My 240 wont start! Help!

[Miasma27]

I got this car a little over a week ago and it was starting and running fine for the first few days. I let it sit for a week and I went to start it today and it wouldn't turn over at all. The interior lights still worked so I figured I'd take the battery to Advance and get it tested. They did a quick test and said it was good but it may have just been dead from sitting. I got home and put the battery back in and now the lights wont even come on. When I turn the key to try and start it I hear a whirring sound like something is spinning. The connection to the negative terminal is pretty weak but I can't think of any other reason things would just stop working from disconnecting then reconnecting the battery. Any ideas?

It's the original sohc motor if it makes any difference. Also the battery is only a year old according to the sticker.

[King Chilie]

check ALL battery connections, starter sounds bad (probably your "whirring" noise), but if you arn't getting lights, i would start with grounds, or possibly try a different battery, one you know for sure is good.

[Miasma27]

I'm just wondering why everything is fine then i take the battery out and put it back in and stuff stops working. The starter was doing fine up until then as well. I guess I'll start with connections like you said and try another battery as well. Any other ideas what it could be? I think I'm just making it seem more complicated than it should be but idk.

[Miasma27]

Ok I got a chance to jump start my car and it will turn over so I know the starter is fine but I'm still getting no spark or interior electrical at all. Now should I be looking at the alternator or would a bad connection to the battery terminal be enough to cause the problem? i really am clueless when it comes to electrical so I don't know where to start.

[TroubleBound]

Eh you may be looking at multiple problems now. It could be bad connections keeping your interior lights from coming on but its weird your car is still turning over. You're going to need a good battery to make diagnosing the starting problem easier. There are unfortunately a LOT of things that could be keeping your car from starting, so you are going to need to narrow it down. If it not getting spark that obviously needs to be addressed first, use a multimeter to determine which part of the ignition system is keeping you from getting a spark. Check the plugs and the wires, the distributor/rotor button, the ignition coil, like i said, you will probably need a multimeter if the problem is electrical, unless you have lots of ammunition for a parts cannon. Once you have spark, make sure you are getting air, intake is not blocked or clogged and the throttle body can move freely. All you need other than spark and air is fuel. So you can verify that you have enough fuel pressure with a gauge, or you can check the resistance of the fuel pump and pop a line after the filter and make sure youre not clogged. With air fuel and spark your car will start...so try to narrow down the problem first. This will all be annoying if you have to hook up cables everytime to jump it so either verify the battery is good or replace it.. There is a troubleshooting guide, and the specifications for all of your parts and how to test them in the FSM, which can be found right here on NICO - http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/240sx/1989-90/ It will take some reading and navigating.

Oh yeah Welcome to NICO =)

[Miasma27]

Thanks for the welcome and the info! I just decided to check my fuses and it looks like my alternator fuse is blown. I'm going to try to get a new one tomorrow and then see where that puts me.

[TroubleBound]

Cool good luck i hope that it doesn't give you too much more crap, definitely check all the fuses in the whole car and do a tune up when you can afford to, unless you know when the last one was done. Hope your car starts soon, the alternator is more for recharging the battery/maintaining voltage while the car is running whereas the battery supplies the voltage for the start. Post some pics up when you get everything straight we'd love to see the car!

[OutToWinPAHC]

Bad connection cause weird issues. I have seen it first hand where they car would not crank and all the relays just buzzed due to a bad ground. Replace the battery cables, make sure the mating surface is cleaned and sanded down.