car feels REALLY sluggish

[zenkiWALLYowner]

Little info on the car 1996 Nissan 240sx SE 185k miles -____- original motor and auto tranny lame right?. Well anyways lately I did a HUGE amount of maintenance on the car. The car tends to misfire once in a blue moon. When I come to a stop and start to take off the car feels really sluggish and feels like i step on the brake for a quick second and then it starts to go. Say for example *rpms rising* 1k 1.5k 2k *feels like brakes where applied* 2.5k 3k normal etc. Its really getting annoying. Heres the following on whats been replaced. Complete oil change
Water pump
Air Filter
Spark Plugs NGK Iridiums gapped at .044
New radiator

Also buying NGK wires and Fuel Filter tomorrow. im really stumped on why its sluggish I have a friend with a stock 97 kouki and his car picks up more then mine.

Also picked up a scanner and came up with these codes
p0110 IAT sensor circuit mulfunction
p0335 crankshaft postion sensor
p1336 cam and crank sensor out of sync <----culprit? Distributor? im buying NGK wires tomorrow and should I go ahead and change the distributor with rotor? im leaning towards and ignition problem. Im new to the 240sx but not working on cars. I have a multimeter handy if I need to use it for any reason. if you guys can please let me know on what I should look for I would appreciate it alot thanks!!.

[Darren]

check timing

if you are experiencing problems, get the cap & rotor, it's cheap and will ensure this isn't the problem...

i've heard the coolant temp sensor will really make these cars run like poop also, although i've not experienced it myself...

also, since you're getting codes, i'd start there first... make sure you can eliminate those codes before moving on

[TrueFreshness]

Im not 100% on this but I think i feel that same feeling but its barely noticable. Like when i start pulling in 2nd gear it kinda feels like something is kinda holding it back then once im at like 4,000 rpm it pulls again.

[silver350z05rb]

I agree with timing and also could be injector o rings,happen to a buddy of mine,3d injector ,,,o ring on the injector itself came off and burned off in the cylinder,dumping fuel into the cylinder #3,also the crankshaft code you have,should mean the sensor on top of the tranny which only the s14 ka has is bad, it does cause sluggish issues,the other codes can be caused by the crank code,understanding codes,some codes are triggered by other codes,so in this case,the crank sensor is actually related to the cam sensor,pherhaps try your friends crank sensor on top of the tranny,last thing,could be running lean,fuel filter (aka SOCK)on the fuel pump itself could be clogged

[FortuneKouki420]

I have the same issue, I have yet to resolve it. Check your TPS, if you have trouble accelerating, most likely your TPS is off. Connect your multimeter to the 2nd and 3rd terminal, if you flip it you won't read anything. Should be between 0.44 to 0.5V. If it's not your TPS, then very likely it's your timing.

[hessianben]

Um? Ive been asking everyone I can about this since last night (11/21/11) and I've come across 6 people with the same symptoms ...Beginning last night???!? Both nissans and other makes.

I and the others experienced sluggishness from 2500 to 3100 rpms , especially when cold- much less noticeable after warmed up. Felt like a huge weight being attached to the vehicle at the noted rpm, regardless of gear.

I've never experienced an engine phenomenon that was induced across make model lines beginning at a specific time.... Wtf?!?!

[Walperstyle]

IACV or... exactly what the codes say. Your CAS is probably located on the tranny. I believe s14's thats where its located, on the bellhousing. Check it.

[steve shadows]

First thing I would check is your timing settings and or your distributor placement which if it's off would make the whole car a dog and slow! Bust out a timing light! If you don't have one I think any car guy it's a mandatory tool that you should invest in right away...

[Kingtal0n]

sometimes the knock sensor causes this, check to see if its plugged in, or try changing it.

