Mateen995

So today I went to the dealership to have the Maxima's passenger airbag replaced. Obviously when doing so they have to disconnect the battery. Apparently as they were parking the car it started to throw an SES light & started misfiring. They told me about it & I was pissed since the car was running perfectly before hand. As I started the car it was misfiring (car was shaking pretty badly) but no SES light, & the dealer didn't reset or check anything. As soon as I pull out the dealership the car ran fine & I gave it some gas and the thing pulled like no tomorrow. Turned it off & on again 3 times when I got home & there was no misfiring. Is it bad gas, coil packs, spark plugs?

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Check for codes, might be some pending.

Mateen995

Even without an SES light?

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Mateen995

alright quick update, after the car being off for a few hours, I decided to start it up again & the car misfired for about 3-4 seconds but it definitely was not as harsh as last time & the SES light popped up. Drove the car around the block, it still felt solid. Going to go to a friend's house later & pull the codes.

Lontar1

iTrader: (5)

i think the car was afraid of been at the stealership.......

Mateen995

Well I drove the car almost 100km in total yesterday & it was fine. Checked the codes & it got P0305. But the car was resting for a while at my friends house & the car was fine. I'm thinking along the lines of a tiny vacuum leak somewhere

foodmanry

iTrader: (15)

Switch ignition coil from #5 cylinder to #1 or #3 and see if the code follows the cylinder.

I'm almost 100% you have a bad intermittent ignition coil.

Mateen995

I might try that but the 2 times it misfired it was at idle for maybe 2-4 seconds at most. Never under load even near WOT.

foodmanry

iTrader: (15)

Ok don't listen and do what you want. You want to spend time and money to chase down a potential vacuum leak versus using a strategy that costs you nothing and is more likely to be the cause or your issue?

Yeah, that makes sense....do yourself a favor and search "ignition coil" in this board in the 5th gen and see how many threads pop up. Ignition could are known and recurring issues with the 5th gen maxima.

In the end...your car, your choice. Just don't waste our time if you aren't going to take our advice anyhow.

Mateen995

I know these cars have known ignition coil problems, was very aware well before I bought the car. I'm gonna try switching the coils but its hard to get the car to start missing since it happen randomly & for a tiny period of tiem

george__

iTrader: (1)

Only use Hitachi or new oem or used oem.

Mateen995

that's what I've been seeing. Most likely gonna go with hitachi from rock auto.

Unclejunebug

There's nothing you can do to get the misfire to happen more frequently. With an intermittent coil it happens when it happens. Since it's an odd number coil it's under the manifold which makes swapping the coils quite a bit more involved. Some people say removing the manifold is easy, I say it's majorly annoying. If it's never been removed before the support bracket bolts that need to come out can give you big problems.

Most will probably tell you this is a bad suggestion, but I would recommend replacing all the rears at once to avoid removing the manifold numerous times for the same type of fix. If you're going with Hitachi it would alleviate a lot of the cost. Depending on your mileage you may consider replacing the spark plugs while you're at it as well as the rear valve cover with a 6th gen valve cover.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Swap coils like foodmanry suggested. Free and easy. If and when the misfire occurs, hopefully it will trigger a CEL, and hopefully you'll get a 0301 or 0303 code instead. Logically fix your issue, not guesswork.

Mateen995

I think the spark plugs were done at 120km on my car & im almost at 190km. I was planning on doing the spark plugs soon anyways & replacing the rear coils because that is what my friend suggested I do while the manifold is off. I was sorta thinking about the valve covers too, ughh. I'll probably leave the front coils for now since they're easy to get to. Is there anything else I should do while the intake manifold is off then?
Thanks for the feedback.

Mateen995

At this point where I'm gonna do the spark plugs soon anyways might as well just grab new coils since they're are going to go bad at this mileage anways. Plus I do not want to keep spending money to have the intake manifold removed.

I drove the car around yesterday for about 10-15 minutes & it didn't misfire.

btw seriously digging your 4th gen

george__

iTrader: (1)

^
You bought wrong car if you wanted reliability

Mateen995

To be honest this car has been quite reliable for a while now. Only recently it has had some problems, nothing major. Quite happy with my maxima for the most part. But I'll probably be getting a new car around next year

george__

iTrader: (1)

Which brand ?

Mateen995

I'm looking at an 04-06 Acura TL 6spd
Only problem with them is the $$$ for timing belt at 100km intervals

george__

iTrader: (1)

Another fwd car!?

5.5SE6MT

iTrader: (1)

Leave. For fvcks sake, just leave. GO HANG OUT ON MY350, Christ, you constantly point out that our maxis are fwd and grocery getters, not race cars...

Hey. Hey. Guess what. We know!!!
those are SELLING points of this model of vehicle. As well as, some semi-surprising performance when you push her limits.

(I know this rant did nothing to stop you, and most likely only encouraged you, but I feel better )

george__

iTrader: (1)

^
There are RWD grocery cars too like a Lexus GS...

5.5SE6MT

iTrader: (1)

oMG no shlt? ?
duh.
Those two criteria are not mutually exclusive in anyway..

george__

iTrader: (1)

So it's wrong to point out it's FWD? AWD maybe better for the OP during the winter

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

George_, not everybody has a lemon like you.

5.5SE6MT

iTrader: (1)

definitely a valid point regarding awd.

No, its wrong to repeatedly point out that its fwd, in a derisive and dismissive manner, in a nuuuumber of members threads, where "performance" related things were being discussed. Hah.

Mateen995

It's a pretty nice looking car & has the exact same performance as the maxima. I'm okay with FWD especially for winter. AWD have more to go wrong & RWD is a death-wish with the amount of ditches & two lane roads in my area.
I've thought about IS300 but they are slow & pigs on gas