Hello, new to this forum and I've seen lot of good stuff so far. I know this topic has been discussed before, as well as on other boards or blogs, but trust me, I've been through all of them and found no help so far. Here's my story (long story short... but still long). You can go to the last part already if you don't want to read all that stuff

First of all, I'm no mechanic expert, neither a mechanician but I usually handle most of the maintenance and troubleshooting on my cars/atv. But now, I need help because I'm stuck on this one.

Our 2010 Versa S HB is around 145000km now (about 90K mi). Had some problems with the brakes and had to change a rotor, so I decided I'd go with the whole stuff. First changed all brakes and brake fluid, then a little while after I did everything else on the same day: motor oil, tranny/diff oil, coolant, engine air filter, cabin air filter and spark plugs. I figured out changing the spark plugs was not as easy as my past vehicles. I found some good docs on the Versa on this site, and decided I'd give it a try.

I removed all necessary air intake lines and tubes, disconnected the connector and tube from the EVAP solenoid but it remained screwed to the intake manifold. I then unscrewed the throttle body (or I guess should be called electronic throttle control actuator). I did not unplug the coolant hoses, neither the electrical connector behind the throttle body as I was able to unscrew the nut holding the back of the intake manifold just by leaning the throttle body to the right. I disconnected the PCV valve tube then moved away the intake manifold. I replaced all four spark plugs with NGK equivalent irridium plugs. They were pre-gapped to .044 as specified, checked them with the gap tool. Coils and wiring have been reinstalled in the same order (did one at a time).

After reinstalling all of this, I tried to start the car to be able to read the tranny oil level on the stick, it started, ran for 2 seconds then shut off. I tried to restart, it did crank but no start at all. My first though was that the spark plugs were not tight enough. I did torque to specs (19.6Nm), but I felt it was not that much. I did remove everything, torqued the plugs a little bit more, then reinstalled everything. Still nothing. I decided to check if there was a spark on the first spark plug, and there was. So I reinstalled the old spark plugs just to make sure. Same problem: crank no start... but this time, it felt like it wanted to start a little bit more, but not enough to really start. I was thinking: is it possible that the pump died while I was changing the plugs. Chances are really small, but I could hear the pump, and the relay/fuses were OK. I could also smell gaz when trying to start. I still sprayed some starting fluid in the intake, no more lucky. I hit the gas pedal to the floor and gave it a try. It started for maybe 0.5 seconds, then turned off again. Tried it a second time, did not work. I tried the ignition key on/off 5s/10s, as well as 2s/10s. I also tried with the gas cap open, nothing will do, car won't start. Now, I'm at the point to think that it might be an air problem, maybe the throttle body itself, but I'm not sure the best way to troubleshoot it. Something weird tho, when I put key to ignition (without starting) and press on the gas pedal, I can hear a weird noise... something similar to a continuous electrical short. Also sounds like a small motor that would be stuck. Did not figure out yet where it came from, I'll need a buddy to help me with this. I also noticed that when pushing the gas pedal down (tried it half way), the throttle body butterfly won't move. It does move when I turn ignition on/off, but not when I push the gas pedal. It should open even if not started, right ?

So, here I am. I'm thinking I probably screwed something up by manipulating the throttle body or anything else, maybe a ground problem by disconnecting a wire (from solenoid ?) Looks like the air won't get in enough to have combustion, but I can't tell. Also, my battery died trying, I charged it back and still it cranks without starting. Here's a list of what I've been through so far:

- Car has always ran fine, never had any starting problem
- Spark plug gap is fine, won't work with old spark plugs anyway
- Tried to torque plugs on specs, and over specs
- Coils and connectors are in the correct order
- The whole air intake line is connected when trying to start. Actually, everything is back to normal.
- Can hear the gas pump and can smell gas after cranking 2 or 3 times
- Have spark on the spark plug
- Tried starting liquid
- Tried 5s/10s on/off ignition switch
- Tried gas cap open
- Tried with gas pedal on the floor
- Key to ON position, pressing on gas pedal, I hear a weird noise and don't see the TB butterfly moving
- I can see the butterfly moving when switching key ON/OFF tho

Last thing, as I did the tranny oil change during the same interval, I can not check if the level is high enough, since it requires the car to warm. I have not checked for this, but would it be possible that I do not have enough tranny fluid, so there is any sensor/protection that would result in a fail to start ? I did not search any further for this, since the car started twice for 1-2 sec during the whole troubleshooting process.

So... any idea ? What else can I check ?

