Questions and Answers

Nissan Hardbody Starts Hard Q. Sir, I've read a bunch of the FAQs trying to solving my problem. No dice, I'm still uncertain. My truck is a 1992 Nissan Hardbody extended cab 2-wheel drive pickup truck with engine KA24E. It has 160,000 miles and is in great shape (except for this problem):

The truck stalls when it starts, and it only starts if I put some of that air intake cleaner in the air intake. It starts, then dies after a couple seconds regardless of how much I rev the engine.

I had the same problem last year, but I changed the fuel pump and it went away. When I turn on the truck, gas gushes from the fuel filter (tested to see if pump was working) so I guess the pump plus (new) filter is ok. I changed the PCV, EGR, and BPT last year.

Now, the problem is back with a vengeance. Any clues? Oh, the reverse light doesn't work but the FAQ says to try a switch on the transmission. I will do that tomorrow. I like the FAQ!

I don't know what to do, I'm not sure where (or should I) to look for a vacuum leak. And I don't know how to examine the O2 sensor. The computer doesn't return any errors; I have that thick Chilton's book as a guide.

Thanks for your assistance,
Darrel

A. If it starts and runs when you spray carburetor cleaner and dies out when it's used up, then it is definitely a fuel problem. The first thing I would do is a fuel pressure test to make sure I have the proper fuel pressure. If not you'll need to replace the fuel pump. If the fuel pressure is good, then I would look at the injectors and make sure they are working.

When the engine cranks over, you should hear the injectors click. If they don't you need to check for power into the injector. If it has power in and doesn't click, then you probably have a bad PCM. You can get a noid light that you plug the injector connector into and if it flashes while you crank the engine, that whole injector circuit is good.