1998 Frontier 2.4L KA24DE 4x4
Died suddenly while highway cruising, towed home.
Sputters for a brief moment when cranking

I have fuel
Fuel pressure is 40PSI
Injectors are firing (testing done with test light)
I smell fuel after a bit of cranking

Good strong battery
I have spark on all 4
Using a spark tester, the spark will jump a good 1.25" gap
Brand new plugs, gapping is good

I have between 170-180PSI on all cylinders
Cylinder 1 at TDC and the cams are pointing outwards
The upper chain is taught, I cant access the lower chain
Under the distributor cap at TDC, the rotor has just passed #1 - seems normal to me?
I tried a few different positions for distributor timing and made no difference, then put it back to where it was.

Codes: 02 sensor post cat (normal), Fuel temperature sensor, Knock sensor circuit (could a faulty knock sensor cause a no start?)

I have fuel, spark, and compression. Any thoughts? It died suddenly with no warning, and will barely sputter now.

Thank you

Mass Airflow, maybe. The ECM has no MAP sensor to double-check the MAF, so a sensor that's lying but isn't flatline won't generally throw codes. Try unplugging it and see if the truck starts.

No, a knock sensor can't cause a no-start.

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:37 pm

Mass Airflow, maybe. The ECM has no MAP sensor to double-check the MAF, so a sensor that's lying but isn't flatline won't generally throw codes. Try unplugging it and see if the truck starts.

No, a knock sensor can't cause a no-start.

Good idea, I tried it and no luck :/

Anyone?? I can visually see fuel firing from all injectors with 40 PSI of rail pressure. I can visually see spark at all 4 plugs with healthy enough spark to jump 1.25". I have 170-180 compression on all 4 cylinders. The motor died suddenly while highway cruising. Haven't been able to get it running since.