Thank you very much for your time, and congrats if you actually read it all

ImaSTAT, welcome to NICOclub.

1.

manipulating the throttle body

Did you manually open the throttle plate? I wanted to clarify because it didn't seem like you did. That's usually a no-no
2.

Looks like the air won't get in enough to have combustion

I assume you have to disconnect the MAF (mass airflow) sensor to remove the intake and throttle body. Did you remember to reconnect it?
3.

I hit the gas pedal to the floor and gave it a try.

If your pedal is all the way to the floor, the ECM will cut fuel, so this might not help.
However, try starting the car then as soon as it turns over, jab the gas pedal about halfway. Does it help?


Well, I read it all, but if I missed something please correct me. I look forward to hear if the above help or change anything in any way.

And it sounds like you already found the factory service manual, so you have started on the right foot.

Hello EdBwoy, thank you for the fast response.

1.

manipulating the throttle body

Did you manually open the throttle plate? I wanted to clarify because it didn't seem like you did. That's usually a no-no

No I did not. There is a little bit of dirt on the inner side of the buttefly, I did try to scratch it a little bit with my nail, but that was like after three removing/reinstalling everything. It did not work prior to that.

2.

Looks like the air won't get in enough to have combustion

I assume you have to disconnect the MAF (mass airflow) sensor to remove the intake and throttle body. Did you remember to reconnect it?

I did not disconnect the MAF, as it is not necessary. I did unplug the "S" tube going from the air filter enclosure (where the MAF is) to the TB, because I needed room for the TB to get off and allow me to access the back bracket screw for the intake manifold. On that S, there is another extension going to the air intake line and to the EVAP solenoid. Removing it requires to unplug the EVAP solenoid, which has been replugged every time.

3.

I hit the gas pedal to the floor and gave it a try.

If your pedal is all the way to the floor, the ECM will cut fuel, so this might not help.
However, try starting the car then as soon as it turns over, jab the gas pedal about halfway. Does it help?

I did try a few push on the pedal while trying to start the first time. I did not try with the old spark plugs tho. I can give it a try and let you know, but I don't want to soak it (is that how we say this ?)

And yes, I did look at the service manuals for the torque specs

Best regards

Hallelujah ! Hitting the gas pedal while trying to start worked. I did crank it for about 3-4 seconds with the pedal halfway through, and felt like it wanted to start but did not.

I tried a second time while swearing at it, and I think I've scared the s*** out of the car, it started. I mainteained the RPM high for about 10 seconds, and the car remained alive. I shut it off, started it again, it did cough/buck a little bit but started. I did it a third time, and started right away.

But I'm wondering... what is the cause ? Missing gaz... the pump could not feed it enough ? The car NEVER did that before. I'm assuming that the first time I installed the new plugs, something went wrong and there was not enough gaz to start it ? But... I did the exact same thing (hitting gaz pedal halfway) the first time after installing the new spark plugs, and it never worked.

Any idea what could be the cause ? I'll be waiting on your feedback, and I'll give another try at installing the new spark plug. New spark plugs and old one (original ones) are both the same length and same gap (.044 from dealer specs). The only small difference is the "ring" at the bottom of the threads. The ring on the old ones ends straight, but on NGK there is a kind of "fading". I really doubt this little difference would make the spark fail to ignite.

Any idea ? Those spark plug are expensive (~30$ each), don't feel like trying another brand "just in case"

Thank you

This is good to hear!! And I think this part is the silver bullet

I tried a second time while swearing at it

From pg 24 of the maintenance folder at http://www.nicoclub.com/service-manual? ... sa/2010/MA, I see that your sparkplugs should be:
Denso
FXE20HE-11
I come from the world of Maximas and back then, you had to strictly use NGK as recommended in the manual or things would act goofy. I might need to do a little more searching, but do you think perhaps that is your issue? You said you installed new NGK, correct?


Since you already got it to start, this probably doesn't matter, but when I said jabbing the pedal I meant just a touch and release - just enough for the car to know that the pedal was pushed.
Anyway, to me that is usually a symptom of needing an idle air relearn procedure performed. In my 2006 M45 this is how it manifested itself:

1. Cold start, starts up right away
2. Warm the engine either by driving or just idling.
3. If I come back to start it while the engine is still warm (shopping errands, etc), it cranks upto about 1500 RPM then sputters and dies.
4. Start the car and while it's still revving, I momentarily push and quickly release the gas pedal. The car stays running like normal
5. I do a throttle plate and idle relearn procedure, and the car goes back to starting predictably all the time.