im driving down the road when my car just shuts off. no fore warning just turns off. after letting it sit over the winter and buying a 4th gen to get around in i popped the hood. no spark. try to crank, it cranks but doesnt turn over. i then noticed the fuel pump wasnt kicking on when i turned the key to on. so i checked the ecu, it doesnt come on either. i checked all the fuses, fusible links and relays. all were good. im also getting 12v to the computer and fuse box like its spose to. i also swapped in the ecu out of my other 3rd gen and it didnt come on either and that one ran fine before i removed the engine for a build. can somebody tell me what happened. the car ran good up until this point. no spark, no fuel and no computer.

 

I am wondering if the fuel system is pressurized, so it's not making any noise.
is the coil putting out spark? if you take the dizzy cap off, does the rotor spin?

 

well its putting out spark but not 20000v or whatever its spose to be. the rotor spins. and i disconnected the fuel line at the filter and turned the key, nothing. so i cranked and still nothing. so the fuel pump and ignition coil went bad at the same time? and how does that explain there not being any green or red indicator lights on in my cpu?

 

I'm gonna try to offer a suggestion, I'm new to the 3rd Gen Max but have had 4 Z31 300ZX's so I've been around the VG for a bit. The ECU LED's don't require much power to light so if you're getting almost power to the ECU they should light up. I'm gonna guess your ECU is fried. Replacing it will only be a temp. fix though if that is the problem though. ECU's generally don't go bad like that unless there's a problem that causes an electrical surge. I'd start by pulling the ECU, take the cover off and see if there's any signs of burnt contacts inside, if there is that should tell you both that there is your issue but also what circuit is fried and you can trace back the root issue and fix that. Again that's just my guess and I'm not a Max expert but if nothing else there's no harm in looking at the ECU and see if that's the issue. I'm basing it simply off the fact that you said you have current to the ECU but it's not even lighting up.

 

Uh oh

timing belt broke?

 

I thought that at first but that doesn't address any of the other issues, no spark, not fuel no lights on the ECU. I read more though and think it's not T-belt at all.

 

That's cool, you're post did inspire me to research the 94 MaximaI just bought.

Timing belt was replaced 08/15/2003 @ 80,862 miles - it's got like 94,000 on it now, so I'm thinkin' we're good until 140,000 or so.

Anyway, going to be interested in what you find, good luck!!

 

rotor is spinning; it's not broken. perhaps skipped a tooth, but not broken.
its off topic, but 94's belt design is good for 100,000 miles, vs 60k on mine.

 

Wow, that's great news - on or off topic!

 

UJM, always good to know where your t-belt is. Benstoked, was 94 the only year of that? I'm used to 60K but am picking up a 91 Max that the belt was recently done so just curious. Back to on topic, any updates on finding the problem?

 

they switched mid-93-ish. There are a few threads about the round-tooth/square-tooth belts, including one or two about swapping timing gears for the longer wear belt. Way I figure it, 60k, 100k, it'll still get done (or not, and the engine dies).

Anyway, I am slightly surprised no one is offering any other advise.

Maxboost, for ess and gee's, would you please check the ground wires on the ECU for continuity? it definitely sounds like the ECU or wiring is the culprit, here. regardless of whatever other component goes bad, you should get lights on the ecu when running codes.

 

That's where I was going with that, even if it's fried there's a wiring issue, usually ground, but possibly elsewhere. It could be the ECU is fine, and just the ground is bad, but that's not good for any electrical unit.


BTW Thanks for the quick response Matt, I have heard of the round tooth change but wasn't aware it happened mid way through a generation on the Max, or even what years at all to be honest. That's been a small discussion among Z31 guys lately for changing them to round tooth style.

 

sorry guys ive been busy with the fourth gen. i think i might need a new tranny on that one. its either the tob or isb or both, im not sure. i look into that immediately. ill pull the ecu again and look inside it. i did swap the ecu outta my 89 se and same problem. so im thinking a ground perhaps. thanks for the leads and ill get back to you guys.

 

I know you said you checked all the fuses but.....My first thought would be the Engine Continuity fuse. Swap in a known good one...I think it's a 10amp...then see what happenes. This fuse blows to protect the ecu (IIRC). I had my O2 short many moons ago and blew my eng cont fuse....did exactly what you describe.

 

My car shut off on me when I was driving one time, and you wanna know what it was? The fuel pump!

 

Fuel pump alone doesn't explain all symptoms. Although, if there was a problem, I do have to wonder if the fuel shut off relay in the trunk went bad or got triggered to shut everything down. Makes sense that relay would shut down spark too so the engine would shut down instantly.

