Any ideas??

About a week ago, while on the highway, I got a couple of "lurches" at about 60 mph while passing. The next day, the fuel pump died. Replaced that. 2 days later, the lurches (missfires?) came back, only worse. Replaced fuel filter, still mis-fires. Replaced plugs, wires cap and rotor, still missfiring. (BTW, O2 sensor replaced 2 mo ago) Drove around with a fuel pressure gauge and timing light in the cockpit, everything on gauges within range. Noticed by then the problem only occured after the van had reached operating temp. and then would occur only after the van was restarted hot!!.!.... The driveability would then progress to the point of not getting enough power to make 40 mph, but stop and let the engine cool to about 1/2 the temp guage, and the van would drive like nothing was wrong!! :wtf: Of course, until it got hot and you restarted it. Then down the crapper it went...It took it to Ford, while it was barely running, the mech put a "noid" on the injector wire and said it was getting intermittant signals. He had no plan other than to "hit the books" (at my expense, I'm sure) to figgure out what could cause that, and be dependant on engine temp. I barely got the van home after that, put my stethascope on the injectors, and all seemed to be "clicking" with no audible misses.... :swear:
It seems to me it must be a sensor problem, or maybe a sensor clearance issue that changes with temp..
Bitch is, when it's cold, and you can get to the sensors, it's running fine...wait until it's hot, and running bad, and the damn thing's like working on a furnace..(waahh)

I guess I should just start replacing sensors?
Any Ideas on which to start with..? most likely would be??
I have a Haynes manual, but would like some other input, if possible...
I looked at the camshft position sensor (in the dist.) (looks ok, but who can tell by looking) not much I can do w/o replacing the whole damn dist., right?
I guess I'm hoping someone out there has had this same issue, so I can get a break!!! :bigthumb:
I will be sure and post the outcome when I resolve this, wish me luck...Cya

Hello;
It sounds like your ignition power transistor (ignition module) is failing when hot and is located next to the coil. These fail quite a bit on these vans.

hey,dzus;

I had talked to a Nissan dealership about the power transistor, and the mech said it would react to tempurature like that, but that the van wouldn't run at all until it was cool. He seems to think it's the distributor. I had an independant shop hook it up, and the mech there said the distributor was throwing erratic waves and that it was the cause. I'm tending to go with the mechs, but I still have issues with the runs good hot until you shut it off,, then it runs bad...

Have you heard of the power transistor going bad when its hot, but the van still runs (tho lousy)? Thanks! J

Any codes pulled up when they checked your vehicle? They might be right on the distributor,but it seems to me that a bad dist.would run poorly all the time. Power transistors don't all fail the same,most fail entirely and some partially. Coils are the same way and can start beaking down under a load. I would also check all wire connections at dist,power t,coil, etc....for looseness,cracks,corrosion and such. A power trans.is a lot cheaper than a dist. The "runs good hot until re-started" not sure about,bad Pcm or ground for pcm?
good hunting.

[Dzus:

I tried pulling the power t. off the engine with the connector attached (so it wouldn't absorb the engine heat) wrapping it in a cold compress while the engine was hot, and it didn't change the way it ran. I waited until the engine cooled, it ran fine until it got hot. The power transistor never got above around room temp. (or certainly nowhere near 180 d.) I have checked every connector I could find, but your suggestion to check the computer ground is a good one, I will look at that. I had to order the dist. so it will be a day of waiting anyway....

Thnx!

Oh, and no, never have gotten any codes....

One other thing I wanted to suggest was spray the camshaft sensor and indexing plate in the distributor with contact cleaner. If those are dirty it will screw up the wave-circuit inside the dist.

Dang, i didn't think of that, spraying the plate and sensor. Too late, tho I replaced the dist. for $200 and it appears to have fixed the problem. The van is running like her old self!!! Still makes me wonder why it didn't just crap out, instead of running ok until hot...oh well, thanks dzus for the replies, I hope this helps some one else. Cya 'round!!

Good Deal!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the same problem as kayankee for 2 months until I ran into this thread. I didn't want to go to a mechanic just to make myself feel good by fixing it myself. I have replace the spark plugs, distributor cap, fuel filter, and was going to replace the MAF sensor but upon reading this thread, I decided to ask Kragen if I could look and compare resistance readings with the MAF they have in stock. Fortunately they let me and the MAF turned out to be okay. Next was to remove and clean the distributor. As per the advice of DZUS, I sprayed the camshaft sensor and the indexing plate with a carburator cleaner. A neighbor was talking to me about other things at the time and I was somewhat distracted on what I was doing. I did not clean it as much as I could. I put it together and test drove it the next day. The major problem which was losing power after the engine is fully warmed up went away; although, I now fell a surge even when the engine is cold which is more noticeable while I am on a stop light. Again, I removed the distributor and this time gave it a thorough cleaning and even re-splice the wiring going to the distributor which has all four wires cracked and brittle. I think I also replaced the plate inverted which may explain the surge even when the engine is cold. NOW, the van is running again like new without spending 200 dollars for a remanufactured distributor. Thanks DZUS...

