Still not starting

[fairglen21]

Okay, I bought a 1990 240 auto. The previous owner had over heated it and then could not get it to start up again. It doesn't have a blown head gasket, as far as I can tell. When I first got the car and tried to start it the starter would turn the engine but very slowly and there was not any type of firing or ignition happening. So I have replaced the fuel pump, spark plugs & wires, distributor + cap and rotor, and yestarday I replaced the starter, which was a b**** and a half, but now when I try to start my car nothing happens, it doesn't turn at all or do anything. The fuel pump primes nicely, but nothing beyond that. What should I check next? Or what direction should I go? I have read a few things that seem similar in situation and they needed a new ignition switch, I am not sure if that's my problem or not.

Please Help!!!

[comatoseculture]

Check your battery's voltage, sitting and under starting load. YES EVEN IF IT'S NOT STARTING, you measure voltage while someone else turns it. Tell us what you find.

[fairglen21]

The battery is definitely dead, but I am jumping the car with another car. I need to buy a new battery but just haven't yet, so I jump it every time... That can't be the problem.

[comatoseculture]

That can't be the problem.

Oh yeah? Right on. Good luck with that.

[fairglen21]

Well excuse me for asking a question... How could the battery being bad stop the car from starting if I am jumping it with another car?

[comatoseculture]

No reason to be excused, often times jumping a battery will give you different results depending on how well the connections are made. As in sometimes you can try to jump a car, it's all hooked up, and still will not start. Then you move the ground connection on one car just a little, and it starts. You complicate things a little bit by adding jumper cables and an aux battery. This also means that you KNOW you need a battery. to check out the rest of the equipment, you need a working battery. At least that is typically speaking.

[fairglen21]

Okay thanks, I will be picking up a new battery tomorrow.

[xX RB Xx]

OR you could just take the battery out of the other car and use it on your car while you try to start it. Im just saying. No need to buy another batter and waste money when it might not even be your problem.

[fairglen21]

Well I took the battery to get it tested and it tested with only 8.9 c.c. amps. So the battery was definitely bad. Also it was a diehard so I wanted to replace it anyways. I am going to install it tonight and then let you know. I am also installing a MSD Blaster 2 setup so that should help as well.

[zachattack_5491]

Well I took the battery to get it tested and it tested with only 8.9 c.c. amps. So the battery was definitely bad. Also it was a diehard so I wanted to replace it anyways. I am going to install it tonight and then let you know. I am also installing a MSD Blaster 2 setup so that should help as well.

Yes, you should definitely install new aftermarket parts when your engine isn't even running correctly.

[fairglen21]

Oh yeah cause I want to pay twice as much to install a new stock part and then replace it with a better aftermarket part.

Now back to the real focus of the thread...

I have just installed the new battery and it's pretty much doing the same thing, turning but very slowly and not enough to even get any sort of ignition going. Any ideas?

[240sgreg]

Well Even still there are some things you may have overlooked.

1. try cleaning off some of your grounds with a wire brush and see what happens..

2. try checking the 75amp (big grey) fuse in the passenger side fuse/relay box in the engine bay. Beware if it's that fuse that's blown you can only get it at a Nissan dealer and it cost me $20

3. Check if the new battery is still holding 12 volts.. It could possibly every tuner's worst nightmare. Parasistic Power Loss, this is when something is grounding itself or something may not be turning off right, it will drain your battery literally in hours.. If that's the case you can

A) Install a battery cutoff switch.
B) try to find the source of the drain and fix it.
C) Sell your car and get a new one.. Since its stock it won't be too much to part with.

[comatoseculture]

Dude. DUDE! ARe you flipping serious? You are really acting ridiculous from the get go. You are acting like you know everything. Especially everything auto. If that was true, why in the world would you throw all of those parts at your car? Prob all "upgraded aftermarket" too...Aftermarket is not a code word for high quality or "Better". OFTEN times, the cost of OEM reflects the value of either the quality of materials, the design or it's construction or all three.
Totally keep being stupid towards us.
Totally keep buying parts and replacing them.
Totally explain what was so hard about the starter you super mechanic you?

Both zach attack and gregs240 are correct. Maybe greg will keep helping you. Good luck sir.

[danksause]

Well I took the battery to get it tested and it tested with only 8.9 c.c. amps. So the battery was definitely bad. Also it was a diehard so I wanted to replace it anyways. I am going to install it tonight and then let you know. I am also installing a MSD Blaster 2 setup so that should help as well.

Yes, you should definitely install new aftermarket parts when your engine isn't even running correctly.

this sarcasm doesn't make any logical sense…even if he had replaced the faulty part with OEM instead of aftermarket to fix the problem……if he knew at a later date he wanted to install an aftermarket upgrade of that part, why wouldn't he just buy the aftermarket part first that way he is saving some $$$? worst case scenario he just takes that aftermarket part and installs it in a new engine if he decides to dump the old one.

i thought the whole point of this forum was to help figure out problems that fellow 240/180 owners are having.
i dont think its necessary to respond to someones question and then tell that person in so many ways that they're an idiot for not knowing the answer to their question in the first place.

flaming is not worth either parties time so why do it?

lets get back to the task at hand and get this car running!

[zachattack_5491]

Well, you can take that advice how ever you want. A blaster 2 setup isn't really a small upgrade. You are introducing a new variable into the equation and possibly further complicating the situation. The OP came here for advice, so there it is. I recommend checking components one by one, and not adding new parts.

