I recently bought this car for my son. It is an SE 5 speed and it has only 70000 miles and runs great. The problem started soon after I first filled the tank with gas. My son didn't put high test in so we thought that could be the problem. The mechanic at Nissan said to put a can of dry gas in and only use high test. Well, the problem is still there. The car suddenly will hesitate even though the accelerator is down, then it will lurch forward. If I press the clutch to the floor sometimes it will stop, sometimes it continues for a block or so. Then the car will be fine. It doesn't happen a lot but once it happened in an intersection, and another time on the highway, and that can be scary to a new driver. Does anyone have any ideas on what this problem is? Thanks.
Jeanette

 

I have a similar problem with my 92 SE, though with an automatic tranny (86k). In my case, the car itself will not buck (as if the engine has disengaged itself from the rest of the drivetrain), but the engine speed swings wildly as long as my foot is on the gas pedal. Only when I pop the car into neutral, and let off the gas until the engine speed drops and idles for a moment does the engine return to normal. My car also occasionally dies when coming to a stop (but starts right up).

If anyone has an idea on what's causing this, I'd appreciate a clue.

 

Lurch as if someone turned off the ign and then suddenly restarted it?? If so, it sounds like a faulty MAF. But I'd take the connector off and gently bend the copper connectors up to make sure you are getting good contact. ie.. ground.

 

My auto does this as well and it's pretty much all related to temperature. When it's cold outside, the engine starts in a cold start mode which raises the idle to facilitate faster warm up. If I start my car and start driving while it is still in the cold start mode, the tranny doesn't like to disengage and pop into neutral when slowing to a stop, thus creating a bucking sensation and eventually stalling the car. If I wait the one minute or so it takes for the engine to idle a bit lower than when it first starts up, I don't have this problem at all. Thus, I just let the car warm up for around a minute and then take off. Haven't had the problem since.

 

naah.. their's is the infamous VE stalling/bucking problem.... VGs havnt had that problem chronically.

 

Try checking all of the ignition coils for cracks. That or the MAF seem to be the most likely source for this kind of stalling. Most VE owners who have had this problem (not all) replace the coils and it goes away.

Mine seemed to go away when I cleaned off the o2 sensor. I have had one stall at WOT when the car was cold (about 5 degrees) last week. That was the first time since early November that it has happened. I do have one cracked front coil, but I taped it. I think I need to replace the coil outright. I have replaced the MAF, too.

 

Ahhh, guess my car is just special.

 

i had the same problem with my 92 se 5spd the car would hesistate really bad and progrssed to dying on me some times

turned out to be coils packs

 

Thanks for the info. I don't want to put the car in the shop again, at least so soon (just had a dealer hit me up with a $400 tab for replacing a leaking seal, and I don't think they deserve any more of my hard-earned cash right now).

How can I tell if the MAF needs to be changed? Is it simple for an average joe who knows a bit about changing basic parts to replace the coils on my own? Anything sophisticated techniques or are there any special tools needed? I found that Courtesy sells them for $65 apiece on-line; is that considered a good price? I suppose I need to replace the protector and rubber mount at the same time as well, too. (Yikes! $600 in parts alone for all 6 cylinders!)

Sorry about the questions, but I know I got to do something about it. Doing this 'pop-the-car-into-neutral' BS on the interstate with an angry Kenworth screaming up my tailpipe is really, REALLY getting old.

 

Your coils are very easy to replace. Just remove the bolts and pull them up. I can't remember the size, but it's like 10mm or something. It pulls up kind of like a stiff spark plug wire. You should check them over before buying all six. Usually, it's just one or two and often on the front side. They get cracks in the plastic running lengthwise. This is the most common cause of the type of problem you are having (like subs and a host of others) it doesn't mean it is the problem. I would try that first, though.

For your MAF, I would look to find a used one to test out before you go dropping $400+ for a new one. All MAFs from 89-94 are the same and that problem is much more prevalent on the VG (SOHC) engine.

 

I'm finally back. I just got around to picking up the coils, and I'm ready to install. I ordered the coils from Courtesy Nissan, but the new parts are slightly different than the original ones in the car.

