At 10:49 AM 12/24/2000 -0500, you wrote:
> 1991 Sentra,,,, 112k miles.
> Lately, one of 2 things happens:
>1) It catches VERY slowly...
>You have to keep the starter cranking for 10 seconds to get it to start
>turning over on its own..
>The gas pedal must carefully be appplied to increase RPM's, VERY
>gently/subtly, or risk stalling.
> In one case, it was idling fine, but touching the gas pedal would start to
>stall the motor...doing the opposite of what the gas pedal normally does.
You should check the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). I don't know the
specs, but you can at least unplug it and see if it's corroded or loose.
It's on the throttle body at the intake manifold.
Follow that throttle cable that loops around the engine to where it's
attached at the springy thing. That leads to the TB. The plug is attached
to the opposite side of the TB and is brown (usually) and comes off easily.
While you're doing this you may want to clean the TB too. Check the
sentra.net or se-r.net mailing list archives for "clean throttle body" and
do some searches for how to test the TPS.
>2) Or, the engine never catches....
>
> Note this problem has occurred occassionally in the past, during warm
>seasons,
> but is now occurring more frequently, maybe b/c it's been very cold here?
>(20-25 F)
>
>I've done some searches, and it sounds like this could be the fuel filter,
>and/or the fuel pump...
When did you last replace the filter? They're cheap.
If it's the pump, you'll know soon - it will fail usually 1-4 days after
this starts. If your's is affected by the recall and hasn't been replaced,
drive to a dealer and have them do it.
> Note: The muffler/exhaust has a break in it somewhere causing loudness!
> Could this be causing it?
Nope.
> Also, the valve lifters (?) make a tapping sound when accelerating.
> How should this be addresed?
It's likely detonation, especially if it does this when it's that cold.
Another reason the check the TPS...
If your starting problems get fixed and it still has pinging on
acceleration switch to 92+ octane gas (at least 3/4 of a tank so it's not
diluted too bad) and see if it goes away. During the summer here (Orlando)
I heard a number of B13's pinging as they drove by, and mine did it too
during the hot day, but was fine at night - I switched to 89 and was fine
(and no, my timing is not advanced).
Remember to post your results to this thread for the archives.
-Stede Bonnett
SE2K
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