Running on 3 Cylinders - distributor?

[thomasjamal]

I also posted this in the 240 technical section. Mod, if this is to technical for this forum feel free to delete it. I just need some help!

So since I replaced my fuel injectors my car has been running on 3 cyl. The problem is that different cylinders keep going out.

Initially after I replaced all four injectors #3 was out so I checked the spark plug and it seemed to be firing so I switched the #2 and #3 injectors and then number #2 was out. So I determined it was the injector and replaced that fuel injector and it ran fine for five minutes. Then #4 went out. I realized that if I pulled the plug wire out a little it would run and thought it was just a bad connection. So I replaced all the spark plugs and used the slightly longer connectors.

Then the car ran great for almost exactly 1 day.

Then #1 went out. I've also done an initial compression check and found all four to be on the low end but still in the acceptable range. I also considered that the ECU could have gotten wet and checked it for moisture (also no moisture in the plug wells) and the wiring all looks fine.

Could a bad distributor be causing random cylinders to go out?

Any suggestions?

[dickie]

distributor cap and rotor shouldnt be more than $15 at the auto parts, i suggest trying it at least. cant hurt anything!

just make sure you get the right parts since there are 2 types of distributors to buy parts for.

if the injectors themselves continue to burn out, id say it might be a wiring harness problem or you're feeding them junk from the tank, lines or filter and clogging them. are you using used injectors to replace them or buying brand new ones that you KNOW are good?

[thomasjamal]

Yeah, I'm going to get the distributer and rotor today since, like you said, it can't hurt.

The main reason I don't think it's the injectors themselves (although they are used, not brand new) is because they have all worked perfectly at least for a time. I guess it just seems less likely to me that the injectors would be going in and out intermittently and it also seems unlikely that all five that I have used would be bad (4 of them came from a 96 KA with 70k on it; bought them here).

Fuel filter is only 6 months old but I'll change it again just to see if that makes a difference. I think it's likely there's crap in my tank because my car always runs worse when the gas gets really low. Any solutions for this?

Also, I've been told that the distributer can go bad and cause similar problems, including leaking oil, on cars with the transverse KA. So, if I can find a good distributer for a good price I might go ahead and replace it.

I know is sucks to use used parts to "fix" stuff but I'm on a ghetto cheap budget right now or at least until I can diagnose the real problem. Once I know for sure what it is I'll spend the money to fix it right. I just can't afford to fix 3 or 4 things that aren't really broken...

[dickie]

id replace the cheap dist cap and rotor, check my plug wires, clean the connections for each injector and check my timing. that gets the cheap/easy stuff out of the way.

[Chezedik]

A miss is not caused by a bad CAS unless you have crap on your tone wheel. Look to the basics. Also, do not forget that a miss can be caused by a lack of fuel or low compression as well.

[thomasjamal]

Replaced distributor cap and rotor, made no difference.

Results of cold FI resistance test: 11.7, 11.8, 11.8, 11.7.

[thomasjamal]

A miss is not caused by a bad CAS unless you have crap on your tone wheel. Look to the basics. Also, do not forget that a miss can be caused by a lack of fuel or low compression as well.

You lost me there... I'm not familiar with the terms CAS or tone wheel. I searched and the only thing I found had to do with tire balancing...

[dickie]

cheze, the fact that his issue seems to "wander" from cyl to cyl would rule out compression loss wouldnt it?

[srpowered240sx]

i had a problem like this in my sr20. it ended up being my ecu that kept fying injectors. some would last 5 minutes, some would last 5 days. i have a grip of dead injectors and a dead ecu to prove it. id swap ecus with someone if you have the oppurtunity. just fyi, even after a threw in a new ecu, i had to replace the last inj that went bad before the new ecu made it run right. so make sure you ahve 4 good injectors to test it with.

[thomasjamal]

cheze, the fact that his issue seems to "wander" from cyl to cyl would rule out compression loss wouldnt it?

I don't remember if I said so before but on a cold compression test my number were 155, 155, 170, 165. I'd expect at least slightly higher tests once warm (maybe I'll go test it now) and even if not these don't seem low enough to confirm anything.

[thomasjamal]

i had a problem like this in my sr20. it ended up being my ecu that kept fying injectors. some would last 5 minutes, some would last 5 days. i have a grip of dead injectors and a dead ecu to prove it. id swap ecus with someone if you have the oppurtunity. just fyi, even after a threw in a new ecu, i had to replace the last inj that went bad before the new ecu made it run right. so make sure you ahve 4 good injectors to test it with.