There's a black rubber 'hose' at the end of the old front coils (which I assume slips over the spark plug), where the new coils only have a small piece of clear green hosing that's barely long enough to cover the contact end of the coil; do I transfer the old rubber covers to the new ones (assuming I can pull it off the old coil)? I also went ahead and ordered the rear coils as well; the existing coils have an extention rod at the ends of them; I assume to reach the spark plug. How do I take those off? The extention 'bar' just spins around at the base of the coil. So do I force them off?

Oh, and do I have to reset the ECM once the new coils are installed? If so, how do I do that?

 

Hi,

my car had this problem once,

i was waiting for the green light when it turned green i somehow push the gas padel to the floor and cause my engine to stop responding, even pushing the gas pedal the engine would rev up and the car would not move so i have to move in the middle and put the gear in p and wait and then put the gear in D then the engine would return to normal then i could drive the car,

in order for me to fix this problem,

i took some WD-40 and spray in the spring of the gas pedal and it fix the problem and it never happen again,

 

You can try cleaning the throttle body.
I had amazingly good result for my VG recently and
solved the hesitation problem. don't know about
VE though.

 

Hi,

it is easy to clean the TB?

 

http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/

 

I got impatient so I started working on it. Figured out that I had to reuse the rubber sparkplug boots (the 'hoses' I referred to before). The coils in the front cylinder bank were a breeze to put in; the ones in back stopped me dead in my tracks.

Found out someone who worked on my car before sheared one of the two bolts that hold one of the coils in place (I think I know which dealer's shop did this, but that was a long time ago, and that Nissan store is RIP). Grrr. I decide to try yanking the coil extension off one rear coils, only to have the nipple that inserts into that extension crumble to bits, leaving most of the nipple embedded in the frickin' extension. Now I have to get more parts (fortunately, these extensions are cheap), but no dealer local has them in stock (naturally). Life with Maxima (sigh).

 

I have a 1992 SE with similar problem, I have it almost completely gone by adding the gas drier...i added 3 bottles each which is supposed to be good for 10 gallons, still vapor in the tank...

Brian

 

The bolts that hold the coil packs in aren't really a necessity. I have run my car without them in.

Before you went and bought new coils, did you have any cracks on your original ones? I would keep any of them that aren't cracked.

Oh, to reset your ECU, I think you are just supposed to disconnect the battery for a period of time. I thought I remember reading 24 hours, but I would think overnight is probably OK. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

If you think you have it bad, I have the only VE Maxima in my whole town. Recently I went into the stealership to see if they had a part and I talked to one of the service guys for a few minutes. He said that he can't remember the last time he worked on a DOHC (VE) Maxima, but it was probably 7-8 years ago. I am pretty much on my own. Luckily, I get a lot of help from the people here and nwmaxima, especially MrGone!

 

The original coils from the front cylinder bank look good, but considering how easily the housing of the one coil from the back of the engine broke into dust and crumbs I'm not sure how healthy they really are. But I've put them and the two remaining intact coils from the back aside anyways, in case I run into problems with any of the replacements. I'm supposed to get the new coil extensions on Monday (the bloody shipping was more expensive than the three extensions themselves!), so hopefully the car will be up and running again early next week.

I've got LOTS of "stealerships" (that's a good one; I've got to remember that) to pick from. Of the ones I've tried recently, none seem to very good at working on older Nissans. The worst one is our downtown store, where they also sell Jaguars and Land Rovers. The guy who owns the place bought out the old Nissan/Lincoln dealership, I believe mostly because he wanted the land and buildings to sell/store/work on the British money pits, er...I mean, English cars he peddles. I can't figure out WHY he kept the Nissan franchise, because it's clear whenever I go down there for parts or the (very) infrequent visit to their service department that they treat Nissan customers like dirt. It's like selling Nissans is a necessary evil, because Jags and Rovers aren't flying out the door. Or something like that.

 

I kept pushing the shop who first inspected the car on whether there was any problem with the fuel/fuel system, but they kept saying there was nothing wrong that they could find and that it HAS TO BE something electronic. If the new coils don't fix the problem, I'll have to try putting in some additives into the tank.

In the meantime, this Max of mine is becoming one expensive basket case.

 

You should get on www.nwmaxima.com as well as this site.

