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2001 Nissan Xterra 3.0L V6 turns over but wont start
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ekuest
New User
Mar 3, 2012, 5:44 PM
Post #1 of 1
(3542 views)
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2001 Nissan Xterra 3.0L V6 turns over but wont start
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Year of vehicle: 2001
Make of vehicle: Nissan
Model of vehicle: Xterra
Engine size: 3.0L V6
Mileage/Kilometers: 140,000
UPDATE: so we dont waste any time, its a broken timing belt. not sure what im gonna do now. can boroscope, replace the belt and see what happens, replace the engine, or sell the car. suggestions?
i have had my car for about a year now, bought it very used. AC, cruise control, and numerous other things did not work. i still bought it because i was on a budget and the powertrain seemed ok. soon after i got it, it started sputtering occasionally and generally running rough. i borrowed a scanner and diagnosed a "random misfire" so i replaced the spark plugs which did nothing so i replaced the spark plug wires and that fixed everything right up.
fast forward to about 2 weeks ago, and my car springs a leak in the coolant hose that comes out of the firewall on return from the heater core. i let the car get pretty hot one or 2 times before noticing it and pulling over and adding water. this lack of cooling and pressure buildup believe caused another leak which i will get to later. after that i always kept a 2.5 gallon jug of water in my car if i was going anywhere and just made sure not to go anywhere except work which is about 3 miles away. the car never ran long enough to get above about halfway on the temp gauge, which is where it normally was before the cooling issues. i tried to replace the preformed hoses to the heater core, but when i pulled off the old ones (which were original) all that was left was a 1/4" stub of rubber hose sticking out of the firewall for either hose. i hose clamped the new preformed hoses to these hose stubs as well as i could, but the next day one of them was sheared off at the firewall and all my coolant had sprayed out and all around the engine compartment. since there wasnt anything left to attach the hoses to this time, i just bought a 2ft length of hose and looped the heater core input around to the discharge and bypassed it entirely. im in hawaii so i never use the heat anyway.
so the major leak was fixed and the car was running smoothly and now we're back to that other leak that was sprung when the car was run hot a couple times. i took off the skid plate and found that it was coming from the engine block i think, right under the farthest down pulley. my little brother (in seattle, so idagnosis by phone) said it was probably the coolant pump leaking. i bought a moped and started riding that to work and decided to put off replacing the pump until i had time, i work 80+ hours/week so i havent had time yet. was gonna start taking stuff apart tomorrow. well this morning it was raining and i didnt feel like riding my moped in the rain so i started out in my car. i got about 1/4 mile down the road and my car sputtered and died going uphill. i managed to pull into the turn lane for the next light to get out of the way, and when a cop came and stopped traffic i coasted backwards down the hill and backed into a driveway behind a church. thats where my car is now. it turns over just fine, and on the first crank hesitates a little but after that just cranks away with no response at all. i think im going to get it towed to my house and try to fix it here instead of taking it to a shop where i'll be out $2000 probably.
one interesting thing i noticed is that now its holding water. there is no leak, or at least only an occasional drop as i didnt see one when i peeked under after it died. for the last week though, whenever i would add water it would immediately start leaking and at a pretty constant drip. this makes me think maybe something is clogging a coolant line or something, as there is definitely a leak in the system, so im not sure why it would suddenly stop leaking. the check engine light is on of course, but i will need to borrow my coworkers computer again to scan it and see what problems it lists. i cant do that until monday probably.
so the problems: ran hot a few times, leaky coolant pump, sprayed coolant all over the engine compartment, and ran with basically only water for the last week+ (probably about 30 miles total.) issue: car sputtered and died and now it will crank but wont start. i am at 139XXX miles, and the condition of the car when i got it was not great, so it could be just about anything. what do you guys think? any suggestions?
i am a mechanical engineer, so i am fairly handy and intelligent, just not knowledgeable about engines. if you need me to take stuff apart and get my hands dirty i dont have a problem with that, and im a quick learner. i just dont have the experience or know-how you guys do. :) thanks in advance for the help.
~evan
(This post was edited by ekuest on Mar 3, 2012, 8:41 PM)
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