hard starting

[lyndonism]

my nissan sentra 2001 is not starting right now, im sure its because of the cold weather. but what more contribute to my problem and how can i fix it? the battery is good and it's cranking good too. I was thinking of the plugs maybe because last year i got the same problem but when we changed the spark pluggs it went on.

[slideways...]

cold weather? how cold is cold to you? and theres other stuff, like how much gas do you keep in the tank, how old your battery and alternator are, how many times you have jump started your car, ect. ect.

give me some details here. i doubt its because of the 'cold'.

[lyndonism]

we had below zero temp a couple of days ago, the battery is good and I tried to jump start it and still not starting, the alternator is still new we just changed it a week ago.

[lyndonism]

I always have this problem every year, last time we change the plugs and it started, I was thinking it could be the plugs again because I put a cheap brand before.

[lyndonism]

my gas is on the medium level but not too low but I put Heet there yesterday morning...pls help me thanks

[slideways...]

well most people on here assume cold means below +40 degrees. so i had to check. you could try new plugs if that worked last time. get some from the nissan dealer, or get some NGK v power copper or NGK platinum spark plugs. the OEM plugs from the dealer should if i remember be NGK-R coppers or something. nissans work best with NGK plugs. what kind of metal is in them only has an impact on the life of the plug. copper = 15k-30k miles, platinum = 60k-100k miles.

[lyndonism]

thanks for the information, i will try that tomorrow and I'll tell you if that will work and if not, I hope you'll give another tips for me to try...thank you so much

[lyndonism]

The car started a couple of days ago with me touching anything, I was about to change the spark plug but before i did that I started it just for a try and it did went on. I could say that I'm lucky that it started but a little worried because it could happen again and I really dont know what to do the next time weather that bad happen again(below zero temp). I was thinking it could be the gas line became frozen and then after 3 days the temp went up and it defroze it. just guessing. I really dont know....anyway, thanks you so much slideway for trying to help me, I really do appreciated it.

[lyndonism]

the car started yesterday and it run good, but this morning it won't start again. whats the problem? i could smell gas.

[slideways...]

if you smell gas that means theres another problem. i would suspect maybe ignition related anyways. do you have the 2.0 or the 1.8? i think the 1.8 has coil over plug, so look for a bad coil or torn coil boot. if you have the 2.0 you have a distributor so i would guess you have moisture getting under the cap and freezing. see if a new cap/rotor helps, and make sure it comes with a new seal that goes under the cap(its supposed to be there keeping moisture out). also check the plug wire condition.

[lyndonism]

i have 1.8 engine. thanks ill try to check it...and if there's torn on the coil what should I do? replace it?

[slideways...]

if theres a torn coil boot (the rubber part that sticks down to the spark plug) replace it. you can possibly source replacement boots from napa or whatever so you dont have to go replace an expensive coil if the coil itself is good. but anyways. make sure you keep the gas level above half if its below zero. dont use heet if you can help it, but if you suspect frozen gas lines heet or warm weather is the only cure.

[diesel1962]

Hi.Hope your car is not giving you starting problems anymore.I had the same problem with my Nissan,though it's an older model.I replaced the dist cap rotor plugs and wires.I use NGK-R plugs.I read somewhere that Nissan's go thru plugs every 40,000 miles.Don't know why they do that,but my car starts good in cold or warm weather now.Have a good day!! Diesel 1962

[lyndonism]

thanks for the concerns, the car is working good again when I changed the plugs. this is my second time that happened to me and its happening everytime winter is here.

[lyndonism]

when i removed the plugs I noticed that there's a trace of oil in the tip of the plug. I know it's not a good sign...what else can i do or to fix it? pls. help thanks.