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Hey everyone!
I’m working on the car in the subject. It came to me as a random crank but no start. I pulled the codes, and all I got was cam position sensor. So I put a new one on, and the car seemed to start fine for about a day. Then it comes back as having a random misfire. I looked further, and the spark plug tube seals were shot and had filled the tubes with oil, so I replaced the valve cover and cleaned out that mess. Test drove it, still had a misfire. Found a bad coil. Replaced that, no more misfires. However, it still has the original problem of a random crank but no start. The only codes that come up are just related to emissions systems. I know this year Altima is known for a few issues…
I notice when cranking, it is firing, but can smell raw gas as though it’s being flooded real bad. I hold the throttle to the floor to cut off fuel and there’s a noticeable difference in tune as the fuel is off. But on release of the throttle it still won’t start. And this car does have new spark plugs. Before I was able to get it started by cranking with the fuel off, but now it just won’t start anymore. I added some Lucas deep clean to the gas tank. I am thinking the fuel injectors are stuck open and that’s what’s causing this. Am I on the right path with this? Injector sticktion? If I could get it started again to run the cleaner through it might it help? Or is the owner simply looking at new injectors? On my scanner, both the ECT and IAT appear to be showing appropriate temps, so I don’t believe them to be bad. I also tried starting it with each sensor unplugged individually and it made no difference.
I also might add, when I took off the gas cap, there were weird noises I’ve never heard before. It was almost like there was pressure in there, and then for a bit it made a weird gurgling sound. However, attempting startup with the cap off made no difference.
Thanks for reading all this and any help!
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If you suspect leaking injectors.
Might suggest you fit a fuel pressure gauge to the fuel rail and confirm loss of fuel pressure to the cylinders.
Then pull the spark plugs and look for excessive fuel.
As to pressure build up within the gas tank that may be part of you issue or a separate issue.
I would think a complete diagnostic on the EVAP system would be in order.I did get a code, something along the lines of a very minor leak in the evap system, but as I said, attempting startup with the cap off made no difference. And I’ve never known an evap system to cause problems like this…
Without doing the diagnostics, it would only be guessing.
The more information you have, the better the chances to pinpoint the issue(s)IIRC (and that may be a stretch), Nissan may have had a TSB on some 2003 models for low injector pressure on start under some circumstances. Probably a long shot but may be worth a look. I think my 2003 frontier had that applied.
I tend to replace both cam and crank sensors on the older 2.5’s at work since both are important for many things in terms of Nissan. Can’t say I’ve seen many stuck open injectors on the 2.5, car will run on 3 cyl. Stuck open injector most of the time will result in a lot of white smoke out the tail pipe and rotten egg smell cause it’s melting the cat, flashing SES light also the hinting at cat damage.
Evap leaks of any kind will not cause starting issue, since that is only to remove stored fuel vapor when at cruise down the road.
pulling plugs will show if one is over wet with fuel, smells like fuel, could be injector. so pulling those is a good idea like said already.
when flooring the gas pedal, the car is in clear flood mode like you said, and is running on basic good settings to start. poor idle could be a bunch of stuff, like air leaks in intake, exhaust, mass air flow, cam/crank sensor, bad ecm grounds, list goes on.
last thing is yes, I will need to look but a ecm update could be out for that car. I know many early 2.5’s had updates for a number of reasons, that would need to be at a nissan dealer to update the ECU. also if the cat is broken down, I’ve only heard of it, the particles of the cat can get in the engine and cause damage…
So this car was towed to another mechanic before I could work on it again, and he said the timing chain is messed up. That’s all the info I got. Now, if the chain had jumped a notch or two, wouldn’t the car have consistent starting issues, whether it’s hot or cold? The thing is is that the starting issues with this car are COMPLETELY random. This mechanic is also recommending total engine replacement. If the chain had broke and the valves kissed the pistons I could see it. But I know that’s not the issue as the last time I worked on it it ALMOST started.
Just sharing my experience here but I had an 03 Altima do the same thing you are describing. Except in my case, the times it did start it usually was jerky under acceleration until it got warmed up. Turned out the crank sensor had died and the ECM never picked it up. It was just throwing an error for the cam sensor. I took the timing chain cover off (A complete PITA), and cleaned the cam phaser to no avail. Finally, out of sheer desperation, I swapped the new cam sensor with the crank sensor (they are the same part) and put the original cam sensor back in. Drove great after that.
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