About to give up

[Jim]

What about bad earth connections? Make some earth continuity checks with a meter. Run a few new earth leads between components and perhaps back towards the battery. Take care with trailing leads and rotating equipment.

Jim

 

[195910]

Hi Esteban
Maybe we can help out, see you soon

 

[500ESpain]

Hi Esteban
Maybe we can help out, see you soon

Hope I can make it run by then!

Thanks, guys, I will keep following your suggestions and keep you updated.

 

[Geoff]

Esteban, any updates? did you manage to get to the bottom of the problem. I've got the same problem as you had. Runs nice when cold, but when its warm, at operating temps, it cuts out and if you crank the engine to re-start it, it backfires. Someone please help.

 

[Egreaves20]

Esteban, any updates? did you manage to get to the bottom of the problem. I've got the same problem as you had. Runs nice when cold, but when its warm, at operating temps, it cuts out and if you crank the engine to re-start it, it backfires. Someone please help.

I had the exact same issue. I changes the caps, rotors and spark plugs and it solved the problem 100%. Try that and report back.

 

[mistermiata]

Same here...try cleaning up the caps and rotors (before spending the $$ on new ones). If that clears up your problem, then you know for sure, and if it returns, replace them.

It seems with my E500, I have this problem return every year or so, cleaning the caps and rotors with emery paper solves the problem. I guess I will need to replace them sooner or later.

 

[Geoff]

Thanks guy's i'll do that tomorrow, also noticed, when i put the ignition on, the wires in the maf glow red hot, whats all that about ???? is that normal ???? someone also suggested that i should replace the CPS lead ????

 

[gsxr]

MAF is self-cleaning, yes that is probably normal. Don't replace random parts, pull codes to find out what the errors are.

 

[gerryvz]

The MAF wire on LH injection systems is set to glow each time the engine is shut off for a few seconds to burn off any impurities or debris it has collected through running of the car.

 

[Geoff]

Thanks for the heads-up on the MAF phenomena guy's. couldn't do the caps and rotor arm today, been raining in my part of London, UK, didn't want to take the Nissan Skyline out of the garage to put the E500 in as it was already wet by the time i got home. Vin number is WDB1240361B953774, i imported it from Japan 5 years ago, is it a USA car or a Euro car or what. Must also mention, you guy's are a wealth of information, thanks. Will report back after doing the caps and rotor. Had it on the Star diagnostic last week and it came back with a fault on the Maf, replaced the Maf and it was still showing Maf at fault ??

 

[gsxr]

Vin number is WDB1240361B953774, i imported it from Japan 5 years ago, is it a USA car or a Euro car or what.

Definitely Euro, not USA. EPC datacard order code (0 3 227 00507) indicates original delivery in NUERNBERG, Germany. Probably exported to Japan.

Had it on the Star diagnostic last week and it came back with a fault on the Maf, replaced the Maf and it was still showing Maf at fault ??

Could be the engine wiring harness, especially if it's original. That's what connects the MAF to the computers. Check the forum Wiki for more info.

 

[bgalakazam]

Just to pitch in, after a spent about $3000 for repairs on my 400E, I took it to the dealer and they found the issue in no time. 2 hour labor $360, could have saved me a lot of time and cash. You can see my thread here: http://www.500eboard.com/forums/showthread.php?3407-No-power-unburnt-fuel-ETA-problem

 

[500ESpain]

Hi, guys

Nice to see that you're still interested in this and that somehow is useful to other folks. Unfortunately there are no updates. My life is a little bit messy lately but hopefully by the end of the month I will be able to get my attention back to the car.

 

[500ESpain]

I'm just gonna whisper this but I think the problem is solved.

I've been checking many things but something I overlooked were the distributor caps as they had less than 10KKm on them (I would say not even 5K). I checked them once or twice when they were cold and they looked fine. But last week I took them out when they were hot and they had moisture inside. I dryed them and the car started straight away. I ordered new Bosch caps and new o-rings (back covers were new) and I did some test drives. So far so good. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all your help and interest.

 

[195910]

I'm just gonna whisper this but I think the problem is solved.

I've been checking many things but something I overlooked were the distributor caps as they had less than 10KKm on them (I would say not even 5K). I checked them once or twice when they were cold and they looked fine. But last week I took them out when they were hot and they had moisture inside. I dryed them and the car started straight away. I ordered new Bosch caps and new o-rings (back covers were new) and I did some test drives. So far so good. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for all your help and interest.

Lots of members reporting issues with condensation in the caps.. I think its something that we should all take into consideration.

I never replaced the caps on my car, But during the final days of ownership I had an interesting experience that might confirm your findings:

In an effort to resolve the occasional heck-up, I replaced the Spark Plug wire and heads with new ones; this had zero effect as the original 19 years old wire were good. I was really angry and wanted to try anything, so I went and opened of the distributors (Bosch rotors were 3 years old), I sanded the contact points on the caps (they appeared to have scaling/light corrosion on them) and I put everything back together... car ran better than ever !

