Won't start

hey all,
about the same time last year i had a problem with the wife's micra not starting. I cleaned the cam sensor and bingo it was fine.......till now.
She'd been using the car all day at work, stopped at tesco on the way home and when she came out it wouldn't start. Turns over fine, but won't fire. Again.
I went down cleaned the cam sensor, but no joy. Checked fuel and its pumping through the filter like a good 'un, so its not the fuel pump.
I plugged in my code reader....no codes. And no warning lights on the dash. So I gave up cos it was flippin cold and rang the AA.
He came out, tried pulling the fuse for the fuel pump trick...it wasn;t that. But when he tried spraying a bit of easy start into the TB it tried to fire. He reckoned it wasn't getting fuel.
So if it isn't getting fuel and the fuel pump is ok, is there another common fail point? Injector rail? Injectors blocked?
Any ideas appreciated.
 
daft question but is there enough fuel? also when was the fuel filter changed? fuel filter could be so blocked up its restricting flow.
 
fuel jetted out of the fuel filter fine. I fully serviced it last year. New plugs, fuel filter, air filter, oil filter and oil.
I did think of the NATS but wouldn't that throw a code? On my code reader it came up clear and the AA guy tried his and it came up clear.
 
just an update. I had a look again today. the fuel rail is pressurised so i don't think fuel is the problem.
I stuck the code reader on again and it came up with P0355 crankshaft position sensor 'a' circuit.
I know where the cam sensor is, but can't find a crank sensor?? Any ideas?
 
right....today i had another look. No codes today on the code reader. I took out and cleaned the crank and cam sensor.......still no joy. Just to check again I uplugged the fuel line from the top of the fuel filter and it jets fuel out when cranked over.
It just won't flippin start!!!!
Don't really know where to go from here????
 
well I can't get it to attempt to fire now, even with easy start. so I'm gonna have to check the spark.
So if it has no spark it possible/probable cam sensor?
And if it has spark, what else am I looking at?
 

frank

Club Member
nats cuts the injector signals on the pre 2000 k11,s mightywolf (not sure about yours) but if there,s no spark too.......err dunno tbh :)
 
well until tmoz when i can check for a spark, I'm gonna presume it isn't sparking. When this happened last time there was no spark, but as soon as I cleaned the cam sensor it fired up on the first turn of the key. It never showed up a fault code then either.
I'm thinking it could be the cam sensor now. If it started playing up months ago and a clean up sorted it for a while, it might have just given up the ghost totally now?
Still at a loss apart from that.
 

yamaimo

Ex. Club Member
Hi I just recovered from NATS problem. My K11 also fire up the first turn then cut off. More I tried to turn over it got less chance to fire. I smelled fume of petrol and saw plugs are sparking. I fiddled my car nearly two weeks. My case I got fault code but it wasn't the number I expected. Lucky Frank suggested me to check NATS and it was the right direction. In the process of my repair I replaced the ignition coil and crank angle sensor but I fitted a faulty one. Once the sensor developed fault, the engine was behaving like having throttle body problem. Have you tried code reading on the instrument panel?
 
well the NATS just goes out like it should when the ignition is turned on. I have a code reader aswell and its not bringing up any codes.
It has never fired up and then cut out. It just refuses to start at all!
 

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
Check the injectors are actually opening, and there is actually a spark...
 

r-reg-sr

-------
Site Supporter
ok mate
on my 97 k11 if i try start it with another nats key the engine chk light flashes continously up on the dash and it dies quik after that
mash up,,,,,,,,,ignition switch,,,,try getting tow with rope or two people push, ign light on dash clutch in 2nd gear - clutch out see if he fires up at leasht
 

Paul Smith

Site Supporter
I had a similar problem about 2 years ago it turned out to be a dodgey injector. I would try starting it with 1 injector unplugged at a time to see if it fires, itll run lumping on 3 cylinders but will start if this is the case.
Other one i have had lately was the car would start off a jump only so changed the battery turned out the chassis the engine earth had burnt out so replaced the cable (about £4) and its spot on.

My money is on the injector, I did also try cleaner but if its bust its bust.
 
