My 2003 Nissan Sentra has been in and out of the shop for 3 weeks, HELP!?

Question

I have a 2003 Nissan Sentra SER. For the past 3 weeks this car has been back and forth to the shop. First, it has an intermittent crank, no start issue. If the car is cold it starts right up no problem, but if you drive it and then let it sit for about and hour or so it cranks a few times before it actually starts. Sometimes I even have to give it a little gas before it will turn over.

So the shop I took it too replaced the Fuel Pump Regulator. About 2 days later it was back at it. Before that they replaced the Exhaust Manifold, which has nothing to do with the car starting in the first place. So here I am $1,000 later and nothing has changed.

On top of that the car wouldnt start yerterday and when it did, the RPM's were bouncing up and down causing the car to jerk, I had to pull over in hopes that it would straighten itself out.

Has anyone else had these issues? If so what was the fix?

Answer 1

I just had the Crank Sensor recall done for my 03' SE-R Spec V.  It went from having a long crank to start to no spark and thus, no start at all.  You should take it to the dealer.  If this is the problem they will fix it at no charge and it sounds like this is the problem.

Answer 2

sounds like a coolant problem, or temperture sensor issue. the rpms bouncing around could also be  idle air control vavle, your best bet is to bring the car to a Nissan dealer. No one will know your car better than the dealer. it may cost a bit more at first but you could of saved your other money that you spent already. I'm an ASE Certified Advanced Master Mechanic. I've been with Honda for over 10 years.

Answer 3

I believe there is a factory recall for crank sensor replacement. I used to work at a Nissan dealership and installed probably hundreds of them.  (your car has more than 1 crank sensor) The symptoms you described are classic for your vehicle.