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Intermittent Start Issue with Crank - Goes away when Priming Fuel Pump

448 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Tlrtucker
My 2007 SE X-terra (200,000 miles) has an intermittent issue with crank and no start.

I found, that priming the fuel pump (turn the key to start the fuel pump, wait 5 sec, turn off - do again and instead of turning off turn on the engine) will always start the car.

No issues at all once it is running.

There is no clear pattern.
The first couple of times I noticed this, it was a warm start issue - when the engine was very hot and I turned it off shortly, only to find it would not start up again.

Later this evolved into occurring maybe once or twice a week in all conditions.

I have no codes and a brand new battery.

First, I thought this is a fuel pump issue and exchanged the fuel pump.
After the exchange, I felt the car start up was a faster, and the issue disappeared - for 3 weeks.

Now the starting issues are back and appear intermittent again maybe once or twice per week.

I am quite confident it is not the battery.

Not sure about Cam or crank sensors

The car has the white IPDM!

Anybody any guesses?
Very grateful…
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I replaced the crank sensor with aftermarket. Everyone says go OEM. So my next attempt is to bite the bullet and buy OEM crank and cam sensors.
Your problem is most likely the ECM relay on the ipdm board. The relay is found HERE.
You can test it, replace it, you can test all of them. Have Service Manual Chapter PG, Power/Ground, on hand for the details.
Or just replace the entire board as suggested earlier. That on/off sequence with the key sounds like a relay problem. Cam/Crank sensor issues usually cause some other drivability problems, and you have none.

If you haven't changed the cam sensors, it would be wise to do so. Use the same brand as the new crank sensor.

Don't waste your money on oem or Hitachi sensors. You had a no start, you changed the sensor and still have a no start. It's not that sensor, but be certain they are all fully installed and the connectors are latched.

The Hitachi/Nissan sensors are all hype. They actually suck so bad no other car manufacturer uses them, that I am aware of. Nissan uses Hitachi because both companies used to be, and may still be, in the same corporate structure. They certainly aren't using them for their high quality, as they have an alarming failure rate.
A lot of folks on these Nissan sites needlessly get their panties in a bunch over Hitachi and NGK products.
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Tlrtucker, go back on your meds.
We can tell when you missed a few days.
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