Typically is peeing it down today :( But had a quick check on the car and I can't get a spark.
So, air = ok, no
Fuel = seems ok, pump working and pressurised fuel rail
But no spark.
I'm gonna go and get a cam sensor and see if its that.
 

Paul Smith

Site Supporter
Did you try un plugging 1 injector at a time (then reconnecting and trying the next one) so you have 3 injectors in at all times whilst checking the engine turning over see if it starts?
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
From the symptoms I had, it'll run with a dodgy injector but you'll get occasional periods of lumpiness and lack of power.
 
when mine turned over in the mornings but wouldn't start it was because inside the distributor was full of **** and also the ht leads weren't covering the holes properly so damp was getting in... hope you get it sorted m8
 
Ok guys, it could be an injector fault. I changed the cam sensor but it didn't make a difference.
So I unplugged the first injector and it fired!! I went through all 4 unplugging one at a time and the only time it wouldn't fire was when I unplugged the 3rd one. So I plugged then all back in and it fired up. Ran sweet. Turned it on and off and it fired. I let it run for 5 mins and turned it off. Turned it on again and guess what? Wouldn't start.
Went through all the injectors again unplugging one at a time and it won't fire again now.
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
You could maybe look for a set on ebay or register with one of those online breakers that pass the request to a huge network of scrappies?
 
ok new update. I'm getting fuel up into the fuel rail and its pressurising but the injectors aren't letting any fuel through at all. None of them.
They can't all have failed at once and the fact that it started earlier on leads me to think its another problem and for some reason its not letting the injectors open.
Any more ideas? Ecu?
And if its the ecu what sort of money am i looking at to fix it? Its the nats system with the blue bit on the key.
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
Mmm, possible. I'm pretty sure the injectors are cut on the K12 when the ECU isn't happy. When I disconnected my fuel pump, the engine would turn but not fire at all.
 

yamaimo

Ex. Club Member
Since Frank suggested NATS problem on my K11. I noticed there are so many different symptom related to it. It might be another unique one on yours. check old threads.
 
My mate is lending me his volt meter so I can check the resistance on the injectors. But I don't think that will be problem. They can't have all failed in one go.
And I want to check the pulse on the injectors also but I'm not sure on how to do it.
I'm not very electrically minded so if someone could explain to me how to do it, in terms a complete numpty would understand it would be greatly appreciated :)
Again not sure this will be the problem as even with a weak pulse surely they should open part way?
And if there is no pulse at all I'll be back to looking at an ecu problem me thinks.
just as a secondary thought is there a relay or fuse that controls the injectors or injector pulse? Could something like that cause it?
 

Guy

Has gone over to the oily side...
Club Member
An obvious question perhaps but have you hooked a code reader upto it? Where are you based, maybe someone on here has one and lives nearby?
 

andy

Ex. Club Member
what about plug leads,dizzy and or cap,rotor arm..are these all in good working order .........or am i barking up the wrong tree as usual :oops:
 
Yeah I've had my code reader on it....no codes. The AA guy hooked his up aswell and got no codes.
Yeah sorry Andy, wrong tree :) Its a later model with coil packs. No dizzy.
 
well I've no spark on any coil pack and the injectors ain't opening at all. One could fail but not all.
Its got to be down to a sensor or ecu fault. Just got to pinpoint it before I loose my temper and ring the scrappies!! :)
 

frank

Club Member
i doubt nissan would include the spark immobilize when the injector signal immobilizer works so well on the pre coilpack, so my money is on the ecu relay or ecu plug or ecu
 
well it seems like its fixed.........for now. No idea how, or what I've done?
I unplugged all the injectors and tested the resistance on each one. They were all at 13.9. I plugged them all back in apart from the first one on the right hand side if your stood in front of the car (i think its actually no.4). I got the volt meter, put one end in the injector lead and one end on the engine and got the missus to crank it to see if i was getting a pulse and it fired up on 3 cylinders!!??
So I plugged the injector back in and it purred like a kitten. So I let it warm up took it for a spin and all seemed fine.
Left it an hour or so and went back out, it fired straight up, I took it for a spin, put some petrol in it, got back all still fine.
So I've left it for a while now and I'm gonna go try it again in a couple more hours to make sure its still ok.
So work that one out! :)
 
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