[nvrplzd240]

Well, you can take that advice how ever you want. A blaster 2 setup isn't really a small upgrade. You are introducing a new variable into the equation and possibly further complicating the situation. The OP came here for advice, so there it is. I recommend checking components one by one, and not adding new parts.

+1

How many times does the installation of an aftermarket performance part go 100% from the get go, first time plugging it up? I don't know about you but i have a pretty good track record of things needing tweaking to get exactly right after install. All zach was saying was that you just potentially introduced another factor as to why the car isnt running.

oh and dude.. cut out this internet sarcasm s***.. it doesn't work. everyone's trying to help you here

[danksause]

+1

How many times does the installation of an aftermarket performance part go 100% from the get go, first time plugging it up? I don't know about you but i have a pretty good track record of things needing tweaking to get exactly right after install. All zach was saying was that you just potentially introduced another factor as to why the car isnt running.

oh and dude.. cut out this internet sarcasm s***.. it doesn't work. everyone's trying to help you here

i agree that everyone is trying to help him, my point was people (like yourself) can suggest things and try to help without being sarcastic or flame him. the man just wants to get his car running and he assumes this forum has people on it that have more knowledge than him and may be able to help him. i think that can happen without giving him a hard time.

he actually sounds like he is trying to do some of the things that have been suggested......

Okay thanks, I will be picking up a new battery tomorrow.

like i said before, the goal is to get the car running and everyone on this forum (at least i hope) would love to hear another 240 is on the road rather than a junk yard.

cheers,

Austin

[fairglen21]

Okay, first let me apologize to any and all that are taking my comments as being an a** or sarcastic. I do not mean to come across that way. I started this thread to figure out why my car isn't starting, that is all. I do understand the fact that installing an upgrade to the system can sometimes make the problem worse before it gets better. I have not installed any upgraded parts yet and I don't plan on installing them until I get the car running. I have only replaced OEM parts with OEM parts.

Now comatose, you have only suggested one answer to my problem, replace the battery. I appreciate the opinion. I have now replaced the battery and it's still not starting. Again let me note that the point if this thread was to help me fix my car. Comatose and 240sgreg are the only ones who have suggested a fix for my problem or offered any help in my point of view.

240sgreg, I have checked the fuse and all the grounds that I could find. Everything seems in order. Also the battery is not being drained at all. I had it tested again. So any other suggestions besides selling the car as I don't consider that an option. I in no way want to sell the car.

As for everybody else all that you have offered me is criticism on my post and not actually suggested an answer for my problem. I am a complete newb on the 240 and I am trying to learn as much as I can. I some mild experience working on and modifying cars, but nothing on 240s.

Again this is my viewpoint of the reception I have received from posting this thread. I have had two suggestions as to what might fix the problem, I have dealt with both of those suggestions and I have still come up dry. So yet again I am asking for help and any other suggestions on what might be the problem with my car. I don't appreciate being flamed on my posts it does not help me and therefore is nothing but frustrating. I do very much appreciate the help and suggestions I have received thus far. Comatose I am sorry for offending you I had no intention of doing so. I think you have been a great help so far.

I leave you with that. if you guys don't have anymore suggestions for me that's fine, but please stop flaming my posts and try to offer some help instead of insulting me.

[zachattack_5491]

Alright, sorry for my sarcasm. I can get like that sometimes

Since you installed the new starter and then it started not working, make 100% sure you wired it up and installed correctly.

You (mainly) need spark, fuel, and compression for the motor to start. Since the motor was overheated, did you test compression? If that's good, check on fuel. Test the injectors since you can hear the pump priming.

You mentioned being new to the 240 stuff. Do you have a factory service manual? If not, grab it from this site. You can't get anywhere without it, look it over.

Get back to us after you tested the starter. Good luck sir

[comatoseculture]

I'm appreciate the response. I would ask you to not get it tested by somebody else but rather to borrow or buy a multi-meter and check the voltage while standing AND while under starting load. This is square one in my opinion, hence the emphasis, and hence it being the only suggestion thus far. In the VERY beginning of my learning curve I had a hard no start situation. I went through everything to the dash, all the wiring that I could, really I made a decent mess. Long story short, I replaced the battery nothing, replaced the starter nothing, replaced the starter relay nothing. checked my new battery again, for the first time under load, and it was like 5 volts. Got a third battery in it and it's still in there. Nothing has changed since. Sound familiar? Well it very well may not be the same situation, but it could be, so lets cover easy stuff first, and go from there. I learned not to swap parts for no reason. It was hard for me to learn, I figure, you will learn in your own way too, but I do apologize for that last post. I should surely act more mature then I am.

multi-meter on the battery posts while attempting to turn it over, write down the results. (The lowest recorded I'd say) Hopefully after this we can rule that out completely. Again, thanks for being better then decent about it. Again best of luck.

[240sgreg]

multi-meter on the battery posts while attempting to turn it over, write down the results. (The lowest recorded I'd say) Hopefully after this we can rule that out completely. Again, thanks for being better then decent about it. Again best of luck.[/quote]

+1 Im pretty sure your voltage shouldn't drop by more than 3 volts when you attempt to turn it over. If that's the case it can be either a ground or the starter...

Let us know what you get.. It's really hard to give advice without knowing what to eliminate as a possibility.

[fairglen21]

Okay, I am going to be getting those tasks finished within the next few days. I will let you know the results.