FlyingLandon
11-07-2010, 09:13 PM
So, here's the long of it. I have a 2006 Xterra, just over 100k miles on it. I recently replaced the spark plugs, about... 1500 miles ago?
The deal is, some times the truck doesn't start. Trying to start, the starter runs strong, nothing out of the ordinary for normal starting, except normally, after roughly one second of cranking, it starts up. Today was the 4th time in the last month that that the engine would crank and crank, but not start. The engine wasn't even trying to start. So, I'd try, crank if for a few seconds, stop, let it sit, try again. Again, like I said, it's not sounding weak or anything during this process. When it does start, it's usually cranking for a few seconds, and then fires up like nothing was wrong. The first two times doing this, it was fairly low on fuel (light was on, drove it to the gas station and it took about 19 gallons one time, 18 the other, so it wasn't THAT low on fuel) The only other thing that was consistent is that I parked on the street, so the truck was tilted towards the passenger side, but I can't imagine that having that big an effect. Also, I've never had this happen twice in a day, and always on the first start up of the day, so that may be something to consider.
After starting the truck runs perfectly normal. After looking at the Haynes troubleshooting, it suggests either a fuel issue or and ignition issue. My uneducated thoughts are that it's a fuel issue, because I assume if it was an ignition issue, would I not notice performance problems while driving?
I'm not mechanically incompetent (I do most minor repairs myself, anyways, assuming I can find something telling me how), so anything that can be suggested I check without major mechanical disassembly, I'll try. I'd like to try to pinpoint the problem myself, and repair it myself, if I feel confident.
So any suggestions on what could be the issue and how I can check would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.
The deal is, some times the truck doesn't start. Trying to start, the starter runs strong, nothing out of the ordinary for normal starting, except normally, after roughly one second of cranking, it starts up. Today was the 4th time in the last month that that the engine would crank and crank, but not start. The engine wasn't even trying to start. So, I'd try, crank if for a few seconds, stop, let it sit, try again. Again, like I said, it's not sounding weak or anything during this process. When it does start, it's usually cranking for a few seconds, and then fires up like nothing was wrong. The first two times doing this, it was fairly low on fuel (light was on, drove it to the gas station and it took about 19 gallons one time, 18 the other, so it wasn't THAT low on fuel) The only other thing that was consistent is that I parked on the street, so the truck was tilted towards the passenger side, but I can't imagine that having that big an effect. Also, I've never had this happen twice in a day, and always on the first start up of the day, so that may be something to consider.
After starting the truck runs perfectly normal. After looking at the Haynes troubleshooting, it suggests either a fuel issue or and ignition issue. My uneducated thoughts are that it's a fuel issue, because I assume if it was an ignition issue, would I not notice performance problems while driving?
I'm not mechanically incompetent (I do most minor repairs myself, anyways, assuming I can find something telling me how), so anything that can be suggested I check without major mechanical disassembly, I'll try. I'd like to try to pinpoint the problem myself, and repair it myself, if I feel confident.
So any suggestions on what could be the issue and how I can check would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.