MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

It looks like the prize for this round of "Help the DIY" goes to Dan for pointing to the POS sensor.

The POS timing sensors are different.

The 98 is...
Made by Mitsubishi
Nissan Part number 23731 35U10
Produces 5V at the sensor wire when metal is touched to the tip of the sensor, as per the Haynes FSM sensor test.
Resistance between power and ground is ~24k ohms

The 96 is...
Made by Hitachi
Nissan part number 23731 35U00
Produces no more than 1v at the sensor wire when metal is touched to the tip, as per the Haynes FSM sensor test.
Resistance between power and ground is 4k ohms.

I am using my 98 wiring harness and ECM, so the ECM is looking for 5v from the sensor wire.

To check for coil triggering, I hooked a test LED between the battery 12V and coil trigger wire and cranked it up, per the haynes manual. With the 96 sensor I get one good blink, thats it. With the 98 sensor I get a few faint blinks.

Perhaps the 96 Hitachi sensor I have is broken, it is kind of rattey looking. Could some one with an Hitachi POS sensor please test it with a DVM for resistance between the two outer terminals? And if you want to really make my Christmas card list check the sensor for trigger functionality voltage, I can e-mail you the FSM instructions.

Could the trigger wheels be different between the 96 and 98, anyone? Must be, other wise my 98 would work on the 96 trigger wheel or the ECM is now damaged.

Could I have damaged the ECM by using the 96 sensor?

I'm also going to swing by my friendly nissan service department to beg for help.

Look here for pics of the sensors. http://www.geocities.com/mardigrasmax/POSSensors.htm

Thanks for all the help it is appreciated!!!

PS: A burrito was a great idea Cheston, it hit the spot!!!

Vinipux

can't help you w/ that part, but good luck man, I hope everything works soon

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

Anyone, Anyone???

Martin, Martin???

Anyone, Anyone???

emax02

iTrader: (1)

Post your questions in the 4th gen forum and Martin will most likely help you. I don't think he ever posts in this forum. Good luck dude!

Vinipux

e-mail me the instructions dude, I'll see what I can do, I have a 96 se

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

wait..it it me or Daniel B martin?
you can always check the ECU by running it in self test mode. is the trigger wheel something that's external or something that's on the balancer? if yes then you can always swap those pieces and have it work with your 98. i think this is what you need to do at this point if you're really stuck.
since your 98 ECU is looking for a 5V input/signal from the sensor and the 96 only shoots out a 1V i don't think you did any damage to the ECU..but wouldn't hurt to check.
if the 98 sensor is lighting the spark but just really weak that means that it's not picking up a solid signal..so it's very possible that the trigger is not as strong as the sensor would like it to be. so it works..just very weak/faint trigger signal.

good luck..carry on..

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

You da man DanNY!!!

Nissan shows that the 96 sensor's part number was replaced by the 98 part number, so they are the same. The flywheels/trigger wheels are the same.

Time to diagnose the ECU.

I did just notice that the bolt for the 96 sensor was longer than my 98 sensor's bolt. Perhaps it is not pushing the POS sensor into the trigger wheel deep enough. That would cause a week signal from the POS sensor for sure. We shall see.

DanNY how do you put the ECU into self diagnostics mode?

Mucho Gracias!

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

nah..i'm definitely not the man. as u can tell i don't know jack about cars...well that's what a lot of newbies say. back to your prob...

since i'm one gen of cars behind u i can't be 100% sure. but on the ecu i'm sure you can turn the screw in there back and forth to set it into diagnostic mode.

well basically you know there's a signal coming from somewhere. it's just a little weak..so find out where that trigger is and determine what you need to do. you're like almost to the goal line....so just keep at it. i don't have a VQ so i can't tell u what's the deal..but i've worked with crank/cam angle sensors and if something is wrong w/ them you're basically at a stand still...no spark condition just like yours. well you have a weak spark..that's your glimmer of hope.

infinitiblast

iTrader: (2)

cool you are getting there man, keep it up. I know you just wanna start it and drive it. LoL. But wait one more thing is the flux capacitor lined up that may need to be lined up also.

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

Right. Also, make sure you are using a new or remanufactured EGR transformulation valve. This is critical.

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

Thanks again Dan. I'll keep trudging along!!!

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

I pulled the coils and plugged a spark plug into them one at a time. I then grounded the plugs with a length of wire directly to the battery negative coil. I got good spark at only two of the cylinders, two gave one good spark, two gave no spark at all. THIS IS PERPLEXING? I plugged the non working coils on to the harness connectors of the coils that worked and got good spark, so all the coil packs are good.

Perhaps the harness got damaged when I removed it. All coils have good 12v and ground. I will now trace the trigger wires back to the ECU. I have a 96 ECU that I will also try.

Any thoughts!

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

Same apark results with the 96 ECU.

All coil trigger wires trace good back to the ECU connector.

Double checked grounds and 12v at coils, all good.

??????????????

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Would you like to use my alldata.com account to look over a few things?

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

That would be awesome! Please E-mail me.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

There are some trouble shooting things in there but this account is for a 97-99 GXE. If you can't find what you need there, you should try to email Medicsonic for his account. He owns a 96 GLE. Check your email.

http://www.alldatadiy.com/index.html

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

hmmm..well let me think about this..
so basically when you 1st fire it sparks then it dies...two strong, two weak, two no spark.
i don't have a 4th gen FSM so i can't tell u what design nissan uses.
does the two that fire continue to fire while cranking?
sounds like it's still not getting signal from something. is it something like when you turn the key the engine will initally fire w/o signal to get it then if no signal it'll just die out? someone want to scan a few pages?

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

I get good spark on the same two cylinders for the whole cranking cycle. Then one to no spark on two cylinders, then no spark at all on the last two cylinders.

Daniel found a nice article on this problem...
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=57842

Looks like I need to pull off the timing chain cover and take a look... Thats a lot of work, but it could be the problem...

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Did you get my email with the Alldata info. I hope it helps.

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

well figure the engine was running ok after the build it seems odd that the timing would be off now. unless the shock of the accident made it jump..but the chain tensioner is there to take up that slack. it made be it...so hope that's it and call it the day..but from that artice the car just had the waterpump replaced..so the chain was moved. on yours the car was driven after the build and etc.
i guess there's only one way to find out. good luck...but for some reason i don't think it is the chain...just a hunch.

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

My local Nissan shop forman, a very nice guy, but none the less was no help. After I ran down the list of what I had already checked, he had no idea what it could be. He recomends that I bring the car their and pay $70, plus towing expense, to hook it to the Nissan Consult computer. I dunno? Perhaps I should let them take a look. Or mabye I should check the cam timing marks my self tonight. Ive got other transportation so its not too big of an inconvience, more of a time sucking PIA?

What to do?

deezo

iTrader: (3)

Let them do the diagnostics to save you some time.

mdeal

iTrader: (2)

When you say timing sensor do you mean crankshaft position sensor?

MardiGrasMax

iTrader: (14)

See new post.