There are a lot of guys in your area (I am pretty far away) that can help you out with some of this stuff and info is posted on the site about Seattle area stealerships, too.

In fact, of the NW guys, I consider myself pretty low on the totem pole of Maxima knowledge.

Your best best is going to be Jeff92SE (he is a moderator here and on nwmax) or MrGone. Both of them are probably better with the VE engine than most nissan techs.

 

Hahahaha, thanks Chris. But seriously, we did the tranny, that puts you up higher on the list now

Monoblocks, I'm heading out of town this weekend, but maybe some time next week we can meet up and try to find out whats up with the car.

Hopefully Chris and I can figure out whats going on with his this weekend

 

mine too, no problems with my VE so far, better knock on wood.

 

Hi,
I originally posted this thread and just wanted to say that after many many parts and many many dollars, the stealership (funny) finally replaced all the coils (like I asked them to do in the first place after posting here!) They changed things like the o2 sensor, cam sensors, MAF ($500), throttle something or other, new platinum plugs and other things I can't remember. The mechanic said he didn't think it was the coils because they looked fine and the computer said so! Well, finally somebody in California (the God of all Nissan mechanics as he was referred to) said it could very well be the coils because if more than one is bad (front or rear) the computer won't pick it up and it will read normal. Needless to say my son was very happy that it was finally fixed. The mechanic was really great about not charging us for all the time he was just spinning his wheels on this. Car rides great now, it should, it has all new parts in there.

 

it could be your o2 sensor. My car did that until I changed the o2 sensor and that resolved the problem. Other than I have a small air leak at my y-pipe to cat gasket I haven't had any problems.

 

holy crap how bad did they rape you on that little escapade

 

About $1500.00 Oh yeah, they also changed the wiring harness and the computer which didn't fix the problem. That was supposedly no charge.

 

The problem with this is they replaced all of this stuff (coil packs, cam sensor, 02 sensor, MAF etc) and you can't be sure exactly which one is the solution.

They should have replaced the parts one at a time, then test drove the car to see where the problem was.

I have heard several people say that the coil packs solve the problem. I have also heard from a nissan tech that the cam sensor causes this bucking, but it doesn't fail that often.

when I first got my car, it bucked/stalled really bad. I put on a new y-pipe and in the process, my mechanic wiped off the 02 sensor. after that, it didn't buck for months. It is doing it again, so maybe it's the O2 sensor. However, when I put in new spark plugs, it bucked severely, so now I think it might be the coil packs or cam sensor. I have also replaced some coil packs with used ones and it smoothed out my idle, but didn't solve the bucking.

Also, I only paid $2500 for my car, so adding another $1500 to the price for something that can eventually be fixed seems excessive to me.

I am very glad that you got the car fixed, but it seems like a lot of extra money and unnecessary parts were put on to come to the final solution.

 

Actually, the mechanic did just what you said. He started replacing parts one by one and would take the car home afterward to give it a good test. The first time when he replaced the air flow meter it seemed fine and we took the car home. It started up again the next day. The bucking and hesitating then the stalling started to get progressively worse and it would happen all the time instead of intermittenly. When the mechanic finally started to change the coils he did so one at a time. The problem kept happening until he said just put all new ones in. The car has been fine since. I still ask my son every day 'how's the car?' He did have a problem with the battery dying and not holding a charge but he got a new one since and I'm hoping there isn't a short someplace that will kill it. We only paid $2250 for the car. We knew it needed a water pump (and a new exhaust system eventually. He really does like the car although lately he's been complaining about all the gas he uses. He can always get a civic but after driving a Maxima that will be hard to take.

 

Thanks for the offer but I finally received the 'coil protectors', as Nissan bagged them, so I could finish the rear coil installation.

The coils are now all in, but along the way I discovered my battery needed replacing (I sorta knew that was coming) when the car refused to crank over after about six days of inactivity after I let the ECM reset itself. Once the new Costco battery was in place, the car started up like a charm. The car runs a lot smoother, and all of the problems that it had before seem to have vanished (knock wood).

Now all I have to do is figure out why my sound system no longer has a left channel. Cars...definitely a love/hate thing.

Thanks for all the advice and help along the way.