Att: White Knight (and others with technical knowledge)

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Hi,

I have searched the forums, to find info on a problem I'm having with my Nissan Micra 1.0 LX 1995.

It starts and drives perfectly when it's cold. But once it's warmed up, it stalls, and I'm unable to start it again, until it has cooled down. The starter turns, but nothing happens. The problem is persistant.

I can see that you (White Knight) have experienced simular problems. What solved your problem in the end?

Best Regards
Claus K

Ps. pardon my english, I'm from Denmark )

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

I forgot to way that I have tried soldering the joints in the Throttle Body - but no success (

 

[CMF_Toma]

Are your coolant levels going down?

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Nope, and no white smoke either, apart from what's normal...

 

[CMF_Yom]

Its the cam angle sensor in the distributor.

Requires a whole new distributor unfortunately.

I'm 99.9% certain of this. Go and get the car going and when it stalls, get some water and pour it over the distributor. You should be able to start the afterwards as the water should have taken enough heat out of the sensor to let it work again.

Cheers

 

[CMF_Toma]

Get the cam's angle checked aswell? Theoretically, it shouldnt break, yah?

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Att: Yom

Thanks - I'll give it a go.

The "distributor" is where the 4 leads go to the spark plugs, right?

Aarrh, I suddenly see. It also goes into the camshaft, and times the pulses to the sparks.
If that is so - why is it only a problem when the car gets to normal driving temperature? Doesn't the sensor output until then?

Cheers
Claus

 

[CMF_Toma]

Id say the heat is making the sensor "freak out". Throwing water on it will cool it down and make it reset iself back into doing its job.

Much like im going to do in this heat we're having in Perth. *hopes someone throws water on him soon*

 

[CMF_Yom]

Why does it stop working? No idea. I assume it is a design fault. It is a REALLY common problem and if you hassled Nissan enough you might even get a free replacement dizzy.

Yeh the only thing you have to be careful of is the timing when you replace the distributor.

Just an FYI too - there's a number of distributors available. What you can buy from Nissan isn't cheap but it is of a new design and apparently doesn't suffer the same CAS issues the original is prone to suffering. There's about 3 other aftermarket distributors as well. My car has one of the aftermarket examples on it and it does the job just fine as far as I know. Price wise i think the aftermarket examples are only about $100 cheaper than what you can buy from Nissan.

Cheers

 

[CMF_nz_aj]

Could somebody please post some photos of the distributor that gives trouble.
Photos of the good ones would be good too.
I'm in Taiwan for the next few weeks. I'll see if I can have a look at the Taiwan spec K11. Brother in law's wife has one.
I had forgotten there's no 2dr K11 here but they do have the sedan version & the Taiwan retro version (different from Japans).

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

I tried it last night, and as far as I'm concerned it is in fact the case.
Because, I ran the car hot, and it died, just as before, and I was unable to start it again.
Then I opened the engine compartment, as poured cold water on the Ignition Module. It went from burned hot, to fairly cold. Then I got inside the car, and it started up perfectly. I was able to drive it for several kilometers.

So now I'm looking for en replacement.

Exactly how do I look out for the timing? I had it of yesterday and put it back on, without any trouble.

Here's a picture og the part we are talking about. It's located on the right side of the engine, og the top. To the left of the battery.
http://www.kenberg.dk/nissan/stromfordeler.jpg

 

[CMF_nz_aj]

Please to see that famous line, made in UK. I assume this is the distributor that gives faults. Hopefully they weren't used in Japan.

 

[CMF_Yom]

haha indeed classic UK-made electrical unreliability.

Lucky they can build cars and engines better than they can electrical stuff.

Hehe

Personally I'd be going for a dizzy from a newer model. Anything made after 1997 would be a good bet I reckon. Even second hand they're not cheap and its risky to buy an older example only to have it die on you a few months later.

 

[CMF_nz_aj]

No country has a 100% success rate with cars.

Engines. Hmm. Thinking the Triumph stag V8 with the headstuds/bolts? holding the inlet? side of the head not being perpendicular. Try getting that torqued down properly. The 4cyl version used in the toledo was the same.

Cars. Hmm. Austin Allegro. Don't open the doors while it's jacked off the ground, otherwise the body will flex. You won't be able to close them again untill it's on the ground.
The Jaguar XJS one side was an inch or so longer than the other. This was only fixed in the last few years of production.

Usual picture that comes to my mind when somebody mentions a "british car" is Basil Fawlty beating his car with a branch.

Only in Britian can you find a car that mixes Whitworth, Imperial & Metric bolt threads.

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Yom:

You mentioned that I should be carefull about the timing, when I install the new spare part...

Why, and how?!?

Regards
C

 

[CMF_Yom]

When you put it back on you should re-check the timing. I posted up how to set it a while ago. You HAVE to reset the timing when you pull it off and put it back on again.

nz_aj - well we can't give them hell over a Triumph. And bodyflex... jack up one side of a brand new commodore and try and open a door.

