Nissan Almera no spark.

[rob321]

Hi, we have a Nissan Almera 2004 petrol (1500cc i think) at work and it's got us beat.
It came in with the customer complaining of it running rough,stalling and not re-starting easily.
At first it was Ok (engine warm but managrment light on) then it sort of was flat spotting under revs and the rev counter was sticking.
We put a scanner on it and it said that the Camshaft position sensor was faulty, we checked the wiring to it and it's ok so we changed the sensor, the rev counter now is fine but it started stalling and was hard to re-start when warm.
We left it overnight and this morning went to it cold and it would not start at all.
A different scanner still says camshaft position sensor faulty ? we checked for spark and it was so weak on 2 cylinders that it was hardly visible and the other 2 cylinders did not look to be firing at all.
The immobilizer light goes out when cranking so it's not that.
We are new to diagnostics (very new) so are a bit lost.
I ordered a crank sensor in desperation (not very proffessional but hey ho) if that doesn't work then that's me sh1t out of luck.
Any ideas?
Thank's
Rob.
.

[Meat-Head]

M-H-M had one of thses bags of crap

1) Although not on the job card, check the rear lights work, they suffer from bad earths, which puts power down the brake light wires, making
the car think the brakes are on, so it knocks back the supply of hydro carbons

2) The one we had was PERFECT except the light came on ONLY when engine hot, think was P0340 (Z786 knows about that), had lump and crank sensor, Nelson Mandella charged 100 pounds + vat to say 'dunno mate'

The lumpy stick is chain driven (word on street) ecu was duff.


Just because it has a weak spark, doesn't meant it wont run

Try uploading ecu to ATP Staffordshire

[racin-snake]

has it got seperate coils ?
try testing them
also crank and cam sensors are the same
so switch em round
also is rev counter eratic?
and is coils getting feed 12v and a good earth from ecu pulsed earth ?
give some more details so we know what the eng code ect is as we can look at digs and stuff to help ya?

[drakov]

Timing chain is stretched is my guess, remove rocker cover and check how far out the adjuster is, more than 13mm and it needs changed, streched chain causes cam/crank signal to flag sensor fault, we have had had loads with cam sensor fault being flagged. No need to thank me just make a donation to DK as payment:roflmao:

If in doubt just ask my girlfriend (link is below in my sig) "almera timing chain stretched":top:

[rob321]

Thank's for the quick replys guys!
It's stupid o'clock here and i'll try your ideas in the morning when i get to work.
The rev counter instantly cured when the cam sensor was fitted but nothing else was fixed, it has coil per plug and is timing chain driven cam.
It's definately getting fuel as the plugs are wet after cranking, both scanners have not picked up on anythig other than cam sensor, no missfire logs, or any other fault codes show up.
I like the thought of swapping the cam and crank sensors around as it's not impossible for Andrew Pages to have supplied us with a duff cam sensor,

[cjawahir]

Timing chain is stretched is my guess, remove rocker cover and check how far out the adjuster is, more than 13mm and it needs changed, streched chain causes cam/crank signal to flag sensor fault, we have had had loads with cam sensor fault being flagged. No need to thank me just make a donation to DK as payment:roflmao:

If in doubt just ask my girlfriend (link is below in my sig) "almera timing chain stretched":top:

also when your engine dont start unplug the crank sensor , it will start .
timing is out because of stretch chain .

cj

[rob321]

Only got about 30 mins on the Almera today and still no joy, the timing chain seems fine, the cam and crank sensors are good, it's getting fuel, just no spark seems to be the problem but if scanners don't flag up any other codes other than cam position sensor then it's getting out of my depth, just a thought does anyone know if there is some sort of inertia switch? if so i would suspect it would cut fuel pump not ignition.
I looked for engine code but couldnt find it.
If the imobilizer had an oddball fault would in neccesarily show up on a scanner?
Sorry about the noob questions but got some good feedback from you already and will look at pulsed earth to coils tommorrow.
Rob.

[drakov]

When you say the chain looks good what was the distance that the tensioner had protruded? I have done loads of these and only once have I replaced a sensor for those symptoms (and it didn't cure it), everyone has been chain problem 13mm or further and this WILL be your fault. I am trying to understand how you checked the chain (only way I know is to remove it) and compare with the new "modified" chain they made?

[cjawahir]

Only got about 30 mins on the Almera today and still no joy, the timing chain seems fine, the cam and crank sensors are good, it's getting fuel, just no spark seems to be the problem but if scanners don't flag up any other codes other than cam position sensor then it's getting out of my depth, just a thought does anyone know if there is some sort of inertia switch? if so i would suspect it would cut fuel pump not ignition.
I looked for engine code but couldnt find it.
If the imobilizer had an oddball fault would in neccesarily show up on a scanner?
Sorry about the noob questions but got some good feedback from you already and will look at pulsed earth to coils tommorrow.



Rob.

when the vehicle not starting from cold , did you unplug the cranksensor and try a start ?

i want you to try this , did you try it yes or no .

cj

[rob321]

I tried to crank with crank sensor unplugged but no joy.
As for the timing chain the cam cover/rocker cover was removed and the tensioner only seemed to be out about 5 to 10 mm as you know its hard to see clearly but the tensioner did not look to be out more than about 10mm max, as for "checking" the chain i only cranked the car and looked for it flapping about at its longest run, i know this is not a good indicator but i think i may just bite the bullet and replace the chain and see what happens.
The only nagging doubt is that we had the car running on and off all afternoon the day before hot and cold (sometimes reluctantly and sometimes perfectly)
Then to just give up the ghost completely is that normal with these engines?
I'm gratefull for the advice and this car has been in the workshop for 3 days now so something has to be done.
The chain keeps on comming up in your replies so i'll go with that advice after i've checked the coils earth.
many thanks
Rob.

[Meat-Head]

For what it costs send the ecu to ATP, get them to ring you as soon as they have tested with yes or no answer, if no great, if yes ok, get gas axe out and sort chain out, whilst it's on it's way back.

in therory it only got one "timing fault" ecu or chain unlucky to have both.

oh did it rattle and hum?

[electromech]

Had one of these bastards then bought cam and crank sensor (come in kit form) they told me they dont sell them seperate anymore anyway drag tested and renewed sensors tested ok

[rob321]

Put the crock of shit back together this morning disconnected the crank sensor and it fired up!!!!
Can only think that the cylinders were full of fuel before and that's why it didn't go.
Anyhow Well done! great diag! soooo does that mean the cam chain is a distinct possibility ?
Thanks for your time guys.
Rob.

[cjawahir]

Put the crock of shit back together this morning disconnected the crank sensor and it fired up!!!!
Can only think that the cylinders were full of fuel before and that's why it didn't go.
Anyhow Well done! great diag! soooo does that mean the cam chain is a distinct possibility ?
Thanks for your time guys.
Rob.


yes .

cj

[jamiebhoy]

timing chain!!!!!!!!

[predadan79]

Maybe this will help you.

[rob321]

Finaly got the timming chain put on that Almera, it worked a charm..see i told you guys it was the timing chain all along!
Thank you so much for all who helped and guided me.
I never would have diagnosed it without you, top guys, top advice, thanks for your patience.
Rob.

[galldo57]

robb321, where did you get the new timing chain from. im having problem sourcing chain kit

[peromark]

did the old timing chain have some noises or something ,because I have the same problem but the car runed vary smooth witout any noices from the chain

[Meat-Head]

ON TOOIC:-

nelson mandella wrote on back of pub toilet door

"swap cam and crank sensors over, dont expect it to last
nelson mandella woz 'ere"