Intermittent no start issue

Tiny
MAVERICKM
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 NISSAN XTERRA
  • 3.3L
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 150,000 MILES
Vehicle came back from being borrowed and I told him to park beside driveway. When I moved the vehicle in it's spot I turned the key on the vehicle fifteen minutes after it was parked all the dash lights came on the radio but no starter crank. I moved the shifter to neutral and back to park while turning the key a few times, rapped on the steering column and such but no crank. I left it there for a few hours went back out and it started. I immediately went to the parts store and replaced the starter relay which I think is called a clutch interlock relay and drove it three to four more days. After changing the relay I would try it after getting to work, five minutes away, to start it and it only failed once, but started at shifts end. I drove it a bit farther one evening and tried it a few times and it started twice then failed. It hasn't started since. I spent a day tracing all electrical connection to the starter and cleaning them and removed the starter and had it testing. It passed. When reinstalled it would crank but not start. I had spark but could not get any fuel. I tested the fuel pump relay and checked all the fuse. All were good. Got in it the next day and all it would do was click. Put on jumper cable and still just click. It has a service engine soon light on so I got a code reader and it throws no codes. At this point I threw up my hands. I have read about the IPDM relay block going bad. Would this give me all these symptoms?
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019 AT 9:46 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hello,

This could be a problem with your vehicle's Camshaft Position Sensor (CMP) starting to go bad. When this sensor is going bad it will intermittently cause the vehicle to not start or let it start accordingly. Your vehicle's Power-train Control Module (PCM) uses the signal from the CMP to tell if the engine is rotating and where the engine is in it's 4 stroke cycle and then commands the ignition timing and fuel injectors on and off from the signal. If the PCM isn't getting the signal from the CMP then your vehicle will not start. In order to test the CMP you will need an oscilloscope so I won't include testing for you, but they are relatively inexpensive, around $20.00 to $25.00 at your local parts house. I have included the component description and location in the diagrams down below. Please go through this information and get back to us with what you are able to find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Wednesday, May 8th, 2019 AT 2:34 PM

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