My car: 1998 Nissan Pulsar n15 LX Sedan 1.6L incline 4 bcan15
While I’m driving my engine will stop, then I have to wait five minutes for it to start again. It happens more in hot weather. I don’t get any warning-lights leading up to it.
I’ve been having this problem for three months and just the other day I discovered my battery was flat. This is another clue because I definitely haven’t done anything that would cause that (i.e. I haven’t left the lights on at all) and the battery is less than 6months old. I realise this could be an alternator problem but I recently had it replaced so are there any other possibilities?
I saw a mechanic and he told me, next time it doesn’t start, it might help to hit the accelerator pedal. If this means anything to anyone: It did not help.
Does it crank (the motor turns with the starter) but not start? If that is the case, it sounds like a classic ignition system problem. Car gets hot, ignition component stops working when hot, car cools down, and will now re-start.
When the car stops, you need to try spraying some starter fluid into the engine when you try and start it. If it fires up, it is a fuel problem. If it doesn’t, check to see if there is spark. If this is already too deep for you, you need a better mechanic and time to leave the car with them to sort out the reason why it stops.
If it stops for no reason, then cranks ok and starts up fine in 5 minutes, unlikely to be a battery or alternator problem. Good idea to check that the battery posts and connectors are clean and tight though.
I’ll venture three guesses
ignition switch – try driving w/just a single key in the ignition as an experiment
Tester’s idea above, crank position sensor (known to be heat sensitive)
Ignition module, also heat sensitive
All three of those would show up as a “no-spark”, so ask your shop to check for spark if you can get it to them when this is happening.