Micra k11 - crank no start

[beni22sof]

Hello,
A few days ago my Nissan Micra K11 (from 1999, 1.3 petrol) stopped running. It cranks but it does not start.

The car had some difficulties starting after being parked at an incline. A few days later it stopped starting at all. Since the engine cranks, I started looking at the fuel: replaced fuel filter, replaced fuel pump (thought it had gone bad, the old one made sounds when I shook it, so it wasn't in great condition either). I mention I saw some metal filings inside the small reservoir for the fuel pump. I thought they came from the failing pump.

Nevertheless, the car does not start with the new pump. It seems that was not the problem. After looking at some youtube video, which showed that shorting an injector to the battery might solve the problem I checked the continuity of the wires.

I have continuity from the battery to the relay. When testing from the relay to the rightmost injector I get a resistance oscillating between 400 and 1200 ohms. Testing a connection nearby (MAF sensor?) shows 400 ohms. Is it normal to have such high resistances or should the meter just show continuity?

What would you suggest I try next? Thank you in advance for all your advice.

 

[MikelMicra]

Check spark, my micra stopped right after a long uphill and turned out to be a faulty distributor. Try placing a sparkplug on the end of a ht lead and look for spark.

 

[beni22sof]

I changed the distributor cap and rotor. Still no change, the car cranks, but it does not start. I linked a new sparkplug to one spark wire and put it on the engine block as someone cranked the car. There is no spark. I'm not sure how to test the ignition coil for spark... I should put a sparkplug directly there somehow.

I tested the connections of the coil with a voltmeter. I got 0.2 ohms from lead to lead and 12.4 kohms from the lead to the head of the coil. I guess that seems fine?

If the line from the relay to the coil body seems fine (multimeter shows connection) then the coil is probably faulty? Can the coil be tested for spark on the car?

 

[beni22sof]

Well, when I changed the whole distributor body (rotor, sensor, coil, everything), the car finally started. Before that, tried the cap, the finger, the coil. Must have been the sensor or some other electronic part.

Since the engine runs, but seems a bit more rough than before, I may have messed up the timing. I did not mark correctly the position of the old distributor and the new one was slightly different.

Can I just rotate a bit the distributor body back and forth to see of the engine runs smoother or not? What's the correct way of adjusting the timing (without too many tools).

 

[.Maarten]

Warm up the engine. Make sure blowers and lights are off (no load on engine) pull off tps connector, rev engine a few times to 3k rpm.
Check if idle rpm is around 650+-50 for manual and 700-750 for cvt. Adjust if needed. Hex bolt on the back of the throttle body. Loosen the 2 bolts that hold the dizzy so that you can turn it. Check the timing with a timing light and set to -15 degrees by rotating the dizzy. (1 before the last mark. | 5 | tdc | -5 | -10 | -15 | -20)

 

[EliasBrum]

Warm up the engine. Make sure blowers and lights are off (no load on engine) pull off tps connector, rev engine a few times to 3k rpm.
Check if idle rpm is around 650+-50 for manual and 700-750 for cvt. Adjust if needed. Hex bolt on the back of the throttle body. Loosen the 2 bolts that hold the .