In need of help please...

[krzywhtboi82]

Sport if you ask stuff Havent measured since it stopped starting but it was fine don't remember numbers off hand but was within specs. I am still getting fuel. 1) it's through the lines past the filter and 2) it's flooding the engine even. Plugs weren't fouled but I did clean excess fuel off them. Still nothing. I did check for spark(sorry forgot to post that with everything else) and it was weak and yellowish. I'll do the starting fluid check tomorrow. Thanks for the help too btw sorry if you ask stuff and I've done it. It's just I've done so much and done reading that I lose track of what Ive done till its mentioned

Edited March 10, 2013 by krzywhtboi82

[krzywhtboi82]

UPDATE March 11....

So today I bought a coil, timing light, got the whole distributor swapped out, pulled plugs and cleaned/gapped them. It started it up and ran. I adjusted timing and it ran even better. Only thing was it was blowing black smoke with a tinge of blue like crazy. I took her for a drive and ran pretty decently. Only thing was when i held it to the floor it was popping a lot and even back firing some. She would stall out when I let the rpm's drop back down but I figured it was because I had the idle screw to tight so I was going to adjust it when i got home. Got home and she stalled out so i said screw it dinner was waiting I'll do it after i eat. After I ate I went back out and she wouldn't start. Not even getting spark again. I checked fuses found one blown and replaced it and it still wouldn't start. Rechecked timing and its good. I just don't get it. How can it start and run after changing everything and let it sit for a bit and now it wont start. Oh and when it did stall out on my drive(3 times) it wouldn't start till the third time. I am just so confused at this point and don't get it.

[krzywhtboi82]

MARCH 12

I go out this morning and do some wire checks. Heres what I found

Both wires (blue and black w/white) going to the coil have power(11.7v). Which in turn sends power to both the wires for the ICM. How is this possible? Shouldn't only one have power

I also smoked a fusible link this morning(my fault not the cars). It was the middle one with 2 red and 1 green wire. I replaced it and still nothing.....

I am so lost I am ready to get drunk and bang head on hood. I just suck with wiring and wish I had someone to help. I am thinking I might have fried something else when I fried the fusible link. What are the chances of that happening?

MARCH 12 NIGHT

so took distributor to O'rielly and had them look at them and they said they would get me a new one. I then went back home and was checking voltage again. I hit the key and suddenly I am getting spark from the coil(my old one) so I put everything back together and started it up. It was barely running and thats when I remembered I had the ecm unplugged(was going to check that next) so I shut it off, plugged ecm in and started back up. It still kind of ran like **** and was pouring black smoke out. I put it back into time(as close as I could get) and finally after a min it ran on its own with out any extra throttle. Finally it smoothed out real good and reved up real good and no more smoke either. Everything sounded perfect and I was so happy.I let it sit and idle for about 15 min. Then I shut it off.....Guess what, it wouldn't restart and hasn't since. I even put my new coil in and nothing. I am not getting any spark out of the coil again. Any ideas???? I started thinking maybe it had something to do with me disconnecting the computer, so I disconnected it again and let it sit for about the same time as before. Hooked it back up and still nothing

[sjb15316]

I'm not sure if this is your problem, but it does resemble a problem I had in the past. It would seem the ignition switch (yeah, the one you put the key in) had a "bad" spot in it. Sometimes it would crank... crank without issue for days, weeks, months, then you drive to the store, do the shopping, get in... NADA!!! I had to tow it home, check pretty much everything you have and it would decide to crank. Next day, same thing.. just sit and spin. Next day crank. No set pattern. After many "4 letter words" I decided to and changed the switch and so far ("knock on wood") I haven't had another problem. I bench tested the old switch and it seems to work like it should (haven't figured that one out either... I've shook, jiggled, tapped it on the bench, ????). Since you have another car for parts (hopefully all the keys too), it would be a simple exchange for you. Doesn't help on the bad idle, smoke, etc, but it sure helps if you can at least get it cranked! Hope this helps. Good luck.

Edited March 14, 2013 by sjb15316

[krzywhtboi82]

Thanks sjb but I did try that wasnt that.....

