I have a 94 altima…clutch is good. everything is fine w/it except that I have to pump on the gas to get it to start. or just keep the gas peddle pressed. when it gets hot, that doesnt even work. so i have to put it 2nd gear to start it. it has also died on me while driving and i coast it. Should I do a compression test? a friend told me it might be the engine…
thanks
is the check engine light on? have you done any maintenance on it lately? how many miles, how long has this been happening? more info.
When you have tried to start it, have you smelled gasoline? Stand at the back, near the exhaust pipe, while someone attempts to start the engine. Do you smell gasoline, then? When the engine does start, is there black smoke? If you smell gasoline, that indicates that gasoline isn’t being burned, or, poorly burned, if smoky. The fuel/air mixture is too rich (too much fuel).
Clean the air intake tract, and throttle body bore and plate with carb/throttle body spray cleaner. Spray it, generously, into the large, black plastic, tube right after the air filter. Let it soak. Run the engine at fast idle. Results?
The sensors send messages to the engine control computer. The computer then sets the fuel flow rate. If the sensors are mistaken, the fuel flow will be in error (too much, or too little). The engine coolant temperature sensor (cts) is often the one that causes a rich mixture during start and at idle. The cts can be tested, or summarily, replaced. Results?
the check engine is not on. it has about 125K…we bought it from the previous owner who said it couldnt start…car ran out oil…my brother-in-law fiddled w/it and got it work for 4 months then when it got hot, it died…started having issues w/it…the clutch is great, the tranny is great…so we’re not sure if its the engine, or something else…if its the engine, we’re thinking of just doing an engine swap…by the way, the plugs look fine, the the cap and rotor looks fine…
there is no black smoke, but it does smell like gas.
i’ll follow the advice here and post my results…thanks
Sounds like the fuel pump is failing to me. If the fuel filter has never been changed then the odds of a pump failure are even higher.
Some of your complaint is pretty fuzzy but I would hope that you did not pay a lot for this car due to it being run out of oil.
If the car were mine I would run a compression test and perform an oil pressure chech. The results of those tests would determine just how much money I would consider spending on this car to get it running.
I’ve sprayed the throttle body, did not make a differense…still smells like gas…
So far, we took out the plugs, they’re in fairly good shape, but they have oil in them. so after we clean them up, the car starts better…
brother in law performed a compression test…didnt come out so good…its in the 90s?
have not done the oil pressure check yet, is there a way to test the fuel pump and the cts w/a voltmeter?
I did not pay too much for the car…even if i have to get an engine, its still a pretty good deal.
If the compression test was done right, the combination of readings in the 90s and the fact it “ran out oil” says the engine is shot.