# Intermittant Engine Stalling on 1989 Nissan Sentra GA16i



## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

So I'm way into the diagnostic process on this problem already and these forums have really helped point me in what I think is the right direction so I wanted to bring you guys in on my process. 

About two weeks ago, while driving up a hill in Oregon at highway speed I felt the car loose power for about half a second and then kick back in, it got me to change into the slow lane just in case but nothing else happened. 

A few days later while taking a short trip late at night I pulled up to a stop light and the engine just shut down. I had power and the engine cranked but I got nothing, not even a sputter. I pushed the car to the side of the road opened the hood poked around a bit, but didn't notice anything odd. After about 10 minutes I went back and tried to start the car and it started right up and got me the rest of the way home... about 3 more miles.

I naively figured it might be some bad spark plugs since I recently replaced my distributor, cables, ignition coil and a lot more in prep for a X-country trip. I pulled them one by one and noticed Cylinder 3's plug was totally messed up, it was missing it's electrode completely. I figured this must have been the problem and took it for a test drive. I got it to about 45 when the engine shut down again. I have a manual tranny and the car coasted in gear but wouldn't restart. This time I had to get a tow back to my house so I could dig deeper. 

While waiting for the tow, I pulled two new codes off the ECU and got an 23 and 45. 

23 = Idle Switch Circuit
45 = Injector Leak

Both these parts are on the throttle body assembly, so I pulled off the air cleaner and took a look. These forums were great in pointing me to the Solenoids, the AAC, the MAF sensor among other things as potential causes of the stalling at idle and at speed. I used two pieces of auto wire to check the solenoids and they clicked as expected. I cleaned out the throttle body and MAF with some Carb cleaner and started testing the rest.

I broke out the multimeter and found that the Throttle Position Sensor/Idle Speed Sensor (part of the same unit) was receiving power. I then did a continuity test on the sensor and noticed that it was not conducting electricity. I found a complete throttle body assembly at a local junkyard for cheap and tested that TPS and it was conducting electricity, so I swapped them out. 

Excited, and hoping that it was the TPS that went bad which led to the code 23 and the Injector Leak code was simply due to the computer getting weird readings from the TPS and not interpreting the status of the fuel injector properly. Not sure if that makes sense, but that was my theory.

I went to start the car and noticed my battery had run down. I gave it a charge overnight and tried again in the morning. Disappointingly, the engine started and ran for about 15 seconds and then died again. Nothing I tried would get it to start again. I tried jumping it with another car, but got nothing. 

I went back to the ECU, and got a Crank Angle Sensor code 11. After finding out it's part of the distributor that I replaced a year and half ago I went into denial. I decided to start checking the whole ignition system starting from the plugs back, hoping for a faulty code. When cranking the engine I noticed no spark coming from the plug wires, and one of the wires had cracked insulation. I checked the distributor cap and rotor which had some deposits on the inside and a broken rubber seal which might have let in moisture. It's been raining a ton lately so I thought this could be the source. I put in new cables and swapped out the rotor and cap, but nothing changed the engine still wouldn't start. I went up the line, checking for spark from the ignition coil which I also replaced about a year and a half ago. Nothing, I checked for power into the coil and it was there, I checked for power into the ignition module and it was present. 

I figured I must have another blown ignition coil and went to get the part. I found one locally for cheap and put it in, but noticed the same thing, power on one side, but still no spark.

Now I'm hoping that the next part in the series is the cause of all this, the ignition module. I didn't even know what the thing was until today, and probably wouldn't have jumped to replace the ignition coil if I had. I read that a faulty ignition module could explain all the stalling and even explain why it would restart after a rest. I'm basing this new theory off of this:

Ignition Module Problems

I'm headed junkyarding tomorrow to try to pick one up since I don't want to drop $130 on a new one in case it's not the cause. Wish me luck and I'll post the results when there are some. 

If anyone has any other ideas that perhaps I've missed please let me know. Otherwise, I hope this might start a thread that leads to a fix and helps others out with similar issues.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

I thought the crank angle sensor was bolted on to the front of the transmission bell housing...kinda below the distributor towards the radiator a bit.
That would make more sense I think, since a crank angle sensor would take readings off of something connected to the crank, whereas a CAM sensor would be mounted in the distributor 'cause it's connected to the cam.


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## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

Maybe the part name is a misnomer? I wish it was separate, but according the Chilton manual it's a non-serviceable part that requires replacing the distributor assembly, which I really don't want to do. 

