first day on road - KA24E quit running. help

[gah171]

I recently bought a 91 Nissan truck with a bad 2.4 engine. I put a 95 2.4 out of my 95 truck in my 91. before doing so I installed a new head gasket and timing chain. all went well. set timing -starts right up and seems to run fine. today I got insurance and plates on the truck and went for a test drive. went about 6 miles and engine started losing power -acted like it was running out of gas and quit running. I towed it home, I tried started fluid, still won't start. it's getting spark, unplugged fuel line and it's pumping fuel. checked the plugs and they're dry. That's weird, should at least start with starter fluid. I checked fuses, found one blown that says "engine control" replaced it thinking that was the problem, still won't start. is there a fuse somwhere that controls the injectors ? and suggestions ?

[Rev_D21]

You must have been drawing some serious power from or through the ECM to pop the fuse. A short to ground somewhere before the ECM or worse, a short inside the ECM. Was the the 95 KA ODBI or II?

[gah171]

I don't know how long the fuse was blown. will it run with a blown fuse ? I replaced it and it still won't run. I do have one more ground strap down by starter to hook up- would that have anything to do with it ? truck ran fine and started losing power, like it's running out of gas, plugs are dry. fuel pressure ? I think 95 was II- couldn't find anywhere under dash to plug in a scanner. I noticed my 91 has a round plug in harness among injectors I assume to plug in the older style scanner. I used the intake from my 91 on my 95 engine, I noticed the 95 harness has one more "plug in" that my 91 harness doesn;t have.

[Rev_D21]

Where's that unused plug located on the harness? If the 95 didn't have a port under the dash then it's ODBI, not II. The fuse that blew was for powering the ECM, won't run without the ECM. The fuse being blown is a bad sign, something bad happened on the ECM circuit causing it to burn the fuse. Have you checked the ECM under the passenger seat for lights? Set it into code mode, does it flash code 55 which means everything is OK? Check that the ECM is getting power at its harness.

[gah171]

unused capped plug is located near injectors 2 and 3. I pulled the fuel rail back and checked for spray. it sprayed. checked under valve covers, everything looked fine, nothing unusual, checked plugs again, they are "DRY". not enough fuel pressure ?I'll check ECM see if light is on. how do you put ECM in code mode ? I really appreciate your help. I just checked ECM. "RED and Green " lights are on. I pulled the "engine control" fuse. light on ECM remained on. my ECM has a dial- says idle speed and something else- I couldn't make out. don't know how to set in code mode.
Modified by gah171 at 6:47 PM 3/13/2010

[Rev_D21]

On the side of the ecm there is a switch that you can turn with a screw driver. Turn that selector fully clockwise to get into Diag Test Mode. Read flashes of lights. Turn selector fully counterclockwise to allow it to test circuits. Return selector to original position to clear ecm memory. If the ECM checks out we'll move on to some more tests.

[Rev_D21]

I know that unused capped plug, my 95 has that as well. I don't see anything on it in the FSM. If it's capped then it is not being used at this time.

[Rev_D21]

http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/pa...c.pdf

Try this.

It's good to know the ECM is running. Is it getting spark?

[gah171]

it has good spark at all 4 plugs. I pulled fuel rail, all 4 injectors are spraying fuel. after trying to start engine, the plugs are "DRY" why ? My ECM is lit up. The blown fuse for "engine controls" was replaced, the new fuse is still good, didn't blow. I'll try playing with the ECM tomorrow. not sure what I'm doing or looking for. I'll get back to you with how many times the light flashes or ?

[Rev_D21]

Some other food for thought:

Check the coolant temp sensor. Those have been known to fail and cause all kinds of problems. Also make sure the Crank position sensor is hooked up and working right, it won't fire without it. The distributors on these engines can also fail, check it out as well.

[gah171]

I took the seat out to get to the ECM. turned the key on and turned ECM dial clockwise. red and green lights started flashing 1-5 and repeats itself. I turned the dial counter clockwise and the lights stayed on steady, didn't flash. figured if codes got erased maybe truck will start, it did for about 2 seconds. went thu ECM procedure again, same thing. tried starting engine , turned over a couple times, sounded weird. now when I turn the key on it just "clicks" and lights go out. I checked my battery. 13 volts. You won't believe how frustrated I'm getting. I unhooked the battery for about a min . hooked battery back up. dash lights came on, soon as I turn key- heard a click and lost all power. from that link you sent me I just read that if LED does not blink to check heated oxygen sensor circuit.
Modified by gah171 at 8:53 AM 3/14/2010

[Rev_D21]

I am looking at the FSM and I don't see a 1-5 flash pattern listed. Well it must be a circuit breaker that is popping, a resettable breaker of some kind.

[gah171]

I read the link you sent me, page 35 says turn ign on, turn test mode dial on ECM clockwise, the red and green starts flashing. once, twice, three, four, five and repeats itself, after 2 minutes turn dial counter clockwise. then you get a code. in my case red and green lights stayed on steady. I did not get a code. link says (page 36)" if the LED does not blink check heated oxygen sensor . I did this test again and I finally did get a code- after turning dial counter clockwise, red flashed 4 times, green once. I got a code 41.I watched the sequence several times. there is no code 41 on list. I tried it again to see if I could get the same code or different code. red and green stayed on steady like before, couldn't get another code. Think my ECM is bad ? will the one in my 95 the same ?

[Rev_D21]

You can try the one from the 95 and see. The pinouts for both ECMs are the same.

[gah171]

I just tried the ECM out of my 95. they look identical and nothing changed. must not be the ECM ? It's lit up and flashes, tried starting the engine, as soon as I turn key to start it clicks and I lose all power, no lights nothing, If I unhook battery terminal and hook back up power comes back on.
Modified by gah171 at 5:54 AM 3/15/2010

[gah171]

When trying to turn engine over all it does it click and loses all power tells me a bad battery connection, I cleaned and replaced the terminal on neg side. now it turns over, still no start. i pulled the dist cap off, turned engine over by hand, I noticed rotor isn't moving like it should, just enough to spark. but definitely something wrong. When I replaced the timing gear there is a gear that goes on after the crank gear that runs the oil pump and dist. that gear could be put on one of 2 ways I had it on the wrong way, the spindle was running on the edge and chewed the teeth up enough that it was no longer keeping in time. I took the cover off and replaced the gear and spindle gear. should have it running again soon.

[jdansmith]

Glad you found the problem, sucks its so involved to fix it.

[Rev_D21]

At least you found out what it was. It'll be nice to have it back on the road.