1987 200sx will not start

Z_ealot

hey guys, wasnt sure where to post this and havent gotten any responses back from the guys over at club-s12 so figured i'd see if anyone has anything to offer here. Long story short bought an 87 200sx from my buddies mom that has been sitting on her property for the last 4 or 5 years. went there today and put in a new battery as it didnt have one, everything electrical turns on but when i go to actually start the engine i get nothing, engine doesnt even turn over. the only other thing i noticed was that some of the spark plug wires look like they had been chewed through by a mouse or something, is it possible that's what is preventing it from turning over or is there something else i should be checking that i missed somewhere. Any suggestions or useful information would be appreciated and thanks in advance to anybody who can help me.

Kingbaby

Do you hear the fuel pump priming?

What noises is it making exactly?

Also sign up on 240sxforums and zilvia

Good luck

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Jordo!

Does it even crank? Could be the starter is dead.

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Boost_lee

Spark plug wires could be an issue, but if everything else was good, the motor should still crank and turn over.

I'd check the battery and chassis grounds, the wiring from the battery to the starter, and finally the starter itself. Go from there.

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Z_ealot

Thanks guys for the replies, as far as sounds that it is making it does sound like the starter is working as i can hear a faint 1 time click when i turn the key all the way to ignition, as far as the fuel pump though i couldnt really tell as when i was working on it yesterday i had alot of wind coming in from a storm that was making it difficult to work on in the first place. i think about the only thing i accomplished was being able to fill the tires back up with air which suprisingly all the tires were good with the exception of a small valve stem leak on 1. one other thing i noticed there is a battery volt meter in the console that when i go to turn the key all the way the volts drop down to nothing and then when i let go of the key they come back up to normal. gonna be heading back out there sometime in the next few hours here so if anyone has any other ideas it would be much appreciated and thanks for the suggestions so far guys.

Spikuh

Does it have gas? Can't tell you how many stories I have heard where someone forgot to check for gas.

Z_ealot

lol, yeah beieve me i know those stories, but yes i brought 2 gallons with me specifically to be able to try and get it up and running so i could get it at least to the nearest gas station to fill it up the rest of the way.

ZMan8

fuel pump might be bad after sitting such a long time

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Trips

Sounds like the batteries Low? May want to try another battery or try giving it a simple jump

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Z_ealot

Thanks, but per my OP the battery is brand spankin new just bought the day before yesterday.

Boost_lee

Did you check the battery ground cable to the chassis?

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vividracing

The symptom you're describing is that the starter isn't getting power. Have you personally confirmed that the battery is good? I've had plenty of parts bad outta the box although never a battery. Check it out anyway. I'd bet that it's a problem with resistance, though. Make sure your connections at the battery are clean and tight. Bend the wires a bit in various spots. There should be no hard spots. The whole wire should be flexible, from end to end. Hard spots = high resistance = lower ability to flow current, which means less power at the end of the wire. Also, check the connections at the starter. Check voltage at the starter as well. Lastly, check all your grounds. You should have a battery to chassis ground, and chassis to engine ground. Make sure both are clean and tight at each end, with no hard spots in the cables.


I'd drop a cap full of oil into each cylinder as well. Also, crank the car with the fuel pump disabled for a few seconds to get some oil movin' around. Honestly I'd just tow the thing to your house. It's a 24 yr old car that's been sitting for 4 or 5 yrs. Definitely needs to be gone through before being driven.

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280z/300zx

A car like this that has been sitting needs to have multiple things checked and done to it. The battery was the first thing but there is still tons more

-Gas in the tank. You should also drop the tank and have it cleaned. If the tank had gas sitting in it for all these years there is now a bunch of rust and debris that are going to clog the fuel lines and injectors

-Check to make sure the car is getting fuel. Check the fuel pump, change the fuel filter, and pull each injector to make sure that fuel will flow from each check point. Tank-to pump-to filter- fuel rail-injectors

-spark plug wires and spark plugs. If the wires are trashed or the plugs used up the car will not want to crank, or if it does not run properly. Plugs and wires are cheap, get a new set of all. You also need to do the cap and rotor, again cheap

-Replace the air filter

-check the starter, alternator, coil, battery cables, battery connections, ground wires, and pretty much any wires you see for corrosion or breakage. While your at it also check all vaccum hoses for similar

Aside from dropping the gas tank all of this is easy, cheap, and quick to do and should give you a good basis of the cars condition; as well as where you need to go next.

Some other things you might want to check out too are the MAF and ECU to make sure they aren't fried or corroded. Not to mention the TPS

Cmike2780

^^

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Spikuh

Seems like you are getting some pretty good suggestions. Good to see you thought to bring some gas.

Also, check ALL fluid levels. If it is using stock hoses, they are bound to be leaking. My 240sx was down for around 1.5 months with a broken suspension arm and it was bone dry on every fluid except gas.