The only other thing I can think of is that perhaps a harness under the hood has been damaged, either getting too hot and melting or maybe an animal chewed through something. I accidently allowed my MAF harness get too close to my turbo piping and it melted. Was sitting idleing just fine....then nothing. Wouldn't start at all. Never tested to see if I was getting fuel or spark becuase I smelt the burnt/melted plastic and traced it down.

Now that I think about that and my symptoms then.....maybe swap out your MAF sensor. If your MAF shorted/failed then that may be the problem. It just sounds like there is a short/failed component somewhere. Got an extra MAF?

Check eng cont fuse, wires/engine harness, and check MAF, then get back with us.

 

I missed the whole no spark,no fuel, no ECU thing, but yea I think theres a culprit(fuse or relay) that's blown or not working, because for all of those not to work so sudden is weird. Does all wiring look ok?

 

wiring looks good. i think i might just part this thing out. is it worth it? i have another 3rd gen i got from texas and the motor is out and but to be rebuilt. and im currently rebuilding the tranny in my fourth gen< input shaft bearing went out. so if anyone is interested i got parts.

 

I've got exactly the same problem as described here.

No codes coming up on ecu (just a red light) Car wont start at all. Seem to be getting a spark to the leads.

The only other thing mine is doing is starting the fans up when ignition is on.

 

I'm sticking with wiring to ECU, looking at wires for wear won't do much good, grab a multimeter and get to work on the ECU harness.

 

fuel pump relay needs to be pulled and checked for presence of voltage @ the fuel relay orange wire (or look the relay diagram on it's body). Short those two wires together with a jumper wire and your fuel pump should now be energized.... wires are orange+ and black-.... check the safety relay as well.....you stating that you had spark, do you have compressoin (air)?

 

I cant pass emissions with my 93 maxima! Ive replaced fuel injector number four done a fuel injection wash found two vacuum leaks. Ive tested it warm tested it cold always use 93 octance and put who knows how much Rxp in during the 6 tests ive failed. Here are my latest numbers:
Low speed 1400 RPMS High speed 1570 rpms
Hc standard 120 reading 160 standard 124 reading 172
Co .67 reading .51 .69 reading .48
Nox 848 reading 1386 937 reading 1162

My Nox went up after replacing this fuel injector before I did that my Nox passed at both speeds! And well the readings were 433 and 753! how the hell does a new part make it worse? Im running out of ideas and options to fix this thing. My Hcs have always been high and Cos are passing now that injector was replaced. I know my fuel mixture must be too rich with Hc always high like this but where to I go from here to address the problem?

 

toss some rubbing alcohol in the tank and check that your EGR valve is functioning and that your EGR tube is clear.
NOx reading high is caused by high combustion chamber temps.

 

Please please pleaseee take the turbo thing off lol i hadd noo idea what i was talking abouttt. Sorry for jumping in your thread

 

Since you said "Please please pleaseee," and not just "Please please"

 

^^ doesnt matter if you took that sig off or not everybody will remember that 1 forever..Too funny

 

Old thread I know but I never did figure it out and I scrapped the car. I do believe it was in the wiring somewhere though. Close her up mods.

 

Check your "Engine CONT" fuse that thing used to randomly blow on mine casue the 02 sensor was bad and i went thru hell before i figured it out.

 

The car is gone, and I did try that.

 

I'm having the same exact problem as the above mentioned, with the exception of my fuel is still good. I'm only getting crank no spark. I've swapped out the ecu, distributor, coil pack and tried 2 different resistors and control modules. I looked through all the fuses. Everything is checking out ok when I run a meter on them. The only thing I haven't done yet is check the fusible links. Any other suggestions from anyone would be greatly appreciated, as I don't have the money to get a new car right now.

 

Leads and plugs... Have you checked those*

 

Thanks for the respond Maxkiller. So I was wrong. I'm not getting fuel either.I thought I heard the injectors kicking on. I pulled the hose that supplies fuel and cranked it just to make sure,and nothing. I've just run through and checked all the wiring again
and all the fuseable links. I checked to see if the crank angle sensor was good and everything is checking OK. I don't know what I'm overlooking. This is really starting to get frustrating!!!

 

Start by taking your fuel pump out and testing that. Also, if you have an FSM, try the ECU testing procedure contained in that.

Also, as someone mentioned before, test your fuses for continuity. sometimes they can die or get burn marks from lack of contact but they still look ok.

 

even before pulling the pump, check for power at the pump. Also listen for the pump to hum.

 

Thanks to all that have replied! I already ran through a Pin test procedure for ECU and also checked all the fuses for continuity everything seems good. I'm going to check the F28 and F31 grounds, and then run through the test procedure for the fuel pump. Don't know if I'll have time today,but will get back after I run through it. Thanks again for all the responses