So my car died yesterday . . . .

CD, I'm no pro - but I think the oil leaking into the spark plug chamber (due to a bad valve cover seal) has nothing to do with your problem. I think your problem lies elsewhere, i.e. bad fuel pump, etc.

Nirav

Same here. Not your problem. It might make it run crappy, but not stop it entirely.

So far, I assumed maybe my gas gage is funky, so I filled the car to half a tank. When I turn the key I hear the fuel pump priming as normal. As the car is turning over, I hear the fuel pump steadily humming at lower frequency. Still, the RPM gage does not budge. I smelled the tailipie for gas but I'm not sure what I'm smelling because I have gas smells all over myself right now.

No luck. The car just won't start. I'll be repalcing all the ignition parts later today.

Some time back I remember my relative had a similar problem on his honda civic. We replaced all the ignition parts. We smelled the exhaust and definitely smelt fuel. It turned out to be an ignition part, but not the normal maintenance items like rotor and cap. It was the magnetic coil that has some function inside the distributor. I wonder if my car has a similar setup. My sentra ignition seems to be a somewhat sophisticated ignition system as the distirbutor cap has 2 sensors connected to it. one with 5 wires and the other with 2. I guess the 2 wire connector is the cam position sensor parheps?

More suggestions welcome.

Thanks

CD

On Fri, 19 May 2006 12:31:18 -0400, Codifus graced this newsgroup with:

..good gawd..the "Scorched Earth Theory" is the dumbest way to repair a car. Get thee to an independent shop and have them check it out.

A car only needs two basic things to run:

A spark Fuel

If you have fuel coming into your car (and wet plugs will verify that), then what you're missing is spark. Pull a plug and ground it out and see if it sparks. If not, then you need to trace back to find out where you're losing it.

The fact that you want to just start replacing parts means to me at least, that you're not sure what to do. What you recommend doing will probably cost you MORE than paying a tech to run a diagnostic on your car. If you afford to replace your entire ignition system, you can afford to have someone who know's what they're doing repair it right the first time.

I'm not trying to be mean about this, but good gosh, don't blow money on unneeded parts.

Well let's do the math. Initially I've spent:

$100 to tow it home. $100 on regular maintenance parts, spark plugs, wires, cap n rotor etc $40 on the valve cover and spark plug gaskets.

That's $240.00

If I sent it to my mechanic the costs would have been: $100 to tow to the shop $100 on regular maintenance parts, spark plugs, wires, cap n rotor (may as well have them replaced since they have to be removed to replace the valve cover gaskets) $40 on the valve cover and spark plug gaskets. (This definitely has to be replaced) $70/hour for at least 2 hours = $140

That's a total of $380.00

So far, I'm still ahead by $140.

CD

Problem solved . . . .and another problem was created by autozone.

The car not running issue made itself plainly obvious when I took apart the distributor. The screw that holds the rotor in place fell into my hands. Now I see how cars run with no ignition timing what-so-ever:) I'm going to use mad quantities of thread locker when I put the new rotor in.

The problem created was with the valve cover. Since I needed to replace the spark plug gaskets I went to autozone and picked up the parts. I removed the valve cover and started digging out the old plug gaskets and partially broke the valve cover around the spark plug hole. It turns out , and I verified this with the Nissan parts dealer, that the spark plugs gaskets are not replaceable on the GA16DE valve cover. If you've got oil leaking into your spark plugs, you need to replace the entire valve cover. Auto-zone incorrectly specified a part that is not interchangeable. So I just picked up a used cover and I'll be replacing it today.

Thanks for all the replies.

CD

CD, this type of valve-cover design is still in use today. I believe the 5th Gen and perhaps even the 6th Gen Maximas use a similar setup where the entire valve cover has to be replaced.

Glad to see you're back on the road.

Nirav

On Mon, 22 May 2006 16:48:11 -0400, Codifus graced this newsgroup with:

..and *still* haven't solved the problem. At what point do you decide that it isn't fixed, cut your losses and go through the entire laundry list of getting it towed and repaired at your local technician?

You're *not* $140 ahead. You're $380 behind. DUH

Must be that new fangled math you're using.

Actually, I *have* solved the problem.

So, not only did I come out ahead, but I actually *saved* $140.

Who's the dummy now? DUH

CD

On 24 May 2006 07:50:20 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net graced this newsgroup with:

you're *still* mired in that new math. You blew a bunch of money replacing parts none of those parts were the problem. double DUH.

Like I said in my original post, since those parts were coming out to replace the leaking valve cover, I decided to replace them to save me having to do replace them again sooner rather than later. Replacing them now offset the labor cost of doing them later. Even though the parts didn't need replacing, the labor cost of taking them out now and then again at a sooner date was offset. But of course you with your simpleton Flinstones math just dont get it. Does your brain hurt if I ask you what 2+2 is? I'm sorry. Take a pill, Barney Rubble.

CD

On Wed, 24 May 2006 19:33:29 -0400, Codifus graced this newsgroup with:

amazing. You can't be this stupid without help.