That's what I'm leaning towards.

[Chezedik]

Compression is fine, a little erratic, but in spec.

CAS = Crank Angle Sensor = sensor in the dizzy that tells the computer when to inject fuel and spark the motor.

Tone Wheel = bastardized term intended to refer to the wheel inside of the dizzy that has slits cut in it to reference crank angle.

Seems like a bad ecu to me also, but I would have tried a new one long ago. See if you can find one and do like SR says.

[thomasjamal]

I'll try another ECU whenever I can. Just pulled mine and checked codes.

First I got a 34 and 43. I checked the TPS connection (which seemed fine) cleared the codes; ran the car and checked again.

This time I only got 34, which is Knock Sensor...

I also checked the ECU visually for any obvious signs of problems (like when my computer fried the motherboard) and didn't see anything.
Modified by thomasjamal at 4:55 PM 5/1/2007

[Chezedik]

Son of a *****, I have a code 34 that I can't shake. I think that maybe I have a bad ECU also. ECU faults are found by first verifying everything else in the circuit. If it is good, then the ECU must be bad.

[thomasjamal]

I just bought an ECU (for $40 shipped it's worth a shot). I'll update when I get it if that makes a difference. I'm hoping the code is an ECU problem, mostly because I'm tired of my car not running right and I hear it's a pain in the butt to change.

If the ECU doesn't fix if I'm out of ideas.

[NotDave]

maybe it is your o-rings. i have a similar problem in my car and i can't figure out why sometimes my car hesitates @ 60-73mph randomly.

[thomasjamal]

if you mean fuel injector o rings I already replaced those twice and it's not just hesitating, the #1 cylinder is not running.

[Chezedik]

If nothing else, you will get your 40 bux back.

[cody180sx]

It souds like it could be the ecu are it could be this part http://autozone.com/selectedZi...p.htm my 240 shot fuel randomly and i had to get this part and it ran fine it is the ignition coil the one that runs from the middle of the distributer and is grounded to the body

[thomasjamal]

That makes sense too. I should be getting my ECU today or tomorrow. If that doesn't do it the ignition coil is the next thing I'll look into.

Any way to check it to see if it's working properly?

[thomasjamal]

Will an Altima KA ignition coil work?

If it should I can grab one and the junk yard to at least test it and see if this is the problem.

[Chezedik]

A coil is a coil. The only difference between most of them, is the suspension of the windings and shape for mounting. If you can mount it, it will work.

[thomasjamal]

Thanks.

I think they are exactly the same. I'll be looking for one at the junk yard in a couple hours.

I'll update if it helps.

[Chezedik]

Let us know.

[thomasjamal]

Couldn't find an Altima or 240 coil so I ended up getting an aftermarket ignition coil (accel, basically the same as the MSD Blaster II). Can anybody point me to some installation info on here. Most of it is pretty basic but I want to make sure I'm getting the wiring right. I've searched and can't find anything but people telling people to search...

[thomasjamal]

So I replaced the fuel injector and put in the auto ECU I bought. Now it's running on all four.

However, it's idling very rough and kind of sputtering a bit. It also bucked at WOT and wants to die when dropping back down to idle.

I wanted to install the ECU before the ignition coil so I can eliminate one problem at a time.

Next is to install the ignition coil but I'm not 100% sure about the wiring.

On a slightly weird note, I have to give it gas for the car to start. Don't know if that is an issue related to using an auto ecu in a manual car...

[94_240sx]

Spark plugs have any oil on them due to bad gasket?

[NotDave]

when i had the problem where i had to give it gas to start it was because of the o-rings. you need to use petroleum jelly on the injector when re-installing the injector or else you have a really good chance of tearing the o-ring.

i figured this out when i pulled the injector out and noticed that the new o-ring i installed was now crunched and tattered.

[thomasjamal]

when i had the problem where i had to give it gas to start it was because of the o-rings. you need to use petroleum jelly on the injector when re-installing the injector or else you have a really good chance of tearing the o-ring.

i figured this out when i pulled the injector out and noticed that the new o-ring i installed was now crunched and tattered.

I actually already figured that out the hard way and replaced all of the o rings a second time an lubed them this time. Hopefully, this shouldn't still be a problem.

Nzmoman suggested that I probably need to adjust my timing. I'm thinking that makes more sense than anything else, so I'll get that done tomorrow.

[Chezedik]

How would timing be off, did you pull the dizzy to check the injectors?