UPDATE MARCH 14TH

well I got it figured out. It was the distributor. 1st icm went bad, 2nd one pick up coil was bad, 3rd one IT RUNS AND DRIVES GREAT!!!!! Well sort of; my timing is off and i cant seem to get it right. I set cyl 1 to TDC and the mark on the pulley is on the zero tick of the teeth(according to FSM). When i start it up and set time I have it fully advanced and it runs the best, but the mark moves about 1/4in from the teeth in the direction towards the dist. If I retard it it just totally dies out. Any thoughts?????

[sjb15316]

Glad you got that problem solved. I had to pull and reset my distributor about 3 times before I got it where I wanted it. Don't know if that's your problem or not, but it sounds like you're off a "tooth" or two. Once you get it in place, you should be able to adjust it like the book says and be near if not right on the "mark" you're looking for... Again, good luck.

[krzywhtboi82]

Maybe I'm thinking about it wrong but is it my distributor that's off? I can get cyl 1 to tdc and zero it out and it'll point at cyl 1 plug on the the dist cap? It's when I advance it it goes off the teeth. Every where I've read people say to set it to 10 deg. If I do that(retard timing) it won't run at all so does that mean I have another problem? Sorry if this seems stupid I just haven't had much timing experience. In the fsm it doesn't say a whole lot. It does mention adjusting cam gear but that's for tension I believe. I just don't want to pull my oil pump if I don't have to. As far as myself and po knows the oil pump hasn't been pulled. Only thing was water pump was changed. How could it be off like that then.

[krzywhtboi82]

I am so ready just to sell this car. It ran great yesterday. I drove it 40 miles and around town with out any problems other than a little bit of sputtering. Today I go out start it up and its running like crap and wont stay running with out pumping the throttle. I give it full throttle and still wont stay running. I see I have just under a 1/4 of a tank so I decide to go get some gas. i put 5 gal worth in it and start it back up. she starts and runs but like crap. I shut it off pull plugs and fuel filter. some stuff in the filter so I change that. I clean off the plugs and it fires right up on its own, stays running(not good) for like a min and then dies. I go get new plugs and put them in. starts right up but idles rough. I figure thats normal she acts like that when shes cold. Give her some throttle once she starts to warm up and she revs up but then starts acting up again. The thing I notice is when i hold the throttle she will rev up to where she should be but then start dyeing out. it got to the point that she would die with throttle wide open. The exhaust is really blue and smells like gas. I am thinking its either plugged fuel pump or fuel regulator. Any ideas? I really want to keep this car and give her the attention she needs and bring her back but I am at the point i need a dependable car and wondering if its time to cut my losses because I don't have any help with this thing.

[krzywhtboi82]

SUCCESS!!!!! Well hopefully.....

I think I figured out the problem. I've been working on it so long I forgot I had tweaked the MAF some because I read that they can go out of tune. Weeeelllll.....I never reset it back. I feel so stupid now. I got it close to what it was gotta tweak it some more tomorrow. I had the cops called on me because its so loud. Stupid neighbor I've been dealing with on other bull crap has it out for me.... but what ever. So I gotta check the link again(if i can find it) on tuning the maf and setting back to normal(hopefully)

[krzywhtboi82]

Quick question for clarification. My 79 is a federal car so that means I don't need a cat converter correct? According to the FSM it looks like it has a pre-muffler instead. Thats not the same thing as a converter is it? I have 2 muffler shops in town saying I have to have a converter on it. Oh also I can't find a O2 sensor and I don't see anything in the FSM about one so does that mean I don't need one?

[Zed Head]

There should be a metal tag on the driver's side door pillar that says whether or not your car should have a catalytic converter. My 76 has one that says "Non Catalyst", which is a weird way to say it. Probably lost something in the translation. The converter showed up before 79, Nissan has floor temperature warning sensor instructions for 76 in the FSM.

Looks like the O2 sensor didn't show up until 1980 (page EF-28).

Edited March 22, 2013 by Zed Head

[krzywhtboi82]

My hood tag says that. My door and dash tags are not correct for vehicle. From what I've read federal cars didn't have cats only California. Is that correct.