Engine will not start

[Felix]

Hi all,

Right where do I start (my first time on a forum)

Can anyone give me any advise, my name is Felix, I joined the Nissan 4x4 club a month or so ago, I am having problems with my Terrano ll SE Touring 2.7Tdi 7 seat (Sept 99), 6 months ago my wife complained that our beloved Terrano had become sluggish and she said it was slow on hills, plus the engine management light started flashing, and within a week (of my wife telling me that a yellow light had been flashing) the vehicle stopped.

I am not that mechanically minded, but I work for a commercial vehicle rental company, so I asked one of the mechanics to take a look at it, to cut a long story short they could not help me, but put me on to one of our sub contractors, the first time it happened he came in and reset the system for me (£40), but said he did not know what was wrong with it.

My Terrano was still sluggish, and within 3 weeks the engine light started flashing again, the second time it cut out I had it towed into a Nissan garage, they reset it, an other £48, and this time they said it could be a number of things, they did mention air flow and temperature gauge (would any of those make it sluggish).

We have had our Terrano for over 5 years, it has done 130k, serviced every year and never had a problem with it, so I got on the net and found your (our great club), I went through all of the forums, and downloaded anything that was remotely relevant, but it has just cut out again today, I have tried to erase the codes from the ECM memory (many thanks to Toolbox for his workshop 29 download) but sadly it did not work, so before I gave my bank details to Nissan, I thought I would give it one last chance, any suggestions on what it could be or where the best place to take it (we live in the Gloucester area)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Felix

Ps. Sorry it was so long winded (I did say it was my first time)

 

[jace]

air flow meter some call em mafs it controls the amount fuel by reading how much air at what temperature goes past it into engine if it plays up u lose all power wouldnt pull greasy man outve bed prices vary theres chap on here gettin genuine nissan parts trade and passing savings onto fellow members cant remember his name at mo
quick test is to unplug it (near your air filter plug about 3 wires if performance isnt affected suspect u/s!)

 

[Paul]

air flow meter some call em mafs it controls the amount fuel by reading how much air at what temperature goes past it into engine if it plays up u lose all power wouldnt pull greasy man outve bed prices vary theres chap on here gettin genuine nissan parts trade and passing savings onto fellow members cant remember his name at mo
quick test is to unplug it (near your air filter plug about 3 wires if performance isnt affected suspect u/s!)

Even though I hate to do so, :roll: I am with jace on this one sounds like what she says!

 

[jace]

not heard of that fault stopping starting usaully poor power stalling at lights maybe its got really bad!

 

[Toolbox]

Felix,

Before you tried to erase any trouble codes, did you manage to read them?

 

[mjm370]

Well this is a very similar fault too mine just now.

I am currently looking into mine and am waiting on the manual and wiring diagrams coming in, once i get them all studied i should be able too help you along.

couple of questions:
Did your car just all of a sudden cut out?
Was the lack of power intermitient?
has it ever failed to start from fresh? or only after it has cut out?

 

[terranokid]

what airflow meter do you have has it got hitachi stamped on the top or bosch they dont usually put the light on If its the bosch one it would be worth changing it anyway but shop around nissan dealers you shouldn't pay more than £45.
Sluggish on hills does sound like airfllow meter but you could also have other faults disconnect the engine conectors on the top of the engine the damp can get in and cause problems

 

[Felix]

Many thanks for the replies. :smile:

Jeremy – I followed your instruction, :? but it would not let me read the codes. I turned on the ignition and the MIL flashed constantly (fast), I bridged the CHK and ING for a couple of seconds and when I removed the bridge the MIL went back to flashed constantly (fast). I tried this a couple of times keeping the bridge on a little longer to see if that would do it, but it just kept doing the same.

Just for the records, on one of the attempts I left the bridge in for a few minutes, the MIL went into a pattern, it flashed 14 times (slowly) short break, then flashed once, short break then flashed 14 times again short break, then flashed twice (fast), it kept on repeating this.

I even tried removing the battery for 5hours. :evil:

Jace – I will try removing the wires off the air flow meter, but first I’ve got to get it started, ever I find a way of clearing down the codes myself, or take it and pay another £40 squid.

Again just for the record, I have been asking around, it sounds like the ECM can only take so many codes, it then shuts down the fuel pump.

mjm370 – My wife informs me that the little yellow light had been flashing for quite a while before she noticed the lack of power; I don’t me to sound condescending, because my knowledge is very limited, and as for it just stopping, this would coincide with what I was told regarding the ECM only being able to hold so much info before cutting the fuel pump.

