DukeLeto2

And I still don't have a resolution to this problem. 2002 GLE here, w/ 138,000 miles, and my car is doing two things intermittently.

1) Randomly at idle, like say a stop light or sign, my car feels like it's misfiring but over the last 2 years I've had my ignition coils replaced when it was definitely misfiring. It just felt like it.

2) More recently and especially in the cold mornings, just letting off the gas and/or getting up to speed in first gear will produce a "hesitating" feeling in the engine where it isn't getting enough gas to get up to speed. Running the car for a good 10 minutes reduces this but one time last month, as I was backing up, the engine went out on me. I still had power but I had to put on the brakes and start again. This time with no problem.

No SES codes are being tripped and in late 2014 I had the dealership replace the camshaft position sensor and crankshaft position sensor, both of which were covered by a Nissan recall but as I understand it, could produce these kinds of results.

Anyone care to leave an opinion? Thanks.

Mateen995

is the car constantly missing or intermittently?

egali045

I say MAF sensor. My car was hesitating alot every time I used to fill up gas. and whenever I was at a red light, it would try to turn off but wouldn't. Bought MAF sensor and it's all good now. What you could do is buy the MAF sensor cleaner and clean it and see if that fixes the problem (cheap way). I had mine bad even though no code show up.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

FPR or maybe a bad injector.

When you replaced the coilpacks, did you use OEM or aftermarket? If aftermarket, it could be them again.

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

I second the Mafs.

DukeLeto2

@Mateen995: Intermittently, but at least once every two or three days which of course is the reason why two days at the dealership and they couldn't make it do anything like that. *sigh*

@egali045: Great, I'll buy the MAF sensor cleaner and give that a shot.+

@The Wizard: I used a reputable shop in town so they usually go with OEM parts when available. I could find out what they used.

Thanks all.

Mateen995

for intermittent rough/misfiring idle it could be a leaking rear valve cover as I had the same symptom but I would go with the suggestions listed above, but if you're back there you may want to pull out the 5th cylinder plug & see if it is covered in oil. It's a known problem on these 5.5 Gen Maxima's. Many members replace it with a 6th gen cover as it is the same and a lot cheaper than a 5.5gen cover. But inspect before you throw parts at it

DukeLeto2

One more thing, I went ahead and purchased a new air filter from Injen as nine years ago I replaced my normal air intake to an Injen RD1940 Cold Air Intake System. I've been getting the filter serviced every once and a while, but I figure I may as well get a brand new one just to eliminate that as an issue.

Mateen995

even though you say you have no codes at all, did you search for any pending codes?

DukeLeto2

There were no pending codes as I just replaced out the O2 sensor (bank 2, sensor 1) which had the only pending codes showing (P0051). After clearing that code, the SES hasn't lit up and it's been more than a week. I can stop at an Autozone to see if they can see any pending codes, however. Thanks for the suggestion.

Donkeypunch

When I first had to change a coil it would miss, then stop missing it would get worse and worse until it finally threw a code. But when the problem was first starting it didn't throw any codes. Replaced with an autozone duralast runs great.

avritch

IF you search my old posts, you'll read about my "fun" with the MAF failing soft. What was a long drawn out troubleshoot effort turned out to be a bad MAF that was reading low enough to disturb smooth operation of the car, but wasn't low enough to throw a code. If you get ahold of an OBD2 reader that has real-time display capability, put it on and see if the MAF reads apx 4 to 6 at idle. if it's reading between 2 and 3, it too low, but now low enough to throw a code. My engine would knock like crazy until it warmed up... and then it would still knock, but much less. PS... I emptied an entire can of tuner cleaner on my MAF and it didn't change the reading one bit (so I hope you have better luck with the cleaner than I did).

Also, if you do decide to buy a new MAF, make sure you read the posts relating to the temperature sensor. Newer maxima's have the temp sensor built into the MAF which raises the cost of the MAF to $400. The MAF w/o the temp sensor is apx $85.

My 2001 max has nearly 200K miles on it. I've replaced the MAF twice (of course the 2nd time round much easier to diagnose after my first experience).

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

That's about the normal amount of time for a maf on a nissan to work correctly

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...tml:rollsmile:

Phantasm

It probably wouldn't hurt to replace the fuel pump either. Doing so on my 2002 5.5 SE resolved every poor idle/stall/random misfire problem I had. Haven't seen a code in months and beat the car senseless on the Autobahn every time I hit an unrestricted entrance ramp.
If it's never been replaced, it's not a hard job to do and pretty a cheap fix as well. just a different opinion. I rarely see people mention the fuel pump, and it's an integral part to the whole system. A weak pump can cause ghost like issues.

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

Pumps only go bad when you run your car on empty all the time or when you one of them folks that think a clogged filter doesn't make the pump work harder and burn out quicker...

kvk2003max

I have the same problem for over a year now. Changed coils, injectors, Crank position sensor, and even the rear valve cover. Nothing solved the issue. I was leaning towards fuel pump as well, but never got to change the pump.

DukeLeto2

Regarding researching MAFs. Now, I've got a late 2002-2003 model of Maxima so will this MAF sensor and assembly work for me?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/22680-m...-p-193638.html

And I don't think I've ever had the fuel pump replaced. Is this it?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/17042-p...l-p-54209.html

And I've had the car since 2004 so it's been more than 10 years with me and yes, I've done the driving to almost empty plenty of times so the fuel pump is a good candidate as well. The thing is, the issues really kick in when it's colder outside. Now that it's warmer outside, it's happening to a much less degree. Still, on almost every drive, just stopping at light will make it seem like a misfire is going on at least once.

DukeLeto2

Update: No pending codes.
The struggle is real.