Congrats on fixing the problem! I like it when people post what fixed the problems. later......

Dang, i didn't think of that, spraying the plate and sensor. Too late, tho I replaced the dist. for $200 and it appears to have fixed the problem. The van is running like her old self!!! Still makes me wonder why it didn't just crap out, instead of running ok until hot...oh well, thanks dzus for the replies, I hope this helps some one else. Cya 'round!!


The reason it did not crap out is becuase it is a well built vehicle and you have shown this vehicle TLC over the years and it appreciates it. Most people come to the boards to get a option other than the dealer price for the repair sometimes even a miracle. You have done your homework and paid attention and you have solved your problem. I wish everyone would TLC their cars we would have lots of good cars on the road.

This thread helped me solve my 96 villager problem so I decided to share my experience and say thanks. First what happened: While driving the car completely shutdown – troubleshooting revealed that the screw holding the distributor rotor to the shaft had worked its way out. By just plain luck I found this during roadside troubleshooting and replaced the screw and was back on the road only to have the car misfire/not fire on all cylinders especially under acceleration. Ok, the car had not had a tune-up in over 4 years. The spark plugs were platinum but had approximately 100K miles on them. So I figured a tune-up was a good start. Cap, rotor, plugs, wires were replaced and the problem was still there. My timing light indicated that number 4 cylinder was not firing correctly. Then it was number 6 not firing right and number 4 cylinder looked good. I tried the power transistor. BTW the guy at the auto parts store looks at you like you have two heads if you ask for a power transistor. My manual calls it a power transistor but it is an ignition module to them. Tip: AutoZone tests these for free and has a reasonable replacement price ($70). Make sure you have them test the new one before you leave the store. It will give you something to compare against and validate the tester/test procedure. The test they performed told me that the power transistor was not the problem. I should have realized this. If it was the power transistor I would expect all cylinders would be misfiring/not firing. After reading this thread, I bought a can contact cleaner, removed the plate under the rotor (2 screws), and gave the sensor and the position plate a good hosing with the contact cleaner. I then used a can of compressed air to remove the any excess cleaner. That stuff is explosive and can collect below the plate. I could easily see the first spark launching the cap if any cleaner remained. Bottom line is the car runs great now. Thanks to everyone who has posted here and god bless the internet.

hey guys, i'm new here and I'm tryin to figure out whats goin on with my car.

1996 Mercury Villager and I am having the same problems ksyankee was having.

2 mechanics have not been able to figure out the problem. One even attempted to swap out the distributor with another used one and still no change with the car backfiring and not going over 40 or 50.

I guess I will have to try to pull the old one out and clean it before i put it back in.

Any other Idea's of what can cause this problem to occur?

Help me out guys. If a replament of the distributor didn't work what else can it be.

Thanks in advance for the help.

hey guys, i'm new here and I'm tryin to figure out whats goin on with my car.

1996 Mercury Villager and I am having the same problems ksyankee was having.

2 mechanics have not been able to figure out the problem. One even attempted to swap out the distributor with another used one and still no change with the car backfiring and not going over 40 or 50.

I guess I will have to try to pull the old one out and clean it before i put it back in.

Any other Idea's of what can cause this problem to occur?

Help me out guys. If a replament of the distributor didn't work what else can it be.

Thanks in advance for the help.

I would recommend you re read the thread from the top and check off the steps taken. If you have done these things give us the time since it was done and the outcome. You have agreed you have the problem but you only mentioned the distributer as a repair having been done.

I would recommend you re read the thread from the top and check off the steps taken. If you have done these things give us the time since it was done and the outcome. You have agreed you have the problem but you only mentioned the distributer as a repair having been done.


Before any parts were replace the plugs, wires distributor cap and rotar were replaced. I had a mechanic replace the module by the distributor and the same problem of backfiring exists. He replaced the distributor with one he had and the same problem still exists. So we reinstalled the original.

All these replacements and attempted repairs happened within one week.

I don't know what else to tell you guys.

I ma gonna get a used Distributor assmebly from a place here and try replacing it...we'll see how that goes.

Turns out it was the timing of the distributor as well as the distributor...
Thanks everyone