'93 Nissan Sentra XE won't start.

[MetaEnder]

My car (Manual front wheel drive '93 Nissan Sentra XE 1.6L engine with fuel injectors.) had been shuddering upon acceleration so I decided to try to tune it a bit to see if I could rid them. I did an oil change replacing the oil filter. I replaced the cap and rotor and the air filter. I also replaced all my sparkplugs.

I also put in a new audio deck and a subwoofer and amp into the back with a direct power cable going to my battery. (But I don't think that should've affected the starting of the engine.)

My car was doing better, but I think that was just from the tune up. I decided I'd try to keep working on those shudders so I put injector cleaner fluid into my tank at 1/2 full. It seemed like it was doing alright from then on.

The following day, I drove it from my house about a mile to the gas station at 1/4 tank and turned it off and filled it up. When done I attempted to start my car and it wouldn't turn on.

The starter seems to be working because it's making the starter sounds. And all the electronics are working. It seemed like the engine just wasn't getting any gasoline.

I replaced the oil filter and checked my sparkplug gaps (both of which seemed fine when I checked and replaced them). I checked all my fuses too.

Sometimes when I try to start it, It'll catch for about 3 seconds and hold at around 500 RPM then just die.

I figured it might have something to do with a big wad of injector cleaner going through my system so I'm planning on checking out the fuel injectors and the computer to see if anything's clogged or blown out.

I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with it so that I don't have to take it into a shop 'cause it's so expensive! Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Other than that, vehicle's in good condition and was running perfectly fine before the day it just randomly died!!

-Ender ([email protected])

[vgames33]

Shuddering under accelerationcan be caused by a plugged fuel filter. You may have dissolved a big chunk of stuff in the tank and plugged it up completely. It sits next to the brake booster.

[MetaEnder]

Yeah, that's what I thought. But before I did that I put in the fuel injector cleaner. It stopped starting. That's when I replaced the fuel filter. But it's still a no show.

[vgames33]

Can you hear your fuel pump cycling when you turn the key?

[MetaEnder]

Figured it out.

Stupid fuel pump.

Anyways, in my model you can access the fuel pump from underneath the backseat so it's not too hard. Already dug it out and am going to order the part tomorrow morning.

We eventually tracked it down by testing the relays and then following the fuel line, etc.

It IS a 93 so it's lasted quite a while I guess!

[vgames33]

Well, that's good to hear. My 93's fuel pump is starting to fail as well. I was afraid I'd have to drop the tank .

[MetaEnder]

Bad news. Wasn't my fuel pump. Turns out it's an electrical problem. The fuel pump doesn't seem to be getting power for some reason. Maybe a break in the ground, or the wire going to the back from the battery.

So for now, we're hotwiring the fuel pump. Directly wired the battery to the fuel pump with a switch, but that's not a very good idea so we should fix it...

We're gonna try to get it started, but if all else fails I guess I'll just take it in. Just so expensive!!

Anybody have any ideas on why the power might've been cut or defecting from the battery to the pump? Terminals, relays, fuses? Agh. Frustrating.

[racergirl21]

did u already check ur fuel pump relay .. and all the fuses .. maybe something is being grounded out

[Torch]

My book for the Nissan Sentra only goes back to 1990, but the wiring diagram for the fuel pump is a follows...

1 - Fuel pump wire goes to a "Fuel Pump Relay" (doesn't say what the ground wire does (assuming it attaches to a nearby piece of metal)).
2 - From there the wire goes from the relay to a 10 amp. fuse in the fuse panel.
3 - The activator pins of the relay (coil windings) go to two different places.
4 - One pin of the coil windings go to the ignition switch and only get power in the ON or STARTING position, in the ACC setting or OFF (obviously) the Fuel Relay does not get power to the coil winding.
5 - The other pin of the coil winding goes to the E.C.C.S (engine computer), the engine computer probably turns the pump off after a given amount of time of the engine not actually running.

Hope this helps.