New Battery. Alt is charging. No issues at cold start, even during the winter when it's 35 degrees outside. First crank, starts perfect and strong.

Once the car is warm, let's say I have to make a stop at Walmart after an hour drive. 20 mins later, start the car. The engine have a hard time starting. It cranks fine. But it's like it has a hard time lighting up.

I read somewhere that SRI could be the cause of it because of the heat. And/or something to do with fuel flooding, somewhere, something like that, again, perhaps SRI related.

Spark plugs are 60K miles est. Do you think it's SRI related?

Thoughts, ideas, solutions, suggestions?

 

have you checked your main relay?

 

not sure what SRI is

but with engine cold pull plugs and make sure they're not soaked or fouled, be sure to torque them 1/4 turn past hand tight

with engine cold check coolant in radiator, make sure it's not low, if it is you have a leak, possibly headgasket

with engine warmed up I'd pull each plug wire off the spark plug and check to make sure the engine loses some power when testing each cylinder, this indicates a good plug wire and plug

you could always do a radiator pressure test to verify leaks and compression test to verify good/bad piston rings/valves

on my 98 ex that I bought used it had stripped headstuds so whenever it warmed up the head would partially lift and caused coolant to go in the cylinder. I also had white smoke coming out the exhaust.

If you know your engine is fine it could easily be a simple electrical issue.

 

SRI - Short ram intake.

 

Next time it doesn't start listen for the main relay to click before cranking.

 

MMY of the car....

 

2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R QR25DE. 206K miles. Reman motor installed by the dealer at ~160K+. Owned since 201K miles.

 

Cam and or crank sensors are the most common failure on that vehicle that exhibit the behavior you are describing. Next time you have a hard start issue,look at the tach and see if the needle is moving a little. Cranking rpm is generally about 200-400rpm so you wont see much movement while cranking,but the needle should be moving. It would be even better if you have a scanner or obd2 tool to connect so you can monitor the rpms.....

 

Will check the rpm next time. I read about the crank position sensor being a common issue. Just hope it wasn't that.

 

The cam and crank sensor are both the exact same type,which is why it could be either or. If you DO have rpm movement,then the issue may be the cam sensor.



You'd need a scanner to verify that.....