as the title said... I have a 1990 maxima se and as of late its been hard to start when it rains. I thought i had the problem solved by chaninging ost of the charging system (altenator, starter, plugs, plug wires, and dist. cap) but it seems not if i'm parked on a hill and i coast start it it fires right up but its a little sluggish for about a min or so. but after that its fine. this ONLY happens when it rains. it could be sub zero out and it will fire right up. any ideas. I was thinking maybe the fuel pump but im not sure, any ideas would be a big help. thanks

 

VG= NOOOOO coil packs...

 

Ugh...missed that one! I am a stooge..sorry for misinfo dante

 

u're right...this is an odd one....but let me make sure i got this right...you changed out ur alt, starter, plugs (assuming they're gapped correctly), wires and cap (i'm assuming u did the rotor also in the cap) and there hasn't been any change...hmmm

is the sluggish-ness only right after starting from this hard-to-start condition or is it always a little sluggish after starting?
when u say hard-to-start, does that mean it's cranking but not turning over or is it not cranking?

it seems that if ur electrics are all in good form (i.e. engine is cranking but not turning over) then the next logical place to look is the fuel system. start by checking line pressure when the key is in the start position (just before cranking). i'm sure someone can chime in as to what the pressure should be. but it sounds like ur fuel system is not energizing. i wouldn't go straight to the pump considering this happens when it's damp out and the pump is inside the tank - protected from the elements. i'd start looking at the fuel system electrics before the pump - like a relay or even a connector that's suffering some water intrusion.

another reason i don't think it's the pump is that they (in my limited experience) either work or they don't so their symptamology is usually much more consistent than "only when it rains"...more ike "only when i try to start the car". also, the sluggishness could be attributed to the engine being starved of fuel (possibly because the system did not energize properly).

good luck...sounds like an easy enough problem that just needs a lil chasing.

the good news is that everything is pretty accessible on this car...unlike my bronco where u have to drop the 35+ gallon tank to get to the pump - mf'ing ford engineers!

 

When it rains, it is humid, right? Humidity only matters in the high-voltage applications, e.g. distributor cap, wires and plugs. Forget the rotor- it sits in closed space where humidity hardly ever changes. I would closely looked at the cap. Are you using the stock wires? How old are those?

 

Röentgen eyes even weldin cracks.

The new cap is old ? has crakcked on the shelf... they are real poor quality. Buy lacquer spray, bot sides, not on electrodes. If u can get hold of TV hi voltage can, then u cando it better. I used std motor lacquer, works fine.

Glycol Shock: TPS has got some coolant in. Glycol sucks water from moist air, causes short. After warmup water evaporates, also O2 takes over from TPS. Buy, clean: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/6

 

look at some of the connectors for corrosion.

 

Cool thanks for the help. I'll check it out tomorrow morning.

 

Hmm, my car doesnt have problems starting after it rains but it does screech very loudly when I go over a puddle and the next day the steering wheel is super hard and screechy until a bit of driving...could that all be cuz of a loose belt or there's something more than just a loose belt?

 

Jack up, paintit [4.] yellow, tighten, tell us. Jack down...

For belts go to: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/23

 

the same thing used to happen to my max, it was my dist. cap

 

you have coil packs not a distributor or a cap,

he has a vg engine so he has distributor and cap

 

Learned the hard way: smtg which aint there, cannot break.

 

yeah thats odd.

 

mmmm coil packs...too bad I'm stuck with cap and dis

 

Theres nothin to be ashamed of. BUT The coilpacks - it is a shameful invention: I bet they have a plan to install all its electronics inside the exhaust in 7gen... just to keep them too hot to have business flowin.

Just remember the REAL electron conductin wires, not resistor hoses,
see at http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/12