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Altima wont start after having engine overhauled

About 6 months back, my altima overheated and warped the head cracked the head gasket, and did some more damage, i replaced the thermostat that was bad on it, and had the head worked on by a machine shop, the mechanic shop that did the work on my car, took about 3 months, since i dint have the money right away, and he had a tight schedule, once the job was finished, the car wouldnt get any spark, it was having spark when it broke down. The battery is new, and good, the alternator was tested good, the distributor was put in new, the ignition coil is new, the cranckshaft position sensor is good, and the ignition control module is new, still the car doesnt have any spark. I trouble shot some of it, i found power going to the distributor, no signal from the ignition coil, the car turns but dont know what else to do, i took it to an electromechanic, and he said the new distributor needed to be changed. I would appreciate someone telling me what to do, since i cant figure out anything, i was told to pick up my car, since he cant figure out the problem. Thank u.

Reply to
Ellobito100
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Hi

You forgot to mention the year. They are similar from year to year, though.

Since someone took the head off and messed with the car, there's a good chance a wire is off or something isn't making contact properly. Reseat all connectors that might have been unplugged during the head removal, spraying them with contact spray first.

Also make sure your IGN fuse isn't blown -- it would be hard to believe that a mechanic couldn't find that, but you never know. Very basic stufff, but never ignore the obvious.

To start troubleshooting, disconnect the coil's primary and put a small

12V bulb across those contacts instead. Sometimes you can just leave the coil hooked up, depending on the size of your bulb but unhook the coil to eliminate it from the circuit. After hooking the bulb up across those wires, crank the car. If you see the bulb flash, the problem of not having spark is either the coil, rotor, cap, wires or plugs.

If you don't see the bulb flash, it could be an open or shorted ignition transistor (usually sitting on a bracket near your distributor) or open ignition resistor (is well hidden under your air intake) or whatever drives this (most likely camshaft sensor or ECU, etc -- all of which is more involving). To test the basics, Invest in a multimeter and a manual for your car as the manual will help you find these. It will talk you through testing these components.

When it gets more involving, it may require a scope to trace the problem. This brings me to thinking it hard to imagine that someone that does this stuff for a living can't figure it out. Fixing a no-spark condition isn't rocket science for someone that's trained to do this, especially with the right equipment.

If you feel uncomfortable doing this yourself, I'd try and find a different mechanic.

Start by getting yourself a good repair manual for your year Altima to get you a frame of reference. Let this group know how you make out and get suggestions.

Hope this is somewhat useful.

Remco

Reply to
Remco

Just one more basic thing to check: Take off the distributor cap, crank the car and make sure the rotor is turning. If it is, good - continue checking.

If it isn't -- not so good, as you might have a broken timing belt ($$) This is unlikely, since you haven't been driving it but do the test anyway.

Reply to
Remco

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