Aserath

2002 Maxima, not throwing any error codes.

Occasionally on the freeway when it's hot the car will start to sputter/misfire. Get off freeway, problem goes away.

Frustrating to say the least!

I've considered it could be a faulty ignition coil or perhaps a problem with the camshaft sensor? The car does burn oil, but gas mileage has been fine.

I'd like to sell the car as at this point I've recently replaced the tires/front calipers/rotors/brakes and re-registered the car so throwing a ton of money or time at the coils when they may not be the problem is scaring me away.

It's difficult even recreating the issue. I've had the car into a mechanic and they've not been able to reproduce it themselves.

Do I just take the hit on all the money I've spent and try to sell as is? How do I diagnose this problem without throwing a ton more money at it?

Thanks guys!

QueensMAX

Fuel pump

Aserath

Was driving with a full tank of gas, you think that'd be less likely in that case? That was supposedly replaced before I bought the car about 2 years ago, but the gas gauge is not accurate below half a tank.

Thinking about the problem, it also seems to me it only happens after some braking and then accelerating on the freeway. (Last time it happened I was driving for about 10 minutes on a hot day, got off freeway, turned around and started back the other way and the car started misfiring. Got off freeway and car started driving normally.)

Thanks for the reply!

Heel Til I Die

If you think it's misfiring due to a bad ignition coil, you can diagnose the problem with a decent multimeter that reads resistance/ohms ($20-$30).

Or, you can do the old "start the car and unplug one at a time" method (free).

You mentioned that you have the intermittent problem when it's already warmed up - have you had any issues on cold starts?

As far as selling your car and taking a hit on what you've spent so far, that's really a personal preference. For me, it's more of a challenge at this point to see how many miles I can get before some type of catastrophic failure occurs. You'll always save a significant amount of money by DIY'ing.

Aserath

I only mentioned the ignition coils because that was suggested to me by someone else. The real problem I've seen with the checking the ignition coils is you can't reach the back 3 without spending a couple hours removing/reinstalling things to get at them (and thus can't test them with the car on), plus it seems the multimeter test is hit or miss (no pun intended :P)

Add to it you'd likely want to have 3 new coils if you're going to do all the work to get at the rear coils and you're talking a significant amount of money.

I haven't had any troubles cold starting until just the other day. The car used to be a daily driver but have since bought a new car. The car sat about a week without being started and this last time indeed seemed to sputter a bit for 10-15 seconds upon start. (though it did start fine and then after the sputtering continued to run fine)

I'm leaning towards replacing the fuel pump/filter/strainer as the job seems fairly simple and its about $40 in parts from rockauto.

Thanks for the thoughts guys, mainly I don't want to sell a car that is going to break down on the freeway for someone. I know how I'd feel if someone did that to me!

QueensMAX

I had the same problem with a 2002 maxima that was fuel pump related..I did get a p0300 code in my case...the pump was slow not pushing enough fuel.

Aserath

I wish I could get an error code haha!!

Thanks, I'll probably order the parts to change it tomorrow, then just hope it works I suppose!

Still open to suggestions though!