Almera will only start when engine is cold.

lorweld

Hi guys. I've a bit of a strange one. I've a 96 1.4 Nissan Almera. For the past few weeks the car will only start when the engine is cold. If I drive even 1 mile switch off the car and try to restart it, it won't. I have to leave it for hours before starting it.

My bf changed the petrol filter & air filter to see if that was the problem. Unfortunately it made no difference. I got a mechanic friend to look at the car. He went through everything but cannot find the problem. He said it actually has a very good engine & suspects an electrical problem which wouldn't be his expertise.

Anyone any idea what the problem is & how much money I can expect to pay. The car isn't worth a lot as it's only a 96, so I'm a bit reluctant to bring it to somebody else. Having said that it's the only car I have with v little funds to replace it.

Grateful for any ideas.

truthspeaker

i had a similar problem with a Hyundai accent. went great until i stopped then wouldn't start for ages until it had cooled down a bit. A real pain when filling up at the petrol station! what a pain in the arse that car was. never found out what the problem was! did discover the manifold was cracked though, but didn't make any direct correlation as to that being the reason, just another thing wrong with the car. my advice is to get rid sharpish, before you waste a fortune on tracing electrical faults to a fuse somewhere for 1.50

lorweld

Funny you should mention fuses. There is one fuse blown which I've to get tomorrow the a/c comp fuse but doubt it's actually that.


I lol'd when you mentioned the petrol station that's exactly where this first happened

It takes 3/4 hours for the car to restart

no1beemerfan

I'd a similar problem on an '86 BMW a few years ago. Turned out to be the fuel pump relay was overheating so had to wait for it to cool down before it started the car.

Muckie

My guess, only a guess would be engine temp sensor.

Once the cars engine heats up, sensor is opens/switch that it is and

doesn't close, till its totally cold again.

Bit of googling/ youtube videos should show you how to check this out,

only attempt it if your sure and good with the spanners.

Otherwise get a mechanic to check it out, shouldn't be too exspensive to sort, don't want to be stuck.

lorweld

Thanks Muckie but the mechanic actually thought this was the problem too but alas no.

jimmyw

Muckie wrote: »

My guess, only a guess would be engine temp sensor.

Once the cars engine heats up, sensor is opens/switch that it is and

doesn't close, till its totally cold again.

Bit of googling/ youtube videos should show you how to check this out,

only attempt it if your sure and good with the spanners.

Otherwise get a mechanic to check it out, shouldn't be too exspensive to sort, don't want to be stuck.

That was my first guess too, but thinking about it,shouldn't it not prevent the car from actually starting?When she did run,just run badly or black smoke (too much fuel) or hard to start when cold.What about the crank angle sensor?

lorweld

When it's running it runs great with no problems, the problem is switching it off & back on again.

moodrater

lorweld wrote: »

When it's running it runs great with no problems, the problem is switching it off & back on again.

Fuel pump relay is a good thought its easy to jumper it when hot and see if it starts.

Before you start it cold stick your head out the window and listen to the sound and speed of the starter. Do the same when you start it hot. When hot does the starter sound slower or laborious.

At cold start the engine should idle at 1000-1100rpm then gradually drop to and stay at 750-800rpm idle should be smooth and even, on the open road accelerate quickly in third gear from 1800rpm to 5000rpm, accelleration should be smooth no stalling reluctance etc.

The three most common problems with these are the aid meter and idle air control vale in the throttle body and as with any car of its age the lambda sensor in the exhaust. You'd usually have incorrect, lumpy idle or hesitation with these. If you had a combination of these problems you might have sufficient overfueling to prevent starting just like if you lef the choke on in an old car.

I assume your friend had the plug out to check for fouling and checked the distributor cap and rotor but did he check the spark when hot ignition module could be suffering from heat soak. you could try spraying with freezer spray to see if it starts.

At full temp coolant temperature sensor should be 0.9v I think.

Did your friend check for fault code not uncommon for the light to be removed or covered with black tape.

lorweld

Ok thanks Moodrater. Most of that went right over my head I really haven't a clue about cars, but I'll ask him all this. Thanks so much for your long & detailed response

Wheelnut

moodrater wrote: »

I assume your friend had the plug out to check for fouling and checked the distributor cap and rotor but did he check the spark when hot ignition module could be suffering from heat soak. you could try spraying with freezer spray to see if it starts.

I think this is the problem. I presume this car has what the Japs called "an igniter" which means that the coil was inside the distributer unit at the end of the cylinder head. They could fail when hot and work OK when they cooled down again.

moodrater

Wheelnut wrote: »

I think this is the problem. I presume this car has what the Japs called "an igniter" which means that the coil was inside the distributer unit at the end of the cylinder head. They could fail when hot and work OK when they cooled down again.

Yep coil inside distributor.

Another thing if timing was sufficiently retarded worn chain etc you could have hot start issues.

lorweld

Update on this lads. Brought it to a different mechanic & he found the problem. The temperature sensor was gone. He replaced it & the car is running great again! I'm a very happy girl & the best part he only charged me €30.

moodrater

You'll have to fire that first friend for not finding that:D

All's well that ends well, great reliable car I scrapped ours in the end because of rust in the outer sills, if I had to go there again I'd just get it welded and still be driving it.

Wheelnut

I would have thought that a faulty temperature sensor would be more likely to prevent starting when cold rather than when hot. However it has cured the problem in this case so we live and learn!