 

[CMF_55bhp is more than enough]

yeah but britain has come out with countless good cars your just picking some of the bad ones.

things like the jag e type which is still regarded as one of the best looking cars ever made, austin mini which is a cult classic for a reason, triumph tr5 which is the only convertable a man can drive without looking like a haridresser, aston martin db5, bentley arnage to name a few

and not just classic cars things like the noble m12 which is thought to be one of the best handling car available and incredably cheap too, the morgan aero 8, anything by tvr up until the tuscan type 1.

im sorry but britain has built some ****ty cars like any country but no one can accuse us of building nothin but.

 

[CMF_Yom]

haha mate we're just taking the piss...

 

[CMF_nz_aj]

Didn't know the Dunnidore flexed badly. Not so surprising given it's bulk/size. How about Falcon?

Personally for my Sunday car, I'm looking for a Rover P5B Coupe.

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Hi, I have searched for the way to set the timing, but I'm unable to find it.

I know understand that I must set the timing, but I still don't know how to do it. Can someone post a guide?!?

...please )

Cheers
Claus

 

[CMF_Yom]

You'll need a timing light for starters.

Its very easy.

Once you have the new distributor on, start the car and let it idle up to operating temperature (do NOT drive it).

Turn the engine off, and disconnect the brown Throttle Position Sensor plug on the side of the throttle body (under the airbox, left hand side). Start the car back up and rev it 3 times to 3000rpm. Vrooom. let it go back down. Vrooom. Let it go back down and then Vrooom! This apparently puts the ECU into setting mode or something..

Now you need to adjust the idle to 650rpm i believe (it is on the yellow sticker underneath your hood/bonnet). If you don't have a tacho you're going to have to find a mechanic with a Nissan Consult computer. This is quite important.

Once you have got it at a nice idle you can loosen the bolts on the dizzy and with your timing light, look at the crank pulley. You should be able to figure out what the timing is set at using that yellow sticker on your bonnet. It may help if you rotate the dizzy a little bit so you can see which way it moves.

Bascially move the dizzy until you can see the pulley marks lining up where the yellow sticker tells you to have it lined up.

Once you have done this you can tighen the bolts on the dizzy so it can't move. Check the timing with the light again just to make sure it hasnt moved too much (anymore than half a degree is too much).

Turn the car off, reconnect the brown plug and start it back up. The idle might need readjusting again when you reconnect the brown plug. You can adjust the idle with the brown plug connected.

Why disconnect the plug? Just moving the dizzy without having the ECU in the correct tuning mode will cause diddly-squat to happen to the timing.

Cheers and goodluck> if you don't feel confident dont it - go see a mechanic. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Thanks for the guide )

If I replace the broken unit, with a salvaged one from another car, do I still have to do this?

Is there no way, I can drive the car to the nearest mechanic, to have this done - even if I feel that it's running correctly?

As I said, I had the unit of yesterday, and mounted it again. Afterwards I was able to drive the car problemfree (until it got warm, and stalled of course). What I'm hoping, is that I can fit the new unit, and drive to the nearest Nissan repair shop, to have the timing set.

In other words; Will I break the car, if I drive it with a "not set" timing?

 

[CMF_Yom]

Most likely no you won't but I'm older inside than I look and I always take the cautious route.

You can drive it to the mechanics but don't give it too many revs and don't labour it up hills, etc. You don't want it to be pinging.

This is one of those times when risk-taking does not mean more fun. heh

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Okay - If I'm able to start it, and set it roughly accurate, I'll take the chance and drive it sloooowly. It's only a few miles, but it saves me the expense for the "salvage car / tow away".

Man - I'm not used to using my english skills (or lack of it), discussing technical stuff about cars. I hope I'm making myself understandable )

Anyway - I'll mount the new/used spare part today, and drive it of (hopefully) to Nissan on monday, to have the timing set.

I'll report back next week, on how it all ended.

Until then - thank you all for your help, it's been priceless, and has saved me lots of money!
-If it all works out, that is )

Regards
Claus

 

[CMF_Yom]

Mate your english is excellent.

 

[CMF_Mr.Turnip]

Thanks )

Hi. I recieved and mounted the salvaged spare part tonight. I could see on the part that it had been mounted with the exact same calibration/adjustment, on the car it original came from, as the broken one, was mounted to mine. I could see where the bolts had been sitting through the years.

So I installed it, in the exact same position on my car. When I turned the key, the car started immediately, and idled perfectly. Then I drove a short trip, listening for "bad sounds", pointing towards bad ignition calibration. None what so ever, and the car kept on driving perfectly while hot.

So the problem has now been solved! )

I really owe you guys.
For now, I hope that some day, when a person experiences the same problem - he (or she) can search the net, find this thread, and get right to business.

Once again - thanks - you've spared me a lot of money, and time.

Have a great weekend
Claus

 

[CMF_Yom]

Great to hear Claus.

Happy to have helped.

Cheers