Simon Tibbett

Ok, I have a 89 240SX Coupe with the totally stock KA24E. Since I got the car it has been hesitant to go at idle. Like a little gas will seem like it wants to die. Well the other day a little gas did kill it and it didnt start back up.

I checked for spark, all good. Next was fuel. I heard the pump primer. But no start. I banged the fuel pump, tried hard to start. Banged more, started. However, it ran very very rough. Almost like on 3 cylinders, but it was all 4. I got it running enough to drive to my girlfriends house.

I swapped fuel pumps for a new one. Same problem. Then I checked fuel filter, fine. I thought sensors because at high rpm it is ok, low rpm it ticks and sounds bad. But after keeping the rpm's up for a few it idled normal. But adding a little gas it died down.

Any ideas? Any help greatly appreciated.

Levi SPL S14

is your timing off?

All KA's tick.

dak2007

it's your........................................timing

Simon Tibbett

well how do i check if it is? but why at high rpm it is ok, and then idles fine. and the whole start sometimes not others runs different. it just seems more electrical to me.

usdm240

sounds like one of your injectors isnt working correctly,or may not be working at all. try this:

get your motor running and starting at the number one injector, pull the ECU wiring connector off each one. if you are halding the throttle at a steady RPM, you should notice a dropoff of hesitation in the motor if that injector is functioning correctly. if it is not, when you pull the connector, you will feel and hear no change and that will be the faulty injector.

alsom check these:

-idle set screw
-timing
-IACV

all three can make you car run like ***. best of luck.

Cape 240

sounds like timing to me too.

check your Distributer. Start the engine, then twist it slowly and see how it reacts. If you aren't comfortable doing this, get a friend who knows andything about cars to help you. Its pretty easy.

The screw should be right near the middle.

Simon Tibbett

Ok update. I drove the car home. It starts now everytime. My spark plugs keep getting fouled. When it dies and wont restart. I can take the plugs out, clean them, starts back up. BUT low RPM it sucks still. Will try and stall. I checked and switched the MAF and TPS sensor. Car will die if I take the whole intake tube off TB, any ideas? My battery also wont hold a charge, at all. Alternator go bad all of a sudden? Any ideas are welcomed. I turned the dizzy with it running, little change in idle is all I saw or should I have someone rev it up while doing it?

TeDDY

If you take the intake off the throttle body, you will loose vacuum.

You dont need 2 people to rev it up and turn the Distributor, the throttle bodie has a Roundish lever on it you can play with to rev it up. Thats what i did

as for the alternator, Can you run the car for 20 minutes, turn off the car, and start it back up? or will the battery be dead? if theres absolutly no juice it would most likely mean that your alternator is gone.

Initial Daniel

Is the "charge" light on? It'll be the little battery indicator on your instrument panel...

re037

car dies when you take the intake piping off cus the MAF is by the air filter. chekc oil, timing at the crank as well as egr valve.

Simon Tibbett

Oil is good, smells like oil no gas or anything. Will check timing, dont want to sound too dumb what is the EGR valve? Also it wont start back after 20 minutes of driving. It just clicks right when I try to restart it.

dak2007

i almost garantee you it's your timing. i would put money on it that your tensioner is about to go and that when you try to start your car the chain is skipping around a little bit. everything you're saying sounds exactly like what my car was doing. you can change the timing chain and all that good stuff yourself. it can be a bit of a pain and it cost about 100 dollars for parts but you learn a lot about your car.

as far as the battery goes. is it new? if so do you have the receipt? if you do then take it to the store where you bought it. they will test it for you. once a battery gets completely drained it won't hold a charge anymore. to check your alternator start your car then after a minute disconect the negative battery terminal. if your alternator is bad the car should die. if your alternator is good you'll actually hear a change in your engine from the alternator kicking in to power everything.

Simon Tibbett

I hope it is not the timing. But the car starts fine. Idles fine. At about 2-3k or a little less it bogs and is hard to move. High rpm it is fine no bogging or anything. Could the dizzy timing be a little off after I messed with that? I will go try the battery thanks, and it is not new, it is off a parts car. My other battery was dead as well and would only start jumping it off. Is there something else wrong killing my batteries?