starter motor problems

Hi all,
This is my first post, so go easy on me.
I am interested in any comments, experience feedback reccomenations on my problem.

I have a D22 3l diesel STR which is late 06 and I purchased as an ex demo June 07 with 3.5k on it. NOw up to 67k
The first 18months or so it was great without any issues at all.
Then late feb 09' I was having trouble starting and then would not start at all. The dealer I took it too diagnosed it as a faulty crank position sensor which took a few days to get in stock, when they changed it over it was still having problems starting. They then found that it was the starter was pulling too much current (wire passes by the sensor)and had to replace the starter motor.
2 months later (april 09) the Navara just dies on the highway at 80kph, get it checked out and again starter motor pulling too much current and has to be replaced.

About 10 days ago while on holidays I was having trouble starting and the engine fault light comes on, I get it to the closest deaer and they have diagnosed it as a faulty crank position sensor they have told me that it will take 7-10 working days to get the sensor from Japan. I expect that it will be the starter motor again and that I will have to again wait for them to order and receive that before I get the Navara back. They won't order a new starter motor until they have checked the sensor.

Each time it has been at a different dealer as it has happened in a different place and they have all said that they have never eard of having this problem before.

The Navara is 2months out of warranty and the crank position sensor is 1mnth and 6k out of parts warranty. Nissan will not help out in covering any of it saying it is out of warranty.

Has anyone else had this problem, how did you get it fixed, have you had any problems since.Any recommendations on how I can get a result from Nissan.

what error code did they get ?

when you say hard to start what exactly happens? does it turn over slow/fast? does it fire now and then?

my 2 cents. hope it helps

i had some issues a while back where it was realy hard to start the engine and eventualy it wouldnt start at all. i had the starter motor replaced and it fixed the problem but it happened again a few months later so i looked into it and found it to be water and mud from crossings that had cezzed the brushes out inside the starter. not hard to fix and it saved me from buying another starter however i cant see why it would just die while it was already running. if you do find this to be the prob or you want info on ripping your starter off and appart let me know and ill help ya out

tweak'e said:

what error code did they get ?

when you say hard to start what exactly happens? does it turn over slow/fast? does it fire now and then?

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Thanks tweake,

Sorry don't know what the error code was would mean nothing to me anyway. The Service adviser Showed me a printout pointing to discrepencies in the readings from the crank position sensor and the fuel line ? sensor or something.

To be honest not sure whether it was turning over faster or slower did not seem signifiantly different but would fire after a few attempts for several seconds when I gave it a bit of throttle.

Charlie Navara said:

i had some issues a while back where it was realy hard to start the engine and eventualy it wouldnt start at all. i had the starter motor replaced and it fixed the problem but it happened again a few months later so i looked into it and found it to be water and mud from crossings that had cezzed the brushes out inside the starter. not hard to fix and it saved me from buying another starter however i cant see why it would just die while it was already running. if you do find this to be the prob or you want info on ripping your starter off and appart let me know and ill help ya out

Click to expand...

Thanks Charlie,
I haven't done anything off road that would get water or mud anywhere near the starter.

That’s ok just sounded very similar coss when it first happened to mine I was stumped. I work on engines a fair bit and it all sounded fine (turning right pase) but I had to pump the accelerator before it would start. It went on like that for a while then started acting like I had a flat battery

Good luck with your nav man

First off, it's a diesel. If it's misfiring, it's going to be the timing of the fuel injection which is governed by the crank sensor but not wholly plagued by problems with that alone. There could be issues with fuel delivery pressures, injectors sticking closed, fuel filter blockages and more.

Have you ever used biodiesel in the vehicle? You might not know the answer to that directly, so have you bought fuel from any petrol station other than Shell, BP, Caltex or Mobil? A station saying "Mobil Products" is NOT Mobil, and may have up to 20% biodiesel in it. Australian Farmers Fuel use 20% biodiesel. Liberty Fuels do as well.

Biodiesel may leave deposits that clog the injectors, pump and filter. You would have to dismantle these to tell - I have heard one sorry tale where a Navara owner that used biodiesel in their vehicle had to spend $22,000 to get their vehicle repaired (there may be some exagerration in the amount as told to me, but even if it were $10,000 it's still a lot of money).

If the car's hard to turn over, it could be the starter, sure. But if the starter is fine, I'd look elsewhere, like the fuel delivery system. First I'd remove the filter and check it out for deposits, replacing it with a new one. Based on what I found, I'd go from there.

There may also be a problem with the breather in the fuel tank. If you're driving along and the breather isn't working, it could easily create a vacuum in the tank causing delivery issues (rubber fuel lines can collapse and block in the presence of high vacuum). With half a tank of fuel only (no more than that), try removing the fuel cap and drive around and see if the problem occurs.

grollo said:

.....The Service adviser Showed me a printout pointing to discrepencies in the readings from the crank position sensor and the fuel line ? sensor or something.......

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sounds like theres differences between crank sensor and pump timing sensor.
that often means stuffed injection pump. but high inlet restriction can also cause that, so check the fuel filters, fuel lines, fit clear bit of hose on pump outlet make sure its not sucking in air.

i'm not up with starter motor faults but i would check battery terminals. i;ve had problems with the stock ones, changing them helped a lot.

tweak'e said:

i'm not up with starter motor faults but i would check battery terminals. i;ve had problems with the stock ones, changing them helped a lot.

Click to expand...

That raises a very good point.

If your battery has been undercharged, it may not be able to deliver enough current to do the cranking. This will get worse as the ambient temperature drops.

It's not easy to spot a lead acid battery that is suffering in this way, the best way to check it is to simply swap it out with a known good one and see if the car behaves the same. If it's your battery, then:

* Make sure your alternator is working properly (test voltage with the engine at about 1200rpm, it should be putting out about 14.4V).

* Make sure your fan belts aren't slipping

* Make sure you don't use accessories or lights for excessive periods with the engine off. This includes stereo systems, portable refrigerators, compressors etc.

* Make sure the battery electrolyte levels are within the proper ranges.

Do these things before you cook another battery!

Thanks Tweak, it's something I'd not even considered.

Thanks,
the dealer has replaced the crank position sensor and is now telling me that the fuel injector pump ecu has failed along with the feed pump failing as well. Has quoted me $2850 to get it fixed.
The Nav is only 2months out of warranty, and Nissan have said no way they will cover it. Anyone gopt any tips on putting pressure on Nissan to cover it under warranty.

i don't know about nissan over there, i hear they are ***** to deal with. here they have a grace period which would cover situations like yours. best bet is probably ring nissan direct rather than through a dealer.

faulty injection pump sounds about right (hard to tell without knowing the code it had) but i would go get a local mechanic to just check your not sucking air in, blocked filters or anything minor like that. heard of quite a few that have blamed injection pump when it was a minor fault elsewhere.

tweak'e said:

i don't know about nissan over there, i hear they are ***** to deal with. here they have a grace period which would cover situations like yours. best bet is probably ring nissan direct rather than through a dealer.

faulty injection pump sounds about right (hard to tell without knowing the code it had) but i would go get a local mechanic to just check your not sucking air in, blocked filters or anything minor like that. heard of quite a few that have blamed injection pump when it was a minor fault elsewhere.

Click to expand...

Thanks tweake,
I have been trying to talk with Nissan Aust but they are not interested just say it is out of warranty so am trying dept of fair trading.
I would like to get it checked by my local mechanic but the Nav is over 300km away, because I was on holidays when it happened and took it to the local dealer there.

I just got an e-mail with details of the injector pump fault which reads,

There was a 5B code which relates to the crankshaft rpm sensor being Defective.
We cancelled the code and it still continues to return. This means the PSG5 computer is faulty.
The injector pump was then stripped and it was found that the hardining was coming off the feed pump.

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Does this sound right? Would this indicate that the crank shaft sensor was not actually the fault to begin with? coild the fuel injector pump have been a contributing/ primary issue from the start of the problems over a year ago?

Thanks again for your help!

I'd take that info into your local dealer or whoever first looked at it a year ago and find out why they couldn't pick up this expensive problem while your still covered by waranty. It seems they didn't want to dig this deep when your still covered as soon as its all your problem they go as deep as possible knowing your paying for it... Good luck with Nissan

Similar Problem

Hey mate, I've got a '05 d22 3.0td navara, with 140,000km on the clock. I have recently developed a very similar sounding problem. I started it the other day and it began making this real loud sucking sound like vacum, then I drove about 2km up the road and pulled over. I could then smell a really strong burning smell like windings shorting out or something. I let it sit for 20mins then tried to start it and it wouldn't start. The needle on the taco would flick from 0, right around to the other side of the taco and then back and sometimes stop on the wrong side.

So i got RACQ road side assistance out, and he managed to get it started by holding the throttle down while trying to turn it over. That was the only way to now start it. Also that engine light comes on. So I took it to an auto electrician who I know. He is really switch on, I've used him before and know he is excellent because he's found faults with other car's of mine in 20mins that other auto electricians spent hours on with no success.

So he hooked it up to the diagnosis system and funnily enough, it came up with faulty crank shaft sensor. He replaced that and it still didn't fix it. Now he is a very determined person when it comes to his work and takes it personally. So he has spent hours trying different things.

Basically, what he has found is that when you roll start it, the orange engine light does not light up, and it starts perfectly. Now from that he worked out if he hooks the starter motor up to a seperate battery from the power supply when he starts it, it starts perfectly with no light coming on. So now he believes that it must be a computer fault. So now we're at the stage where we are going to borrow a mates d22 with an identical computer, put my computer in his car to confirm that it is the computer. He said you can buy a brand new one from nissan for $3450 or you should be able to get a second hand one from a wreckers for between $300 and $500. Let me know if you have any break throughs and I will do the same. I'm pretty sure its the same problem. Thanks mate.

Jason before you change computers over, try this for me (it does no damage):

1) Turn the vehicle ignition OFF.
2) Disconnect the battery NEGATIVE lead from the battery
3) Turn the ignition ON (yes, it is not supposed to work)
4) Count to 10
5) Turn the ignition OFF.
6) Return the negative lead to the battery
7) Try starting the car.

If it works, it's just an ECU reset that was needed. Zero cost, minimal effort.

If you replace the ECU with your mate's, you achieve a similar goal (ECU reset) but it LOOKS like it was fixed by replacing the ECU.

Might save some time and $$$ there, good luck!

just wondering

G'day Grollo/guys,

I've just recently purchased a D22 from "......." and have just had the same issue as mentioned from the beginning of this thread. "they" replaced the crank sensor which solved nothing, followed by the starter motor which has appeared to fix the issue for now. Just wondering if you ever resolved the issue? And wondering if "they" hadn't read this thread and- yes- smothed things over till my Stat Warranty has transpired?

Would love to hear,.....???

James.