unknown issue with car not always starting and loses power

[shadowkeeper5]

hi there,

this is my first question but have been in and out of different forums on here about if anyone similar has my issue.

I just recently bought a k11 micra 1.0 vibe 700 quid and it seems in good nick for the first 50 odd miles. it then suddenly then got an amber engine light on and developed a few issues. the first was that when I'm driving (I've noticed it around 30 in 3rd but not sure if relevant) I start to lose power with my foot still the same on the throttle and goes down to about 25 and then I have to give it quite a bit of throttle before it goes back up to speed, the only way I can describe is like turbo lag even though this hasn't got it, I thought maybe throttle cable but not sure. the second issue is that it doesn't always start. the starting motor sounded fine and has a new battery but wouldn't turn over. I would keep repeating this until it finally sputters into life. these r all very strange and found on this forum it could be the distributor coil causing this but with no tools I couldn't be certain.

i today took it into a garage to get diagnosed and it got an unknown fault code and an overheating one even though the temperature gauge never shows its overheating and nothing else would suggest the car is overheating. The garage cleared the faults and tried it whilst idling and it came back with no faults. the engine light wasn't on after driving it for around 10 minutes until it came back on again.

as well when I'm parking it seems to kangaroo as such just juddering but cant tell if that's cause car is about to stall or not but only happens when in first

I am very confused about where to go from here and seems to be a guessing game.

can anyone help with what else i can do?

thank you

 

[villanueva_00]

I am going to assume that you have a facelift micra with removable MAF and Coil on plugs instead of a distributor. I would suggest a scanner so that you can check live data along with value specs on the manual (you can download the factory service manual on this forum).
From what you have pointed this is what i would check:

• Engine coolant temperature sensor. The gauge uses a second sensor (this only has one pin and its only purpose its the gauge). The main one it has a 2 pin plug and if out of spec (as one of the errors was showing, or maybe it really is overheating) it would change the fueling parameters making the engine not to run properly.
• MAF and TPS. Best to check manual specs with a voltmeter.
• Coils and Spark Plugs. Try running the engine and removing one coil at a time and see if when doing it the engine starts jerking/juddering. If there is not a noticeable change there may be a problem with the spark on that cylinder. Check the spark plugs color for clues on if its running lean or very rich (there are many charts with images online showing different examples)
• Fuel pump/injectors. Check the fuel pump sound (easy indication is the sound when priming withing the first 5 seconds of the key in the igntion position). In my expirience with old pumps they usually sound like they even struggle when priming. You can check the injectors with a long flathead screwdriver on top of the injector and putting your ear on the other end of the screwdriver. You should hear it click with the engine running indicating that if it isnt clogged, at least is trying to open.

Those are pretty basic tips that may not fix the problem but are easy for anyone to try them.

 

[shadowkeeper5]

hi there,
thank you for your response I have ordered a scanner for an old 2 port however I am not sure if my version has that I will attach it below. think its that weird Nissan special one.

also could you please attach the factory service manual can only find the one without the coil pack that

I'm assuming that the diagrams r what voltage should be when I do a scan

 

[villanueva_00]

Yeah they values i posted can be check either with a scan tool or with a regular analog voltmeter.
Thats anormal OBD2 plug so i guess most common readers will work. Earlier K11´s had the special 14 pin consult connector.