1998 Nissan Maxima Won't Start
 

I bought a Nissan Maxima that had sat for a year or two. The previous owner parked it and the next morning it wouldn't start. It has good fuel pressure. When jumped the engine cranks well and fast. The front camshaft spins and all the fuses are good.
What should I do next to diagnose the problem. The Camshaft Position sensor looks quite new, however the engine has a bad camshaft cover seal that leaked oil all down the front right corner of the engine on the Camshaft Position Sensor.
-MAHONEY

if youre suspecting cam sensor scan it for codes, if theres no codes i would be checking for spark

Can I check for spark by pulling the coils, inserting a screwdriver into the spark plug boot, and putting it near a ground to see if it sparks while cranking the car?
-MAHONEY

Yes, you can see a spark that way.

I've checked for spark and there is no spark.
I read the stored trouble codes and they were for,
A knock sensor or circuit fault
Upstream left bank oxygen sensor high voltage
An EVAP valve door stuck closed
EVAP system high pressure.

I bought a knock sensor and will be installing it this next week, but I'm not sure that a knock sensor can cause the car to not start.

A mechanic told men that if the car turns over that means the PCM is functioning and all sensors are working. Is that true on my 98 Maxima?

I don't think any code listed above will keep it from throwing spark and running.

Can you check the cam and crank sensors as your next step?

How should I check the cam sensor and the crankshaft sensor?

The car is in Bloomington IN

-MAHONEY

Thanks

In my signature line there is a link to the Field Service Manuals. Get the FSM directory for your year model and go to the EC.pdf section. The sensors are covered in that section.

Sent from my Z998 using Maxima

The codes you listed won't prevent the car from starting.

Even though you don't have a code for it, check the crankshaft sensor on the flywheel, CKPS(POS). This sensor is needed to produce spark.

See page 248 - http://boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/1998/EC.pdf

checking the camshaft sensor immediately follows in the manual.

You can hold off on installing that knock sensor. The knock sensor code, P0325, shows up just about any time you have another code. Fix the other things and there is a good chance the knock sensor code will be gone.

Game Changer
 

The first time I tested for spark the ground I used was actually aluminum. I tried the spark test again on a real ground and I had spark!

The car has been sitting for a year or so and the engine oil level is very low. The engine also knocks when turned over but I am hoping that is just because there is no oil in the upper engine to lubricate anything.

The previous owner claims to have drove the car home, running well, and the next morning it wouldn't start. He may be lying, but could he have ran it low on oil and burned out a ring?

My next two tests will be for fuel at the injectors and then compression. To check for fuel can I simply pull out an injector and see if it sprays? It has good pressure at the rail but I don't know if the injectors are functioning.

Thank you for replying to my questions. I'm sorry that I tested for spark badly and wasted your time on replies for that problem.
-MAHONEY

The fuel injectors are mounted in the fuel rails, so if you remove an injector and try to start the car, you will have gasoline gushing out of the opening where you removed the injector from. If you ever do take an injector out, replace the 2 rubber o-rings when you re-install it. Old o-rings usually break if you try to re-use them.

But if you want to see if gas is getting into the fuel rail, go ahead and pull an injector out. When you turn the ignition key to the ON position (not START position), the fuel pump will run for about one second. You will have gas coming out of the fuel injector opening, but it will only be a second or so. Don't try to start the engine because sparks from the starter solenoid could ignite the gas.

Another way to see if the fuel injector system is working is with a volt meter. All the fuel injectors have 2 wire on them. One of the wires is red. This wire should have 12 volts on it when the ignition key is in the ON position.

The other wire on the injector goes to the ECU. The ECU applies ground to this wire to make the injector squirt gas. When the injector is not squirting, you will have 12 volts on this wire. When you check voltage on this wire, you will not get an accurate reading because the amount of time the ECU grounds this wire is just a fraction of a second. In order to get any kind of a reading, you will have to use the AC volts scale on the voltmeter, the lowest scale that you can. If you get some fluctuating reading, the ECU is telling the injector to squirt.

One last thing. This is kind of far out, but are you absolutely sure that the car is a 1998 model and not a 1999 model? Look at the VIN. Count backwards from the right end 8 (eight) characters. A 1998 car will have a letter W. A 1999 car will have the letter X.

A leaking camshaft seal? This is a timing chain driven motor not a timing belt! You sure you don't mean the crankshaft seal?