First question that comes to mind: Define "won't start." Does it crank? Does it try to fire at all?

[PalmerWMD]

Moved to NOM

Fred..

[SickImports]

yes it turns over but it sound like its backfiring back into the distributor. Or that what the guy that listened to it for me said.

[benemorius]

Well if it's backfiring into the distributor maybe you should let the dealership handle it after all.

Ok ok I'm sorry. That urge was just too strong to resist. I'll try not to make any more jokes.

How do you feel about working on cars? Do you feel capable of doing a basic diagnosis? Some simple things to check are:

-do you hear the fuel pump when you turn the key to on?-if you pull a spark plug, then hoot it up to it's wire and ground it against bare metal on the engine, does it spark when a friend cranks it?-are the fuel plugs covered in fuel when you remove them after cranking the engine?-borrow a compression tester and test the compression according to one of several guides easily found by searching the forums

[NISTECH]

Well if it's backfiring into the distributor maybe you should let the dealership handle it after all.

Ok ok I'm sorry. That urge was just too strong to resist. I'll try not to make any more jokes.

How do you feel about working on cars? Do you feel capable of doing a basic diagnosis? Some simple things to check are:

-do you hear the fuel pump when you turn the key to on?-if you pull a spark plug, then hoot it up to it's wire and ground it against bare metal on the engine, does it spark when a friend cranks it?-are the fuel plugs covered in fuel when you remove them after cranking the engine?-borrow a compression tester and test the compression according to one of several guides easily found by searching the forums

DONT GO TO A DEALER???? SAY WHAT!! I resemble that remark!!!

I think the dealer is the best place to take it, especially if your going to try and rely on this guy^^^^^^^^^^ I mean what the hell is "hoot it up"Where is the "Fuel plugs" on a car.

What kind of car you got?

[benemorius]

lmao!!! Looks like the joke is on me now. I usually double check my posts, but earlier tonight I was typing away from my desk on a wireless keyboard and didn't even single check anything.

And yeah - you go right on ahead "resembling" that remark.

I meant "don't take it to a dealer" not in the "take it to another shop instead" or the "don't give a dealer the business" sence, but rather the "give it a go yourself and learn from the experience" or "see if it's something simple first before running off to a shop" sence.

[NISTECH]

You do realize though that Chris and myself are both Dealer techs dont you? He currently works for a dealer on the east coast and I work for one here on the west coast. As far as dealer techs are concerned Him and I are both on the higher end of the food chain as the both of us have certifications alot of the techs dont. In just over a month I will be a Nissan/Infiniti master tech.

[benemorius]

Hard to tell when someone is being serious on the internet. I thought we were just poking fun. You serious? Of course I know that. I praise you guys all the time all over the forums.

I meant "don't take it to a dealer" not in the "take it to another shop instead" or the "don't give a dealer the business" sence, but rather the "give it a go yourself and learn from the experience" or "see if it's something simple first before running off to a shop" sence.

^This was the only serious part of my last post. We agree that the dealer is the best place to take it, but I never like to see anybody running off to take it somewhere when it may yet be something simple.

[NISTECH]

Yeah i agree with you on that, If it can easily be remidied then definitly do it yourself. I just hate seeing what happens to people who run to the independant shops that dont really know the car and end up hacking the customers car. I have seen vehicles towed to us oh so many times, not running and had been worked on by another shop. It kills us to have to tell the customer what the other shop did and because of it we need to fix what they screwed up. I have found the manufacturer specific independants shops tend to better work though.

[SickImports]

I fixed it. replaced the distributor and did a complete tune up. Car was really low on transmission fluid. filled that as well could have been part of the problem, but thanks for you guys help.