Nissan Repair: Long problem after ignition coil Nissan 89 truck, kragen auto parts, 4x4 nissan

Question
Here is my entire posting at NissanOffRoad.net:

All right guys, if anybody has any suggestions I will greatly appreciate it.

I have a 1989 4x4 Nissan Hardbody V6 kingcab with a 3'' body lift with 33'' tires. It has a carburator and it is stick shift and it has 131,111 miles on it. I have owned it for about 8 years; I bought it with around 82,000 miles on it. This is all I have done on it:

Replaced the original starter with a Kragen Auto Parts one in Jan 2006.

I have replaced the original alternator back in 2004, and have since replaced it twice with an Autozone lifetime warranty alternator twice.(they suck)

Replaced the timing belt in Jan 2006.

And I have always done the tune-ups and oil change myself.


Now for the problem, as of yesterday my truck was running, perfectly, then I had to shut off the electricity to the house for a while and so I hooked up my laptop to my truck via the cigarette lighter for about 2-3 hours on the "ON" position on the steering wheel, since I had a very important project on it in the works. When I tried turning on my truck, the truck just turned over but did not run or start. I checked the battery and battery terminals, but they were fine. My gas tank is also full.

I thought it might be the fuel pump and I checked the fuel pump fuse, which is under the steering wheel to the left and that was fine. I disconnected the upper black rubber hose which runs to the carburetor from the fuel filter and I tried turning on my truck and it spurted out gas. (This means my fuel pump inside my gas tank is working right?) Since the truck needed a tune up, I gave her one, I changed the fuel filter, spark plugs, rotor, air filter, and distributor cap, but none of this helped either.


While still thinking about the fuel pump, I found out that I can replicate my trucks' problem onto my dad's 1994 fuel injection 4x4 V6 Nissan hardbody truck. All I have to do is remove my dad's truck "fuel pump relay" and his truck will also just turn over but not run or start. So then I checked my "fuel pump relay" on his truck and it worked perfectly. I check the rest of them as well, the main relay and the PTC relay and they all worked fine.

I also noticed that when I have my key on the "ON" position, my battery gauges' needle read 12v but as I proceeded to turn on the truck, the needle dipped to 9v and my lights dimmed. I do not know if the alternator is the primary problem I am having or if it is a secondary effect since this volt and light phenomenon did not happen in the morning, it progressively got dimmer and the volts got lower as the day proceeded and after many times trying to start the truck.

I do not know if it had anything to do with me hooking my laptop to the cigarette lighter but, I'm stumped on this problem and any help would be appreciated. I know this is a lot of info but hopefully it will help. Thanks.



Here is the new problem that arose:

Hi thanks for all the great info. I managed to change the ignition coil ( bought one from Autozone $35) and my truck now starts. I drove it around the block and it drives okay. The only problem I seem to have now is that the engine stumbles or hesitates at idle speed (900RPM's). As I step on the throttle to 2000RPM's the stumbling gradually disappears. I was thinkg about adjusting the idle speed screw but I was not 100% sure. Could it still be the carburator or the AIV. I have never changed the AIV filter either. Thanks for all your help, I'm a novice.
eddie

Eddie


Answer
Eddie,

The problem with turning the key to on and not running the vehicle is that the ignition circuit is on and not being allowed to discharge.  I would also replace the ignition module.  That is the transistorized part that tells the coil when to fire.  You have replaced the coil so that part is done.  What I do with most of my Japanese cars is to hardwire the cigarette lighter to an unswitched 12 volt so I do not have to turn the key on.  I have done this on the 350Z and the Stanza and the Maxima.  I am old school and when cars had points, if you left the key in the on mode the points would stick together.  Now that things are electronic other problems arise.  Remember that you want a fuse in the cigarette lighter circuit and you can get an in-line fuse at the parts store.  And, yes I have not had good luck with Autozone starters, alternators or fuel pumps either.