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View Full Version : Crank no start but ALMOST starts


jammaniii
07-27-2014, 07:15 PM
OK this is going to be an in depth question and I can't find much information on it. I have a 1995 Nissan 240sx with a ka24de engine that I have turbocharged. I am running Nistune and I've had it dyno tuned. I've been driving it with a turbo for awhile now and it ran great.

Here's my problem, one day I accidentally stalled out while going up my driveway (6 puck stage 3 clutch lol) and then the car would no longer start. It cranks and sounds like it is about to start, but it won't.

Things I've checked:
Battery. The connections were a little loose so I cleaned off all the contact points on got them all tight and added an extra ground cable from the battery to the chassis. My battery is located in the trunk with a 0 gauge negative and a smaller gauge probably 8. The positive is a 4 gauge, but I have tried jump starting it with the leads connected at the front directly after the 4 gauge wire. I took the battery to autozone and they said it was fine and slow charged it to 100%. Its an optima red top.

Ignition. I've checked all the ignition wires and changed out the 30amp fuse just to be sure. One thing I found is that the ignition wires going to the distributor had the rubber torn off right by were they connect to the distributor and its possible they could have been touching so I taped them up with electrical tape. I know one wire comes from the 12v ignition and the other goes to the 2 ohm resistor than to the ecu. I checked the continuity and the resistance on those wires and they are good. Also I checked the ground for the distributor and it wasn't perfect so I cleaned it up.

Spark plugs. I'm getting really strong spark from the spark plug wires using a spark tester. I bought new wires anyway to be sure and checked firing order probably over 10x. Im running very expensive new ngks with only a few thousand miles on them but I also have some known working copper plugs that I tried as well.

Fuel. My fuel pump is working fine, and I've taken out my fuel rail to test the injectors and they are spraying fine and not leaking at all. I also have other injectors that I know work that I tried. I also tried disconnecting the injectors and spraying lighter fluid while trying to start but it did the same almost start thing.

Camshaft position sensor. I went through the FSM and tested everything related to the cps and it all came back good. All the grounds are good and the ecu grounds are good. Its giving the 5v on and off just like its supposed to and I visually inspected it and its clean as can be.

Timing. I put my car in tdc on the compression stroke marked the distributor where the #1 spark plug was and checked the rotor. The rotor was slightly advanced but not by a lot. Before checking it I tried starting with the dizzy advanced and retarded and it didn't matter. I tried lining it up better, but the teeth seem to line up either a little advanced or way retarded so I just kept it how it was. When I try starting it more advanced or retarded than it is set at, it just cranks and doesn't sound like its about to start. I also put it at 20° btdc while cranking and using a timing light.

Starter. I followed the wires to the clutch interlock relay theyre good all the way to the blue wire coming off the starter. There was a slight short on the starter wire. The old theft warning wire is grounding out somewhere and was touching the starter wire. It wasn't a straight short though. There's about 2 ohms resistance between it and the ground but I fixed it anyway. And I tested the clutch relay and its good.

Compression and air. There is compression in all cylinders although I don't know how much. I tried pouring a little oil in each cylinder but that didn't help. One thing that may be useful info is that when I press on the gas it sounds even more like its going to start. I've tried unplugging the MAF and taking the cold pipe off the throttle body but neither helped.

I also tried using different tunes on my ecu like the one before I got it dynoed but that didn't help either. Also, when I go to start the car, there is a voltage drop from 12v down to 10v while its cranking. I'm pretty sure that's normal though.

Any diagnostic gurus out there who can help? I have no idea what to check next. I'm about to just swap out the whole motor.

TL;DR version: I've got compression, spark, fuel, and timing but my car still won't start.

Ka-t in progress
07-28-2014, 03:10 PM
I can't remember for sure on the 240,but I believe there is a switch up on the clutch pedal. Check and see that it is in working order. I have mine set up as to where I don't have to press the clutch pedal down to start the car. Assuming this is a 5 speed. Other than that nothing else comes to mind right now. Hope it helps you out!

anti tyler
07-28-2014, 03:25 PM
If the neutral safety switch is bad it's not going to crank at all.

I hate to say it but you don't have compression, spark & fuel or your car would be starting. you need to find out if your injectors are leaking at all causing a flood. Also I would recommend checking the teeth on the starter to see what they look like.

If you can swap out the ignition coil and see what that gets you.

I'm assuming all of your fuses are good to go and the main isn't blown (or the car wouldn't turn over at all)

jim5570091
07-30-2014, 03:37 PM
Stalled and will not start. You should check your maf. Check continuity between it and the pins on the ecu for broken wires.

itsjustdaphne
08-01-2014, 01:46 AM
If it trys to start while floored..
1. Flooded motor. Unplug injectors crank it.
2. Tps is bad.