 

[500AMM]

Guys,

Have a look at this thread; https://www.500eboard.com/forums/sh...ts-on-engine-rotors-how-to-take-them-out-HELP
I posted an explanation about the condense problems in post #14 and to repeat just for information:

• on cold engine, the humidity is condensed on the surface inside the caps
• if the contact points are not too bad, or have too much build-up of verdigris/oxidation, the car will start and run fine
• when the engine heats up the condense vaporises, but it's trapped inside the caps due to restricted ventilation
• the high humidity creates severe shortcuts and the engine misfires, it may develop to a final stall
• the vapor will slowly evacuate through the tiny slots at bottom of the caps, and after a while, say 30 minutes, the engine starts and run fine
• if the contact points has heavy build-up of verdigris and oxidation, it takes a longer time to dry up

At a closer study it seems that the composite material in the caps, rotors and insultor covers has high attraction for humidity. I have opened the caps on cold humid days and the water drops are simply dribbling in there. The dew point is climate dependent and varies geographically, so cars hosting in a dry & warm climate won't have this problem as near as up north here in Norway.

The caps needs additional ventilation in the top section to improve the flow to stay dry or dry up faster. I suspect the only reason for not having this is to protect against spill of fluid from top of the engine. I will at some point try to make additional ventilation in the caps.

 

[bing]

Arnt, if you can find a way of ventilating these wretched diZzy caps I think you could spark (oops pardon the pun) a group buy !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[500ESpain]

Well, it seems that I won the battle but not the war.

This morning I went for the emissions test and it failed. Fortunately, the guy was willing to help. Even though the cats were hot, the CO levels were around 0,8 (0,3 is the máximum allowed) until he floored it down for a while (felt like years to me as I watched the temperature going close to the 120º line) and he managed to take them down to legal levels.

According to the readings while doing the test, it seems that the oxygen sensor is really lazy doing it's job so I need a new one and most likely new cats as the don't sound as they should. I guess that after all the cranking without ignition, the unburnt fuel ended up damaging them.

So, about the cats... I don't wanna pay 2000 euro at the dealership so what options do I have?

Magnaflow are really cheap (actually, it sounds too good to be true at 599$) and they have them on ebay and amazon:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Magnaflow-D...s&fits=Model:500E&hash=item58934c6027&vxp=mtr

http://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-235...r=1992|1992&carId=001&n=15684181&s=automotive

I know they are a well known brand there in the US but almost unknown here. Acceptable quality or crap? Will these fit euro models?

Any other options/sources in the US?

Sources in Europe?

As always, many thanks for your help. I would give up without it.

 

[Christian_K]

Magnaflow are really cheap (actually, it sounds too good to be true at 599$) and they have them on ebay and amazon:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Magnaflow-D...s&fits=Model:500E&hash=item58934c6027&vxp=mtr

http://www.amazon.com/MagnaFlow-235...r=1992|1992&carId=001&n=15684181&s=automotive

WOW!
What the f.... If i had known that earlier i wouldn't have had to do those weeks of trial and error of my self-made cat system, also magnaflow 100cell powered...

 

[Stevester 500E]

I boght my cats from parts.com, my emmissions are much cleaner. I believe the cats cost me $335 US dollars.

 

[500ESpain]

I boght my cats from parts.com, my emmissions are much cleaner. I believe the cats cost me $335 US dollars.

That sounds good but just the cats or the whole piping? Magnaflow also has just the cats to be welded to the original pipes for around 130$ each

 

[500ESpain]

WOW!
What the f.... If i had known that earlier i wouldn't have had to do those weeks of trial and error of my self-made cat system, also magnaflow 100cell powered...

I think it's a good deal for just around 500€, shipping included, but the only thing I know about Magnaflow is that they use it in Overhaulin' ;-)

 

[bing]

I think it's a good deal for just around 500€, shipping included,

You just have to factor in Customs duty/tax

 

[500ESpain]

You just have to factor in Customs duty/tax

Yes, I'm aware of that, thanks. It depends on the total value and how the sender marks it (gift or whatever). Normally I don't have to pay anything but, anyway, in my experience is still worth even when I have to do it.

 

[500AMM]

I think it's a good deal for just around 500€, shipping included, but the only thing I know about Magnaflow is that they use it in Overhaulin' ;-)

Overhaulin' is a great TV-program!

But the Magnaflow cats has been up here on the board many times; http://www.500eboard.com/forums/search.php?searchid=330041 From what I've read it seems to be a good choice.

-a-

 

[Christian_K]

Overhaulin' is a great TV-program!

But the Magnaflow cats has been up here on the board many times; http://www.500eboard.com/forums/search.php?searchid=330041 From what I've read it seems to be a good choice.

-a-

Better not hotlink search-ids... They do not work since they are only temporary stored...

 

[500ESpain]

Overhaulin' is a great TV-program!

But the Magnaflow cats has been up here on the board many times; http://www.500eboard.com/forums/search.php?searchid=330041 From what I've read it seems to be a good choice.

-a-

Sorry, I should have read that before. Thanks!

 

[500AMM]

Better not hotlink search-ids... They do not work since they are only temporary stored...

You're right, I wasn't aware of that, and I have in fact done that several times.

Thanks for the warning!