# 95 200SX Won't Start...



## xchaosmonkeyx (Jul 3, 2012)

Hi guys, I've tried searching but haven't really found anything to help me with this. I have a friend with a 1995 Nissan 200SX with a GA16DE 1.6L Engine. Lately he's been having issues with getting it to start. After kick starting it for a few weeks, he took it in to a shop and they fixed it by replacing a connector (I hadn't actually looked at it before a couple of days ago, and he doesn't know exactly which connector). Anyways, it worked, and was starting fine until a couple of nights ago when he was driving on the interstate. As he phrased it:
The car made a sound like a tyrannosaurus dying so he pulled over and turned it off, hoping it would kind of chill out. After he pulled over, the car wouldn't start again. 
He checked the oil, it was low, so he put more in it.
Now that I've got it, here's where I'm at.
First, I turned the key, and the starter clicked, but the engine didn't turn.
We tried recharging the battery, but nothing happened.
I checked all of the fuses and connectors that I could think of related to the starter, but found nothing amiss.
Then, we tried to kick start it:
In Second, we got a good roll (15-20mph ish) and dropped the clutch, but the car didn't even seem like it wanted to struggle to go. It slowed and stopped.
Frustrated, I turned the ignition, and the engine started to roll but stopped (kind of like a half whir, then dead). 
With no luck, we tried to kick start it several more times, and each time we moved it, it would do the same thing where it didn't even try to struggle to start, then the ignition would give us a half whir but it just simply wasn't going to have it. 

At this point, I think the engine may have seized and our best bet is going to be to just call a junk yard and swap it; however, I'm hoping that perhaps I've missed something. Help?


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## EvilPotato (Sep 6, 2005)

is the MIL/check engine light on? could the connector the mechanic fiddled with was the crank sensor? if you can't push start it like he was able to before, i don't think its the starter. are you getting power to the plugs? checked the fuel delivery system?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

O/P....
Could you more precisely define "put more oil in it" as to a quantity of oil added?

If you think your engine was seized up, grab the crank pulley and try to turn it by hand.
A normal strength person should at least be able to turn the crank, not fast by any stretch, and it'll be tough, but it should turn. I can turn both of mine by hand, again, not fast, and it's tough, but both turn.
If you can't turn yours by hand, ya, good chance you smoked it. Furthermore, if it was seized up, and you had a good battery, and you tried to crank it over, there's a good chance you also burned up the starter in doing so.

Take off the distributor cap and see if the distributor rotor is solidly on the shaft and does NOT rotate freely. If it does, the screw fell out. Happened to me twice (I should've known the 2nd time, but it bit me). Get a new screw, put the rotor back on, and go.

When you tried push starting the car, what gear did you use?


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## Jopet (Aug 10, 2009)

by any chance, before all this happened, the timing chain was making lots of noise?


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## mooseboy52 (Dec 10, 2007)

I second the distributor rotor. Happened to me several times, ended up re-tapping the threads. Been holding strong for over a year now.


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