I have a Nissan S13 180sx (Japanese import). It was in an accident around Christmas and I've only just gotten it back from the smash repairer. It turns out he hosed out my engine bay and accidentally wet the spark plug leads, so although the car started, it began misfiring and backfiring horribly (especially going up hills). I replaced the leads thinking the problem was solved, but it kept running badly. It got worse and worse as I was driving to work and eventually came to a stop on the side of the road, and would not start at all.
I then replaced the battery as I thought over a couple of months this might have gone flat, and it ran fine for about 1/2 hr worth of driving, before doing the same thing. I finally decided it MUST be the alternator, and replaced that yesterday, but it is still not starting as the new battery is now entirely flat.
Is it possible that the alternator I replaced it with is also broken -- or did I miss something else that it could obviously be?
Cheers guys
2007-03-14 11:00:34 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
If you've replaced the spark plug leads then the car has a distributor; if it has a distributor then the strong probability is that you have water inside of the distributor cap that is causing high voltage to arc between the coil tower in the center of the distributor cap and the individual terminals for each spark plug inside the cap. Remove the distributer cap and dry it out with a hair dryer. If you have to remove the spark plug leads to remove the cap, then be certain to mark which wire came from where or you'll cross the wires and wind up with a misfire that is unrelated to the repairs. I'd return the battery and alternator if you can because they are not the cause of your problems
2007-03-14 11:11:28 · answer #1 · answered by honda guy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My question back to you is. Did the hosing of the engine bay happen at the time of the accident? Did the car sit with the water on it all that time?
Could be that you have a cut wire to a sensor that has now been damaged by corrosion from the water or it may be that water has entered the engine causing damage to the engine itself. Either case I would take it back to the smash repairer and tell them that they are not done fixing your car.
2007-03-14 18:07:44 · answer #2 · answered by Delphi 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Backfiring and running rough are due to a spark problem. Replace the spark plugs, in fact due a full tuneup while you are at it. Get a new air filter, change the oil and oil filter, spark plugs and pcv valve.
2007-03-14 18:37:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
corroded plugs?
contacts?
coil?
is it a recent car? if so, the Engine Management Unit may be goosed.
question: did you ever see the car running good after the repair? if not, it might not have anything to do with the hosing.
2007-03-14 18:10:37 · answer #4 · answered by wild_eep 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Backfires are usually caused by timng of the spark relative to the piston cycle. Have the timing checked.
2007-03-14 18:05:05 · answer #5 · answered by Joseph L 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you need a tune-up. A worn/cracked rotor and/or distributor can cause these types of problems. Take your car to certified mechanic for a tune-up.
2007-03-14 18:06:12 · answer #6 · answered by cireengineering 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I once sprayed engine cleaner on my engine and it got on all my electrical stuff.....car never ran right again.
2007-03-14 18:06:41 · answer #7 · answered by rockfordfilestcb 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