# '94 Altima died, won't restart



## elzie (Sep 4, 2006)

Hi, I have a 1994 Nissan Altima with about 145,000 miles on it. A couple of days ago, as my boyfriend was driving the car uphill on an freeway entrance ramp, it died. We had it towed and began to try and fix it ourselves. Initially, it would idle roughly, but would kill if the RPM went over 1,000. Now it doesn't idle anymore. Occasionally, on trying to start it, it will sound like it catches once or twice, and sometimes "diesels" after I turn the key off. 

Here is what we have replaced so far:

Spark plugs and wires
Distributor cap and rotor
Fuel filter

We have tested the fuel pump, and are getting fuel. He's done a cursory check that all the hoses and belts and such are intact, and the valve chain looks good as well. When the car would still idle, we would turn on the lights and the idle wouldn't change, so we don't think it is the alternator. We have tested for spark multiple times, and have that. We also tested the ignition coil (bought a new one, car performed the same as it did with the old). 

My boyfriend reported that it idled "rough" earlier in the day before it died, but other than that we had no indication that anything was wrong. No check engine light. We've been changing the oil regularly.

One thing that I noticed is that the people that owned the car before me did not do any maintenance beyond oil changes. I have records and everything on the car appears to be original, beyond replaced tail lights from an accident. 

Currently, we are looking into the Mass Air Flow Meter. Any other suggestions or comments would be extremely helpful! We've been trying to figure this out with the internet and a Chilton's over the past three days.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

when you changed the distributor cap out, was there any oil in the distributor at all? this soundslike it could be either your distributor at this point or your maf - both common problems on altimas.


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## elzie (Sep 4, 2006)

*Distributor*



AsleepAltima said:


> when you changed the distributor cap out, was there any oil in the distributor at all? this soundslike it could be either your distributor at this point or your maf - both common problems on altimas.


The distributor cap was completely clean and dry. 

My boyfriend wanted to add these questions about the MAF:

If the MAF is unplugged, will the car start and run (as it doesn't run at this point, and most of the directions we see are to unplug it while it is idling)

and Is there a way that he can jumper the connector that plugs into the MAF to start the car? 

Thanks!


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

as far as jumping it goes, i dont think theres a way to do that...
i havent tried in a awhile, but i dont think my altima will start with the maf unplugged...
download this and see if you can get it to work for you, theres a troubleshooting guide in it.
PhatG20 - Downloads


edit - got owned by my mouse again, the link is fixed.


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## elzie (Sep 4, 2006)

*Almost There*



AsleepAltima said:


> as far as jumping it goes, i dont think theres a way to do that...
> i havent tried in a awhile, but i dont think my altima will start with the maf unplugged...
> download this and see if you can get it to work for you, theres a troubleshooting guide in it.
> PhatG20 - Downloads


Well, there WAS oil in the ignition distributor. I realized while continuing to look through the forum that we didn't dig deep enough the first time. We took it apart, cleaned it, and it started! But....after a couple of miles, it started sputtering and we suspect that the distributor is full of oil again. Haven't actually looked at it yet. 

So, we would now like to know where we could find a rebuilt distributor? We saw new ones running anywhere from 250-400 on websites, and ebay had it at 160 for a new one, but we already have a new cap and rotor and would rather buy a rebuilt ignition distributor only. Anybody with any ideas?

Also, we did discover the the car does not run with the MAF unplugged. Hehe. :woowoo:


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

lol, the old oil-in-the-distributor trick again. 
autozone has them for about 160. nissan has them for a bit over 400. most people will say go with the nissan one but i dont agree. the rebuilt one can be replaced for free if it fails again - the dealer bought one cant. check out auto zone or checker auto. or maybe you have advanced auto parts... either way, gonna be cheaper than the dealer.


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## Leuthesius (Sep 7, 2006)

Do a little research on that first... the distributor shouldn't cost you more than $30 at O'reillys.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

Leuthesius said:


> Do a little research on that first... the distributor shouldn't cost you more than $30 at O'reillys.


you show me proof that i can get one there for 30 bucks and ill paypal you 100 bucks to buy me 3 of them. thats bs. unless o'reillys is a salvage yard or they sell used parts, no way is an altima distributor 30 bucks. prove me wrong.


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## Leuthesius (Sep 7, 2006)

Oh---my bad. It was a distributor *cap*.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

lol, its all good.


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## Ramzoid (Sep 14, 2006)

I got the same problem, i removed the distributor and open it, then I used some oil degreaser to clean it, is that ok, I mean drwning it with oil degreaser to clean it, if not then I think I need to buy a rem. in Autozone, can you help me please, my e-mail is [email protected]

I'll appreciate your help, Thanks


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

Ramzoid said:


> I got the same problem, i removed the distributor and open it, then I used some oil degreaser to clean it, is that ok, I mean drwning it with oil degreaser to clean it, if not then I think I need to buy a rem. in Autozone, can you help me please, my e-mail is [email protected]
> 
> I'll appreciate your help, Thanks



Degreaser is a no no! 
The components inside are a photo-optical sensor and a encoder wheel. Use electrical contact cleaner the next time.


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## Sticky0825 (Dec 2, 2006)

AsleepAltima said:


> when you changed the distributor cap out, was there any oil in the distributor at all? this soundslike it could be either your distributor at this point or your maf - both common problems on altimas.


This is exactlly what happened to mine..with the roughness up to 1000 rpms and so on. i had to change the entire ignition distributor.


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