Expert: Sean Halliday - 5/13/2006

Question


   1987 nissan sentra 2d


I'm a pretty good mech. but this one's got me.

the problem is it will turn over fine but won't start except once in awhile it will start and run just fine turn it off it may start 1 or 2 times or not at all. when it dont start the spark is weak or none at all. the cap,wires and plugs are new. power to the coil. checked all fuses and links inside and out. everything seems to check out
   I'll let it set fo a week or two I'll charge the battery [ it's not dead just a little low ] to top it off and it'll start right up almost everv time and run just fine till ya turn it off.I know there is a key to all this I'm just missing it.
  I found out a few weeks back that nissan had a recall on 87 sentra's for ignition problem's, but I hav'nt found out what kind of problem. do you know?
   Oh also this problem started when my wife dumped the clutch and killed the motor one day. I checked the nuterul safty s/w also, even tryed bypassing it to make sure.
   I hope you can help. If you need more info please email me I'd love to get this car back on the road.

                thanks
                 sincerly, Doug Whaley  

Answer
dont know the reason for the recall but im wondering if your coil is at fault.did you test the coil?.the other problem i have seen is the ignition switch,,,,,on most modern cars they have an ignition module but your car is the old fashion type ,coil,wires cap rotor so its gotta be one of em,,try the coil itself although they dont usually go out it may just be a bad one,,as for dumping the clutch i would look for loose wires .did you see any especially to the coil,,,,,,one more thing about the distributor,,,,,if your car has leaked oil onto the inside via the oil seal it will cause this problem so look to see if the inside is oily,,,may be the distributor,,,,,