Questions and Answers

Nissan Sentra Really Stinks And Died Q. Hello and thank you very much for your help. I have a 1987 Nissan Sentra. It is a carbureted 5 speed. I was driving the car when slowly I noticed a horrific smell. The only way to describe it is that it smelled like rotten eggs. The stench became unbearable. After stopping the car I tried to restart after an hour or so.

At that time the car would barely idle and when I pressed on the pedal the motor would make a weird popping noise from under the hood. That would be the last time I was able to get it started. After replacing the distributer cap, wires and plugs I still can't get the car to show any spark.

Is it possible the smell killed my car? I'm doomed. If you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,
Andrew

A. The smell is a result, not the cause of a problem. With no spark, and knowing that engine as I do, I highly suspect the Crank Angle Sensor (CAS) inside the distributor went bad. It was very common on that engine.

It is also possible the coil or coil power transistor went bad. This is how to test the coil.

Figure 1

Measure primary resistance of ignition coil. Figure 1. Resistance at 68°F - 0.84-1.02 Ohms.

Figure 2

Measure secondary resistance of ignition coil. Figure 2. Resistance at 68°F - 8.2-12.4 K Ohms

To test the CAS and power transistor, you will need the diagnostic troubleshooting tree from the service manual. Chilton or Haynes has it or you can get it at the Public Library in the Reference section.