Hi again!
Still trying to work the bugs out of my '89 Sentra 1.6 ltr. with 5
speed manual, A/C and Throttle body fuel injection. 88,850 miles!

Engine cuts out (no spark I think) when the accelerator is pressed hard
under load, say going up a hill or trying to pass. I hear & smell the
gas going in but the engine cuts out beyond half pedal travel and
returns to normal (with some sputtering) when I ease up. Does this
everytime.

I had been concentrating on the fuel & vacuum system, not to mention
timing and plugs, but I got curious about the crank angle sensor and
distibutor itself. When I removed the cap, the was a small amount of
oil IN THE DISTRIBUTOR cap! Lucklily I had a used distributor unit,
unbolted the old one and put the replacement one on and cleaned up the
cap. (No error codes on the computer by the way!)

The car ran like a champ ... for a while then started doing exactly the
same thing as above ... cutting out under load. Would it be reasonable
to assume the second (uesd) distributor is bad too, allowing oil in to
the crank angle sensor? Was this a common problem with the 88 - 90
Sentras? Could there be a root problem causing the distibutors to go
bad?

I should add that I have to other "issues" at present with the car: A)
The fuel pressure is too high, around 45 PSI according to the home-made
guage I have installed at input side of the fairly new (34 months and
3000 miles) fuel pressure regulator. AND B) the timimg may be off due
to broken timing chain tensioner and / or timing chain jumped one
tooth. These things may or may not be related to the above problem(s).

Anyone who's had similiar trouble and found solutions - thank you for
your help on this one!
- Ben

Ben wrote:
The distributer shafts are driven by the oil pump in most cars. There
should be a ring seal on the distributer shaft. It's probably worn and
allowing the oil to get into the distributer.


--
Bill
in Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, delete the double zeroes after @

Willshak wrote:
This oil in distributor is a classic problem on the 93-97 Altima, and I
would assume, the same asyou have, that the OP's 89 Sentra is having
that problem.

On the 93 to 97 Altima, however, the distributor is driven by the
exhaust cam. Fixing the issue meant replacing the entire distributor.
Cap, rotor AND the housing of the distributor.

CD

Could it be an electrical problem caused my the engine movement? Like a
ground that loses conductivity when the engine tilts under load?

Does it happen when racing the engine with no load, i.e in neutral?

I do not think that the distributor would behave too differently when at
partial or full load.

What did you move, touch or disturbed while replacing the distributor?
It could be something lose or defective in the vecinity of the distributor.

Good luck

Ben wrote:

Thank you, can I just replace the seal or do I have to get a new
distributor too?

- Ben
Willshak wrote:

If you want you could get a kit to rebuild the distributor. But, the
common thing to do is get a rebuilt distributor.
Ben wrote: