Oh please help with my gremlin infested 240. LONG

[notmisfit]

I apologize in advance for the formatting or lack there of.

Ok going to start from scratch here bare with me please..
(Some of this may or may not be relevant in your attempt at trouble shooting but here it is none the less)
1993 Nissan 240sx SE Coupe
158xxx miles
5spd
starter replaced within the last 2 months
coolant flushed and filled within last month
92 octane most of the time, 87 others

2 week prior to these accounts, I had participated in a 2 day track event/drivers school on a road course and also participated in an autox that same weekend (aka beating the [censored] out of the car)

07/30: Come outside to goto work in the morning, someone had spray painted green paint my car, what [censored], I know. (stay with me) So I pull it up into the drive way, starts fine, idles fine. Turn it off, Wash it, yadda yadda, turn it on, its hesitant in moving up the driveway, by the time I drive it another 10 feet into the garage, smoke starts billowing from the passenger front fender/hood area, near the pop-up. I turn it off, pop the hood. Run inside frantically get some water to pour in the general vicinity of the smoke as I see fire damage as a bad thing. Goes away, smells like electrical fire, you know that burnt fleshy smell (best way I can describe it.) Attempt to start it, nadda. Wait a bit assuming I some how managed to get something wet, granted I didn't open the hood once during washing it so no direct water could have got anything unless via the popup.... doubtful. Finish drying it/waxing it and at this point start it up again, a good hour + had passed, starts up, no smoke from that area, but does not idle at all. Fires up like a champ, runs like a champ, but simply will not idle. When I get back home I take out the battery etc. in an attempt to find the sources of the smoke. No visible burns, scorches, nothing of that nature. Check all my fuses, OH its blowing the 10A engine control fuse, so i replace it, fire it up, bam blows it again. So this time I disconnect the battery, replace the fuse, blows it again upon reconnecting the battery and starting it up. I should also add the emergency brake light was staying ON at all times regardless if the ebrake was on or not. Attempted adjusting my idle also, obviously this did nothing. I end up going to sleep as it was very late at this point.

07/31: Drove it to work, didn't idle, drove it around, once again still starts fine, idle is still non existant at this point. Get home, take the battery etc out again looking at the harness for shorts, my harness is a wreck I am not sure what the previous owner may have done with it, or the owner before that, once again nothing visible to the naked eye.

08/01: Meet up with my friend that works at Nissan, and we take a look at it, played with the harness a bit, and I mean played, just moved it around a bit looked for more burn/scorches, still dont see anything and still has not smoked since the original incident. Looked over the relays, the EGI relay (green), had some slight discoloration at the bottom half of it, the part where it plugs in, well not slight, it was like a pea green as opposed to the top half being a lime green. Indication of heat. Test the battery, battery tested out fine. Decide to flip the relay with the EGI pump relay, also green, same type of relay, just to see what happens. Also replaced the 10a engine control fuse with a 15a fuse. Fire it up, giving it throttle to maintain idle, ok idles fine, great, ebrake light is out, even better. Leave feeling better thinking the problem has been solved, but most likely temporary (how little did I know...) Take it home, goto sleep feeling a bit better.

08/02: Wake up, decide to go drive the 240 a bit, turn it on, dies instantly, no idle, turns over fine, but just dies right off the bat. (this is the first time I had turned it on while not giving it gas since leaving my friends) Turn it on again, rev it up to about 3k for about 30 seconds, let off, idle drops to 400 sputtering about to die, then within 2 seconds straightens it self out idling at 700-750 rpm, which is what I had adjusted it for previously. Drive it a bit, anytime I let off the gas it just coast in neutral it idles just fine. So now I am going, w t f. Take it home, let it sit for about 20 minutes, go to start it, does the same thing, does not idle at start unless given gas for about a 20 second period, then idles fine. So I decide to go ahead and replace a few things that need replacing anyway due to not knowing what the previous owner did. Replaced the fuel filter, ran some intake manifold clean into the manifold, the type that you let sit for about 45 minutes then fire it up and the clouds of hell envelop your neighborhood. Hoping but certain this would do nothing, fire it up, obviously not going to idle with that crap in the enginie, rev it up till it starts and spitting out clouds, drive it around for about 30 minutes, bring it back home, once again still doing the same thing with the not idling unless I give it gas for a bit upon start up. Powerband feels more hesitant then the normal KA powerband. (yes i know, rofl?) Still scratching my head... goto sleep