[wrgibson]

I had/have this problem with my RB20. From my research I've learned that ECU uses a different timing map when the car is cold (<150*). It backs the timing way out until the car is "properly" warm. Does your car pick up noticeably around 3200 rpm when it's cold? If it does, I'm almost certain that this is what is happening. Do a search for warm-up timing tables.

Read this: Low RPM hesitation : RB20DET / RB25DET / RB26DETT Forum (http://forums.nicoclub.com/low-rpm-hesitation-t412673.html)

[rcdad123]

reset the ecu and drive it again till the check engine light comes on. check for codes and go from there. don`t start throwing parts at it, that can get expensive really fast. let us know which codes came back.

[zenkiWALLYowner]

Sorry for the huge delay. I took everything you guys said into consideration. First I did the cheap stuff distributor cap and rotor it made a slight difference. Then I replaced the sparkplug wires with the borg warner <----- dont buy these they feel sketchy. Im waiting on my NGK wires. Changed the fuel filter as well and man was the old filter in there really black!!! I removed it and the gas inside was black and im guessing it was clogged. The car does pick up more and that hesitation between the low rpms went away. The car when cold pulls really nice but then at warm or operating temp it gets sluggish. When warm sometimes its sluggish and other time its not. I still feel it kinda sluggish when warm. I deleted the codes and only 2 came back this time

P0110 IAT sensor
P0335 crank sensor

im leaning towards the IAT sensor. I checked resistance and it came back at 0.21 ohms dont know if thats normal or not. The old code where the cam and crank were out sync went away after replacing the distributor cap and rotor. Next im going to start looking for VAC leaks. I dont know if theres a easier way to ding VAC leaks. With my old turboed eclipse I used a boost leak tester dont know if can apply the same to a N/A dont see why not if theres a leak air should escape no? im not talking 20psi or anything just a small enough pressure to detect leaks. Can a bad crank sensor affect driving condition?

[silver350z05rb]

Yes it would

[KendallH]

check knock sensor

[zenkiWALLYowner]

I saw where the location of the crank sensor is FML!!! on top of the tranny right? or would that be the speed sensor. If the knock sensor is no bueno shouldnt it throw a code to?

[KendallH]

Didn't on my 13, and ended up being the problem. I was having the same symptoms you are.

[silver350z05rb]

yes as I stated before, its on top of the tranny, the harness connects to the lower harness, it has a shield over it(if you still have it) once you remove the shield the sensor may be removed.

I saw where the location of the crank sensor is FML!!! on top of the tranny right? or would that be the speed sensor. If the knock sensor is no bueno shouldnt it throw a code to?

[Kingtal0n]

Um, its a KA. Even when they run right, they feel sluggish. Thats what 50 horsepower feels like, get used to it?

i couldn't help it! just lol :mepoke:

I've seen knock sensors cause this sort of behavior, when the ECU doesnt get a signal from the knock sensor it may retard the ignition timing during acceleration.
And speaking of which, having retarded timing will cause that behavior, you mentioned out of sync distributor/ sounds like timing isnt right.

A quick way to check would be manually advance the distributor about 10-15* (run 93 octane) just for one run down the street, if it feels much better, then you know its ignition timing related.
Listen for pinging, if you do this, and if it pings at all, you know the timing was probably right previously. Let off right away.

[zenkiWALLYowner]

Well this weekend I decided to spend time with my slowforty and changed the crank sensor pcv valve and IAT sensor. Car runs fine except it still feels sluggish when normal operating temp. I'm not being paranoid or anything I drive my friends kouki and THATS how I wanted to drive his is auto as well. Only check engine light that came back was p1336 camper crank out of sync. Right now I'm trying to get a timing light and try what kingtal0n said and check timing. I'm kinda starting to think my distributor is dying or something. Ill post a pic of the distributor and you guys can see if timing was messed with before. Well my phone is dying ill update later when I get home. Kingtal0n you wouldn't be reffering to the eagle talon? Lol I parted out my 97 tsi fwd after the clutch decided to go boom and I bought this 240sx