Last thing, quite trivial, but how do I put the description of my Terrano on the bottom? :?

Regards,

Felix

 

[jace]

it aint the water trap symbol for fuel filter is it? add where u live you could be right next door to someone wholl pop round an bash it with big ommer over cupa tea lol

 

[Felix]

Going on what Terranokid said I might as well change the air flow meter anyway, Jace don't suppose you can remember the name of the member who can get the cheaper parts or can anyone else point me in the right direction.

I will get on the net now and have a look.

Felix

 

[Felix]

No

 

[jace]

sorry mate his phone number the lot is up few off here had good dealings with him mav will know the chap im sure of it!

 

[Toolbox]

Felix.

The member you are looking for is Hammond1027 via PM or email he is offering Nissan parts a trade prices.

 

[Felix]

Many thanks to you all, I will get Nissan to zero down the errors, and get a air flow meter ordered, I will let you all know if that does the trick.

Regards

Felix

 

[Felix]

Hi all,

Thought I would give you an update on the non start, I towed it into Nissan Glos today, and they kindly zeroed down all the fault codes, the chap said the reason why it did not start was due to a couple of errors in the NATs system.

I managed to pick up a Bosch air flow meter from Nissan for Trade, after fitting the meter, I took it out for a spin, and I could not believe the difference in the old girl, I had put the poor performance down to the age and mileage, so all good so far.

The MIL (malfunction indication lamp), (and for all those beginners like me, the yellow engine light on the dash), anyway, MIL light was still flashing intermittently, so I tried to read the codes again (Workshop download, as written by Toolbox), this time it worked, Toolbox, for the record, when I turned the ignition on the yellow light was off, I bridged the CHK and ING and it went straight into reading the codes, after finishing reading the codes I removed the bridge, the yellow light went out, I repeated this twice, and on the second occasion it cleared the errors (it flashed 5 long and five short, this represents no error)

So this is where I need more help (I am getting into this now) The Terrano had two fault codes, 1) Temperature sensor code, 2), fuel temperature sensor code, I fitted a new temperature sensor (the one with two pins on the thermostat casing), the error code still comes on.

And as for the fuel temperature sensor, Nissan could not even tell me what that was, so the two things I would be grateful for assistance are

1. Why is error 12 (temperature sensor error code) still coming up?
2. What, where is the fuel temperature sensor (error 42)?

Regards (renamed by my wife)

Terrano Man (actually it was Terrano Boy)

Felix

 

[Toolbox]

Felix,

Error 12 is the MAF; error 13 is the coolant sensor.

The fuel temperature probe is in the injection pump, try checking the connections on the pump harness it’s the round connector the one to the left as you look in from the front of the engine bay.

 

[Felix]

Hi Jeremy,

My mistake I meant error 13, as for the fuel temperature probe, is the connector round and black (to the left of the intercooler radiator thing?)

Felix

 

[Toolbox]

Hi Jeremy,

My mistake I meant error 13, as for the fuel temperature probe, is the connector round and black (to the left of the intercooler radiator thing?)

Felix

Yes that the one.

I would check the wiring to the coolant sensor from the ECU, if you can.

 

[Felix]

Just a quick update, and another small plea for help, My old girl (the Terrano not the wife) is now running like a dream, but I now have a permanent MIL light on.

I have checked and tightened the round black connector (the fuel temperature probe) as recommended by Toolbox, and I have done another diagnostic on the codes, as I said the yellow light now stays on all the time, when I bridged the CHK and the ING this time it was only showing error 13 still (temperature sensor error code), but when I tried to clear it it would not let me.

Jace you did mention something about water in the fuel filter, there is no other light coming on (water trap symbol), would this course the MIL light to stay on permanently, plus does anyone know how I remove the water?

Just as an observation, when I start the Terrano it now revs to around 1500 RPM for at least 20 seconds, plus when I pull off and on start up there is thick black smoke coming out of the exhaust, any relevance?

Regards,

Felix

 

[Toolbox]

This does point to the engine temp sensor, check that you have it plugged in correctly, I know that you sometimes have to give them an extra push to click the connector in place.
If the temp sensor is unplugged and the car driven the light will stay on continuously until the code is cleared even after plugging it back in or the problem corrected.
Smoke would be expected, as the problem will put the ecu in to a fixed set of running parameters and not compensate for engine temp and timing etc etc.