a couple weeks ago dropped another '95 engine in my '95 car.. ever since then , it has had incredible trouble starting. i already replaced the starter on it last week to make sure that was not the problem (As it partially was).. it now cranks and cranks , and I have to give it throttle on and off, but it takes a very long time to start - it also seems to sometimes start easier when cold than warm

sounds like electronics to me, but I do not know what to check. this is engine #3 in my car, and neither of my other 2 ever gave me any trouble whatsoever starting so I know it is not boost related, and I havent changed anything such as fuel that would or could effect this since the previous engines - -

any ideas, PLEASe?

thanks

 

How bout fuel kinks in the hoses? Or a spark problem.. Also could be something with the fuel injection.. doesn't sound like it's getting enough fuel.

 

have you cleaned or tried to clean the throttle body? it could be that or it could be a gas problem...(fuel filter/fuel pump)..it also could be a loose spark plug wire...hope that gives you a starting point

 

Change your engine coolant temperature sensor.

 

what is your rational behind that Tom? (curious)

 

temp sensor stuck on cold reading....when hot engine floods.?
he said it starts easier when cold.

also...O..no spark plug wires on VQs/

 

What happened to your previous 2 engines?

 

Did you use the the original sensors(temp/crank angle/tps etc) from the old engines or just use the ones included on your newer ones? I think one of the sensors on your "new" engine is faulty. Also, if someone banged up a sensor like the magnents on the crank(?), that might affect starting(but I would think it would run bad all the time)

I would start w/ the engine temp sensor. Just use one from your old motor.

 

busted crank sensor will cause NO start.

 

Did I say "busted"? Plus it was an example

 

well I used the original sensors, but did change the crankshaft pos sens, because it was banged up - note: car will start with that sensor not-hooked in. as far as temp sensor I may try changing that or something of the likes, I know the car gets plenty of fuel b/c at 12psi I am running perfect, this is what leads me to believe it has to be a sensor... hmm, i guess I will start changing sensors from old engine, thank you! engine temp sensor is not coolant sensor is it - because temp on the guages shows properly.. where is engine temp sensor? thanks

as far as the other two engines, changed one when putting new clutch in (removed my "miracle motor", my stock one w/ 140k for hmm some good reasons) and replaced it with a '99 engine which unknowingly had a weak headgasket.. add 12psi to a weak headgasket and you start seeing 50psi compression instead of 170 on the front 3 cylinders real fast... so I pulled it and replaced it with another '95 motor (my original '95 is not and will not be ready to go in for quite some time, dont worry)

 

woah that's news to me...usually a busted crank angle sensor will not start the car.

 

My 3-gen has two. Coolant temp sensor and an engine sensor. Both are right next to each other on the 3-gen. 4-gen?

 

mine was an example too!

 

Yoda....(I owe you one for that slap)..bish!

 

well I did a good checkover again yesterday, looks as if all sensors are plugged in properly and look to be in alright condition (have switched a few of them out now)... and still same problem

one thing that may help:
the car when it does finally fire up, and is cold, it sounds as if it has very aggressive cams, with a very rough idle, bouncing up and down until it finally clears itself up and idles properly a couple seconds later (or if i rev it to like 3k a couple times)... does this help at all?

thanks again everyone

 

if you have spare coils lying around, mark and swap those bishes.

 

I managed to start my engine with 2 coils unplugged (don't ask ), it started with ease but idled and sounded like crap. Maybe different motors react differently, but I think unless he has like 3 or more dead coils that's most likely not it. Plus there should be a noticeably power loss and bad smell with even one dead coil, and the car wouldn't run or idle for beans.

 

and i have already tried swapping out with my old known "good" coils..

it seems very weird that it idles soo rough until basically i give it gas and "clear" it out , grr - is that probably only because it is flooded from not starting though? i think my baby is headed into the technician, although they will throw a fit about the turbo and all...

 

Will it crank enough to do a compression test?

 

yes, it will eventually start and run everytime (most of the time it comes close to killing the battery first though- actually have had it kill the battery 2x) and once it runs it runs WONDERFUL and is perfect after i rev it a little and let it clear out... but once its off again , hot or cold , starting issue... it cranks and cranks and cranks fast as normal, just will not fire. occasionally it will fire and rpm come to like 300-400 i think it will start, but no , crank some more..

i'm afraid to do compression test, but it doesnt sound like a weak-compression motor when it turns over.. i guess i might as well do it

 

okay I'm going to go out on a limb here.... Is the engine the same exactl engine as you took out? I remmber seeina 95 engine with a different EGR setup entirely (MedicSonic's old car). Could it be one of the early 95 engines with different environmental controls or something is going on and the ECU is ****ed?

I dunno. I guess I'm not helping. I didn't know about the coil swaps, sorry.

 

I had a bad time with a motor once and it would sorta do that. It turned out that the timing chain on the front cylinder head had jumped one tooth and was causing the CAM REF sensor to be out of sync.

The easist way to check is to set the motor at cylinder 1 TDC, pull off the front valve cover and see how the the cam lobes are sitting. Then do the same to one of your blown motors that ran ok and compare cam lobe positions. If they are different, that is your problem.

Compression wont be effected by this. Its a tough one to diagnose.

You can also check spark, put a plug in one coil pack at a time and crank it. If you get intermitant spark the above is a good posability.

 

just something from consumerreports.com on 4th gen Maxima's under common problems:

Hard starting: Hard starting, stalling, or stumbling under load could be caused by corrosion of the coolant sensor. (1995-96)

Hard starting: If the engine does not start on the first attempt, the engine may crank very slowly on the second attempt because of a problem with the engine control computer. (1995)

Rough idle: Several problems (no-start, no A/C, rough running, etc.) can be traced to broken wires in the engine compartment where the harness bends near the right strut tower. (1995-97)

Hope that pushes you in the right direction...

 

My car had a similar problem and I eventually burned the starter up. It sounded like it was cranking fine (strong) but apparently wasn't. I found out that when my tranny was replaced they didn't clean the mating surfaces of the engine and tranny (clutch housing, bell housing, whatever?) They removed the transmission, cleaned the mating surfaces and that took care of the problem. Your starter gets grounded through the above mentioned connection. Your battery ground leaves the battery, connects to the body by the battery tray and then travels over to ground at the engine block. Your starter gets its ground by ultimately being connected to the engine block. To test for this, take a heavy guage wire and run it from the negative of your battery to one of the starters mounting bolts so that it is getting a good ground. If that works you may have to clean up that connection. Good luck.

 

I did the same thing and mine had trouble with emmisions at first. New engines are funny like that.

 

i just did mine today, and NO difference in my cold start-up at all!

Ant