Car cranks but doesn't start.

[Nrails]

This is kinda long so bear with me.

About two weeks ago, I was on my way to work. My car went half way up a hill, stalled and stopped. I tried to restart it and my engine just cranked. After 15 minutes, my car started and I took it to my mechanic and asked him to check it out. He said to bring it in after the weekend. I agreed.

The next day the car did not start. I called my mechanic and he towed it to his shop. He determined there was no spark and he replaced my distributor. After that he said my car ran and started ok. I picked it up and drove it to work the next day.

On my way back home I felt the car "bogging" kind of like it wanted to stall. I gave my car more gas and I kept going. The next day the car did not start. All it did was crank. Both times I had at least a 3/4 tank of gas. I called my mechanic and he towed my car to his shop.

When he took my car off the tow truck, he was able to start it and it ran all day. He turned it off, went on drives, and had no problem. He kept the car for one day to try to see if it would not start. During this time, he tested my fuel pressure and it was good. He finally called a Nissan Technical representative and he said that the problem was the distributor. He also said that 1 out of 5 distributors were good. My mechanic just went through two. He installed another distributor and it started for him with no problem.

I went to take my car home last night (7/18) and it did not start. It just cranked. Today he replaced my distributor cap, rotor, spark plug wires, and spark plugs. He said my car was running.

I told him to keep my car for the weekend and let it sit. Don't start it until Monday and we'll take it from there.

Are there any suggestions? Could it be a crankshaft sensor? Could it be something else?

[sr20de4evr]

well first of all what car do you have?
I've eliminated it to anything but an 02+ SE-R

it sounds like the fuel pump to me, it might have had pressure that one time because it felt like working, but it might just be working intermittently, sometimes barely going, sometimes going full, sometimes not going at all....

[Nrails]

The car is a 1998 Nissan Sentra. The fuel pump was checked out and the pressure was ok. Is that a possibility? I thought that could be a reason but it was tested and was ok. What about a crankshaft sensor? What does it do and where does it belong?