But the thing is, I figure that despite that code 11 from the computer, I should still see a spark coming from the Ignition Coil wire to the Distributor even if the Crank Angle Sensor was bad. Am I wrong?

The bad news is I got two Ignition Modules today (just in case) from a junkyard and neither fixed the problem. I still get no spark from the coil even though both were replaced and both are receiving power. 

I'm back to square one.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

sta said:


> Maybe the part name is a misnomer? I wish it was separate, but according the Chilton manual it's a non-serviceable part that requires replacing the distributor assembly, which I really don't want to do.


Looks like that's your only option



> But the thing is, I figure that despite that code 11 from the computer, I should still see a spark coming from the Ignition Coil wire to the Distributor even if the Crank Angle Sensor was bad. Am I wrong?


Yep, you're wrong. The Crank Angle Sensor is what tells the coil to fire in the first place. So, no crank sense, no spark.
Does your engine have an ignition coil resistor or a capacitor laying along side the distributor?


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## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

jdgrotte said:


> Looks like that's your only option
> 
> 
> Yep, you're wrong. The Crank Angle Sensor is what tells the coil to fire in the first place. So, no crank sense, no spark.
> Does your engine have an ignition coil resistor or a capacitor laying along side the distributor?


Thanks for the info, that gives me the confidence to go ahead and swap it out then. I was afraid to go down that road unless it explained the issues I was seeing, especially since my distributor is still relatively new, but I'm giving it a shot tomorrow after another trip to the junkyard. 

Is there anything inherently risky with using a junkyard salvaged distributor, aside from it being broken as well? I'll update with the status once I get it installed.

In the meantime, I have an extra ignition coil and some modules if anyone needs 'em. Will be posting them to classifieds and/or Craigslist once the car gets back on the road.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Not really anything risky about swapping distributors other than keeping the wires and such in the right order and putting it in the same way the old one came out. And just to be on the safe-ish side, pull the battery cables off before you start. Working kinda close to that positive terminal and the fuse block there ya know...


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## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

So I swapped out the distributor and it started right up. That was definitely the cause, the crank angle sensor code is gone as would be expected.

The odd thing is now the car idles really high. Like 1500 to 2100 RPM even after warming up. I need to check my engine timing since I think it could use a slight adjustment, but does anyone have any ideas as to what would cause high idling after swapping out a few parts?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Ya, the timing isn't EXACTLY the same between the two distributors and now it's too far advanced. Either that or when you installed it, you ended up advancing it just a little bit.
While it might run good now, if you didn't adjust anything, I'd bet come summer time when it warms up, it would start pinging like mad.
So, jist of the story, back to square one, adjust the timing, adjust the idle, recheck the timing, recheck the idle, and so on...


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## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

I ordered an inexpensive timing light from Amazon, going to work on it in a couple days. Thanks everyone for you help, good news is the car is back on the road!


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## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

PM me with what you're interested in. I have an ignition module and an ignition coil. I also have a throttle body including a fuel injector if interested. They are all guaranteed to fit a 1989 Sentra GA16i, beyond that I'm not sure what other cars they're compatible with.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

sta said:


> PM me with what you're interested in. I have an ignition module and an ignition coil. I also have a throttle body including a fuel injector if interested. They are all guaranteed to fit a 1989 Sentra GA16i, beyond that I'm not sure what other cars they're compatible with.


That jk147 is basically a spammer (a weak one at that) looking for business.
Best ignored and will probably be deleted soon enough.


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## bob89sentra (Sep 15, 2005)

You can swap out the CPS inside the dist. I have done it several times, just be careful not to bend the indexing wheel. If you had bought a new distributer assembly the seals are likely much better on the new one than one from the junk yard, so you might consider swapping the good CPS into the distributer with the good seals.


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## sta (Dec 15, 2010)

bob89sentra said:


> You can swap out the CPS inside the dist. I have done it several times, just be careful not to bend the indexing wheel. If you had bought a new distributer assembly the seals are likely much better on the new one than one from the junk yard, so you might consider swapping the good CPS into the distributer with the good seals.


That's good to know, I'm glad I held onto the old distributor. I'll try dismantling the thing on a rainy day... thanks for the info.


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## ahardb0dy (Nov 9, 2003)

My 90 was doing the same thing and it was the injector,but if you need a distributor I got a brand new surplus Nissan one from here for $54 delivered

OEM Surplus--Sentra

49th item down from the top, send an e-mail requesting availability and price, address it to Norman, he will get back to you in a few days.


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