Engine will not run

D

DMetcalfe92

I have a 1.3 Micra, N reg (I think)

I drove it to work (5 miles) & drove it at 12pm on my lunch (around 3 miles)
It ran fine, no issues, sounds or anything abnormal whatsoever.

Finished work at 5pm, got in the car, started the engine.
I put my seatbelt on & the engine cut out.
Tried again, the car refused to fire up but turned over fine.
Engine management light was flashing..

Left it about 30-60 seconds, exactly the same happened again as per above. It starts & runs for about 5 seconds then just cuts off and won't start again without a bit of a rest.


The battery is fine, there's half a tank of petrol (filled up yesterday).
I'm guessing it's the Dizzy, or fuel pump, or something similar? When the engine runs it is smooth as anything and doesn't misfire at all.

Does anyone know anything about what it could be? Faults and things to check when I'm back in work on Monday?
I'd like to avoid calling the garage and fix it myself :)
 
Also, things to note:
I did about a 70 mile trip yesterday in heavy rain, no problems at all.
It leaks water in the passenger footwell through the vents (can hear it sloshing around when it's raining and heaters are on), but this has never caused me any issues.
It hadn't rained today up until after the incident.
 
I don't know if any is getting into the ECU, but its definitely getting into the air vents..
I've had the micra for a few months already and never had any water issues, plus it would've screwed up yesterday with all the driving in heavy rain, or first thing in the morning.
It didn't rain at all today before the issue started happening
 
Could be NATS kicking in? I had the same problem with my first Micra. Solved it with a Pre-NATS ecu from Ed @ Fusion. This was a last resort however as it is a costly fix. explore all other options first (fuses, wet ecu, fuel supply etc.). If your car is equipped with NATS that is...

If it is the NATS, sometimes the aerial around the ignition barrel has trouble picking up the transponder in the key (little red chip). This might be temporarily fixed by taking the transponder out the key and sticking it to the aerial. This didn't work for me though as I think the problem was in the ecu itself.
 
I started mine with the wrong key (a spare with no NATS chip) and... well, it didn't start. But I held the proper NATS key close to the lock and it started. When I pulled the NATS key away, the engone kept running. So maybe DMetcalfe92 doesn't have NATS troubles?

I'd be tempted to drill a hole in the floor, if it is wet, to let the water out, something that worked well with Minis :)
 
Roops said:
I started mine with the wrong key (a spare with no NATS chip) and... well, it didn't start. But I held the proper NATS key close to the lock and it started. When I pulled the NATS key away, the engone kept running. So maybe DMetcalfe92 doesn't have NATS troubles?

I'd be tempted to drill a hole in the floor, if it is wet, to let the water out, something that worked well with Minis :)
Click to expand...

Maybe, but I think NATS is only used for ignition, as I used to be able to take the key out of the barrel whilst the engine was running and open the boot :p

On a side note, my first micra always used to cut out at lights and refuse to start (just turn over and over) before randomly starting again. This issue also went away when I got a pre NATS ecu, which was lucky because I was about to buy a new distributor to try and solve it!
 
DMetcalfe92 said:
I'll try my spare key tomorrow, if it is nats that may be making it cut out
The chip in my key could be defunct?
Click to expand...

Hopefully, but more often than not it appears to be the antenna around the ignition barrel that causes the problems. As I said before though the issue may not be NATS related, there are quite a few other possibilities.
 
Calum said:
Hopefully, but more often than not it appears to be the antenna around the ignition barrel that causes the problems. As I said before though the issue may not be NATS related, there are quite a few other possibilities.
Click to expand...
Got the RAC out today to look (used someone's breakdown cover) and he confirmed it's the NATs.
Does anyone know the best place for a pre-nats ECU? That should fix all my issues :)
 
As Skymera said remember to get the NATS related stuff that is coded to the ECU you are getting, iirc there may also be a separate NATS module above the drivers fuse box behind the dash (but this may not apply to you).

When I was having trouble with mine I also considered swapping everything, but for the time and effort spent swapping everything over (when the same problem could occur again) it made more sense to get rid of the NATS completely.

I even informed my insurer that the car had no security and my premium didn't change.
 
Current ECU is www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161065740108 (0 261 204 243)
Could anyone advise a pre-nats ECU that is plug & play, same connection as this one? Otherwise I'll go my local breakers yard, they quoted me £60 for the ECU, Transponder & Key chip

Can someone also advise why I'd need the ignition barrel? The red chip in my key is easy enough to pop out and I'll superglue the replacement back in
 
DMetcalfe92 said:
Current ECU is www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161065740108 (0 261 204 243)
Could anyone advise a pre-nats ECU that is plug & play, same connection as this one? Otherwise I'll go my local breakers yard, they quoted me £60 for the ECU, Transponder & Key chip

Can someone also advise why I'd need the ignition barrel? The red chip in my key is easy enough to pop out and I'll superglue the replacement back in
Click to expand...
pre nats wont be plug-n-play (different pinouts) and you wont need the barrel, but will need the transponder from around it, and the box inside the n/s A pillar
 
frank said:
pre nats wont be plug-n-play (different pinouts) and you wont need the barrel, but will need the transponder from around it, and the box inside the n/s A pillar
Click to expand...
Thanks frank, do you know exactly where, or have a picture of the box from the n/s pillar?


Edit, FYI all, my Micra is a 1.3 SR 1997 first generation of the K11's (K11C has the newer chrome grill attached to the bonnet)
 
its a little square black box mate, fitted to the white plug in the centre of the pic :)

PA220096.JPG
 
Mine's not the facelift.
The man at the scrapyard has a pre-nats ECU, 0 261 200 957 (www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170959626075)
I don't think this will fit mine.

I'm really stuck for what to do here. I can't find the correct parts for my car & apparently Nissan will charge £750 for an ECU. I got the car for £400 so this isn't a viable solution :(
 
I think Ed is my next solution if my next fix doesn't work.
My friend just took my ECU out and it's lovely and wet :)
I think a hairdryer on it might fix my issues. I'll get it dry and re-install then see if it fixes
See images:
1z66pax.jpg
2q9b5eg.jpg
 
Make sure its dry as a bone before re-trying, fingers crossed, airing cupboard has often helped, I wonder why it was wet? Heater Matrix maybe or unbalanced coke can?
 
i sandblasted the motherboard with sawdust on a flood damaged k11 many moons ago, (twas full of silt) worked a treat :) and had to change the cvt atf fluid twice too (and it still looked like strawberry milkshake :eek:)
 

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