08/03: Decide I want some popcorn chicken jump in the 240, arm/disarm my alarm (yes this is relevant) car had power at this point, attempt to start the car, all power vanishes, power locks, power windows, doors, all that good stuff, clock, gone. Let it sit for about 3 hours as in the past this has had a battery generate enough juice to turn over and start. At this point I am thinking I just left a light on. Go out to the car, headlights working, power locks/alarm/windows, all work, power in the car once again, no lights were left on, hmm. Attempt to start it up, the power disappears like a free keg. Damn, at this point getting annoyed. Leave it sit for the night no I did not try to jump start it as that does not solve any problems and I had no real place to go a friend couldn't take me.

08/06: Spoke with a few friends, decided I'd play with the ignition a bit, attempted to start the car up, had power to all accessories once again, turn the key, BOOM gone. Replace the cap, replace the rotor, clean some gunk off the pos battery terminal (had this disconnected while replacing cap + rotor. Hook everything back up. Car starts up just fine, once again those, does not idle unless given gas for a period of about 20-30 seconds, then sets it self straight when I let off. Go to sleep for the night.

08/07: Start the car up in the morning, same idle issue upon start up, starts fine though, no power loss upon turning the key. Goto college, get in the car had sat for about 1hr, starts just fine, same idle problem, go get some food, come out, car starts fine, same idle problem. Go get some gas and cigarettes, come out, turn key, all power vanishes !! Back to square 1... SDFKJSDF:LJKDS Disconnect the positive battery terminal inspecting it for I don't even know what, each time I touch the positive cable to the terminal sparks, yay. Go inside, clock back on, power etc, attempt to turn key, power gone !! Decide to try some ghetto tree mechanic, put the cable on upside down, with a screwdriver wedged between the cable and the terminal, no I didn't drive it around like this, attempt to start it up, starts just fine, dont give it any gas, dies right off (did this on purpose) attempt to start it again instantly with my screwdrive wedge system (tm), starts just fine. Leave it idling put the battery cable back on the correct way right side up, drive home. Turn it off when I get home, start it up instantly starts fine, idle is fine, idle is always fine after its been running a bit, if it sets 20 minutes or so, idle is gone without the throttle upon start up.

Came inside, typed up this long *** post, and hoping that FA's huge knowledge base can help me solve what seems to be gizmo after he ate chicken after midnight, living in my engine bay.

If you've read to this point, you are a truly great person and If we ever meet I'll buy you a fortune cookie.

Any help at all is greatly appreciated as all I want to do is enjoy car life with PS13 =)

Sincerely,

Ryan

[240Stilo]

You really could have made it shorter. Basically, you got an idle problem and e-brake light stays on. You might want to check your ECU to see if it's throwing any codes. Sucks that someone spray painted your car. They possibly did more than just that, such as messing around with your gas tank, who knows. But yeah...only post the important stuff or nobody will read your threads, people get lazy.

[radhaz]

I highly doubt this is it, but when I had my first car I put in a new battery it ran fine for a few days then one day I got in my car and closed the door and all the accessories died. I popped the hood checked the cable and noticed it was a bit loose, tightened it up and all was well. Then a few days later the problem came back, the remedy was to tighten the ever living snot out of the terminal connectors......

One more thing, if your battery is "sparking" when you connect the leads to it, then you have an accessory that is drawing current ie a light on or something shorted to ground. You mentioned an alarm being installed and most likely that's the reason you are sparking but it is something to look into.

Good luck

[mbmbmb23]

Hmm....if I had to guess I'd say that when the electrical fire happened, a wire was exposed and now is shorting out/gounding out at times (when theres no power at all). The idle problem...I dunno..maybe a melted vacuum hose when the fire happened?...or a wire thats used on a vacuum sensor? You say the brake light is on now?? Is that an engine code popping up maybe??




-m

[notmisfit]

Fire it up, giving it throttle to maintain idle, ok idles fine, great, ebrake light is out, even better.

It is out now, which is why it is a mystery, as I really didn't do much of anything for it to stop staying on, aside from jiggling the harness a bit.

[radhaz]

Originally posted by notmisfit
07/30: Come outside to goto work in the morning, someone had spray painted green paint my car, what [censored], I know.

By the way, next time avoid the psycho chicks that even your friends won't fool around with...sure it's an easy hit but look at all the crap that happens