Someone please help!!! KA24DE problems...

[S13HatchLuvr]

Hey everyone... I need some advice! I have a '91 hatch with the stock KA24DE with 170,xxx miles on it. My car has been running fine lately, and all of the sudden I started having cooling system problems. My car would heat up slightly above normal temperature, and would return to normal within just a few minutes or even seconds. Highway driving is, of course, never a problem. The other day, after noticing coolant dripping from my car (which I thought was coming from the overflow tank since I just filled it up a little too much), I tried starting my car, and it ran fine. Of course, I had slight cooling problems, but the car ran as good as ever... I checked my fluid regularly for a few days and added coolant/distilled water as needed, but one day, the car wouldn't start. After a few tries, it finally started up and ran fine, like nothing was wrong. I drove out to the city (STL) and the car wasn't overheating much above the normal level. On my way home, while on the highway, she just decides to shut off on me. I coast, pull over, and let the car cool off (she was running cooler than normal, at that point). After 15 minutes of sitting on the side of the highway, she started back up just fine and I drove it home. No sputters, shakes, weird sounds, or anything! Now, she won't start at all, no matter what I try. This has just been recent. I had to get her towed to a shop, and I don't want to get screwed. Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks to all who respond!

[574-240sx]

I had problems like this on my 240. It took forever to blead the system it took nearly an hour. I also wires up a GM eletrical fan and took the clutch fan out. You might have bigger problems if the car is shutting off. I sort of sounds like headgasket but I would seek further information from your local mechanic. Nick

[yellow_jacket]

Sounds like you have two problems.

1) coolant leak. It is possible that the coolant has affected something, but unlikely.

2) electrical issues. Could be anything from a bad connection to a bad distributor, coil, ecu etc.

Have a local mechanic check it out. Let us know what he says and how much and we will be more than happy to let you know if he is trying to rip you off.

[CanadianCoch]

if coolant leaked from your overflow tank, then that means it was boiling or you have an air leak. Check your hoses for leaks. Check your water pump, are the leak holes moise or have water stains? Could be your water pump bad.

When was the last time you flushed out your radiator? Now's a good time.

9/10 this happens from a car not having the air bled from it properly. search for threads I've posted in, I wrote exactly how nissan mechanics bleed air from the system. If you don't do it like that, then you're going to have air in the system. If you want more info email me [email protected]

Dr.

[S13HatchLuvr]

Wow... Thanks a lot, all of you. I ended up bringing her to a mechanic up the street (about a 1/4 mile away, but I had to pay to get it towed there!). He took a look at her and said I would need a new water pump and a new distributor, and apparently all of this work will cost about $1000! Yeah, I know distributors are expensive from Nissan, but my God! Oh well... I'll just do it and be smart about who I take it to next time... Thanks to everyone who replied... I will check this post again if anyone else has further suggestions and/or information about me getting ripped off! Thanks again!

[C-Kwik]

Why not just pick up the car and take it somewhere else? What part of the distributor is bad anyways? The cap and rotor are quite cheap and very easy to replace. Any other part of it is mechanical and it would be doubtful there would be any problems with that. Especially from what you are describing. If the cap and rotor are the problem, you can replace those rather easily and then you should be able to drive around, assuming the cooling system has not gotten any worse than you describe. You might want a second opinion on the water pump anyways. Have the mechanic explain how he determined what was wrong as well. Make sure he shows you if there are visual signs of it. Let us know what he says and shows you and we can probably tell you if he's on the money or blowing smoke up your ***.

[CanadianCoch]

take that bad boy home! I'll walk you through a water pump install, it's a sinch. Replace the radiator cap while you're at it.Replace the capand rotor, and you it should fix that.

Thats $150 instead of 1K.Drive up to NH, i'll do it for half that! heh

Dr.

[Structure240sx]

i jsut did a water pump on a vert 240 the other day and it really is easy as hell. for u it might jsut be easy. she had coolant leaking from the water pump which i think was one of the reasons the car overheated.

[bvanev]

The water pump is a breeze, maybe an hour, two tops. I would replace the rotor and cap before replacing the entire distributor. It sounds like someone is trying to take advantage of you. Don't get suckered. I have some friends that used to work for shady shops, it is amazing how much BS they get away with by preying off of people in a bind. I would second the motion of getting a second opinion and finding out how this guy came to the determination that you have a bad distributor. Maybe you should ask him if it is the ignition distributor or the ECU crank angle sensor (yes there is a CAS in the ka24de distributor), if he looks confused go somewhere else!!!!!