mehul

Hi,
I have a rough idle in my 93 maxima GXE, with 120 K miles on it. the car idles rough only in Drive or Reverse. As soon as I change to Park or Neutral, it becomes smooth again. When in motion, i.e. when the accelerator is pressed even a little bit, the roughness goes away. The rpm when the car is cold is >1000 both in Drive and Neutral. Its not rough then. When its heated up nicely, the Drive idle rpm is 600 and Neutral idle rpm is 700.

I had 2 injectors replaced last August, and the engine does not miss at all. The pickup is what you'd expect from a nissan v-6, albeit slightly on the slower side due to the heavy mileage on the car. I use an injector cleaner every 4-5K miles. I had a tune-up last August when the spark plugs were replaced, but probably not the wires.

A mechanic told me yesterday, that the idle rpm in Drive and Reverse is too low, that it should be slightly higher, and that if it were, the car would be smooth when idling.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I love the way the car drives, and would love to eliminate this irritating rough idle.

Thanks.

mehul

Isnt there anyone who can suggest a potential solution?

93GXE_TX

Have you tried searching the newsgroups?

Go to groups.google.com and type in "rough idle" group:alt.autos.nissan.maxima

It's a common issue, which people more qualified than myself have answered many times.

Evil_Twin

I have that issue too, i thought it was normal, apparently not

Evil_Twin

I have that issue too, i thought it was normal, apparently not

93GXE_TX

perhaps "issue" is a poor word choice.

pj93max

I had the same problem in my 93 GXE Auto. I had this problem for close to a year until I finally fixed it.

This problem occurs for mainly the 2 following reasons:

air filters, fuel filters, pcv valves, oxygen sensors, other sensors, vaccum lines....basically anything having to do with the car "breathing"

second, maxima exhaust manifolds have been known to break studs after a while and that causes an exhuast leak which will trigger the ECU to constantly change how the fuel mixture (rich/lean) is calculated - causing your rough idle.

Here is what you should do:

replace air filters
replace fuel filter
replace PCV Valve (check tubing)
Check ALL vaccum lines and tubes

I did all of the above and noticed my PCV valve tube was cracked and I also had some other vaccum lines which were leaking. Also, My exhaust manifold had 3 studs broken.

However, after making those simple changes, my IDLE improved greatly and it stopped dying on me! I didn't bother with replacing exhaust manifold studs - this could cost like 2 grand $$ !

PJ

pj93max

Oh and yeah... my car got totaled 6 months later

5 days after I got new tint all around

2 days after I washed it

2 days after I spent 4 hours polishing the wheels

can you tell I'm still not over it ?

mehul

No kidding......I dont blame you for not be over it yet......its a great car with its quirks.....
Thanks....what do you suggest I work on first, from the 4 you have suggested?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

Motor mount?
Got a 91 SE (VG) with a bad mount in the shop today custmer complained of a rough idle.
Didn't notice the motor hitting their hood though (I think that is an exaggeration, didn't see the car with the hood closed)

pj93max

I would do it in this order:

air filters
fuel filter
PCV valve/tubing
Vaccum Lines
check exhaust manifold ( u can do this yourself by looking)

also, check ur plugs/wires to make sure they have proper spark.

mehul

How do I check the spark in the plugs/wires?

pj93max

Mehul - do a search on checking the plugs/wires.

There's plenty of write-ups out there.

Or, you can ask a mechanic to check em out.

But, remember, plugs and wires are pretty cheap and you can change them yourself... it will take you maybe 30 minutes.

Looks like you changed yours in August, so you should be OK with those... as long as you have some good ones like NGK or Iridiums

yelowd

Mehul-
My "new" 90 maxima just started doing that this morning. I'd definitely go through the easy stuff- air filter, plugs, wires (just find out what resistance should be in a chiltons and then take an ohm meter to each one), vac lines, etc.

Good call, pj93, with the exhaust. I replaced my header pipe expecting my exhaust noise to go away. Lol, I got it on the ground and it almost sounded worse. I figured out the rear exhaust Manifold had pulled away from the block. No problem I thought I'll just take it off and get a new gasket. Snap, Snap, Snap went 3 out of 6 studs. It took me a week, $100 dollars in drill bits and dremel attachments, $60 in 90 degree accessories for the drill and dremel, $40 in helicoils, $20 in taps and extractor sets, a case of beer, and a case of gobstoppers to get them out without pulling the head. It is doable! I finished it Tuesday morning- 2 am.

And it still had exhaust noise. I looked, the front manifold has at least one stud broken off. ARGH. Funny thing is I had no idle problems until I put a new cap and rotor and new plugs in last night. It is much smoother when I'm driving, but the idle is awful. So another weekend of drilling for me.

adamis

I've had this on my car for a while to. It actually came up pretty suddenly. I turn the car off, run into the store, come out start it up and the thing is idling like crap. Almost kills the car. Associated with it is a whining noise to which at the begining was really noisey. Now it's pretty quite and is only somewhat noticable at idle.

Anyway, I boiled the somewhat rough idle to the torque converter in the tranny. I could be wrong but everything seems to point to it not slipping like it should when in gear and idling say at a stop light. It makes since because if you put the car in nuetral or park the car idles fine.

In his original description I thought he mentioned that in nuetral or park it was fine so I think it could be something a little more then air filters and such.

mehul

It idles fine in Neutral or PArk..the Nutral/PArk idle rpm is 700-750 while the Drive/Reverse idle rpm is 650
Thanks.

mehul

How can that be corrected?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

we ended up putting in 2 injectors, and the customer says they'll be back to do the motor mount.
injectors are a typical problem on the maxima especially the 89-91

damian

NO NO NO NO!!!

Don't use injector cleaner on your Maxima! At least not post 93 and newer...

Can't hep you entirely with your problem though, but check the oil level it could be part of the reason for a rough idle if it's overfilled. therafter, exhaust manifold, vacuum pipes, condition of your plugs and lastly the air and fuel filters...in that order, why? because the first ones are costless to check!

Damian

For the nissan TSB's NTB94-002

EC94-001 NTB94-002 January 10, 1994
FUEL INJECTOR CLEANER USAGE
APPLIED VEHICLE(S): All models - see chart below for model year information.
SERVICE INFORMATION
Due to the introduction of contamination resistant "pintle-less" fuel injectors, Nissan no longer recommends using fuel injector cleaners in vehicles with injectors of this design. Use of fuel injector cleaner on these vehicles, while providing little cleaning benefit, may cause corrosion of the fuel injector coil and eventual failure of the injector. Do not use fuel injector cleaner on the models listed in the chart below or subsequent models with "pintleless" injectors.

Applied model year of vehicles with affected fuel injectors
Altima (U13) KA24DE 1993
240SX (S13) KA24DE 1991
Truck/Path ([W]D21) KA24E 1990
300ZX (Z32) VG30DE 1993
Truck/Path ([W]D21) VG30E 1990
Maxima (J30) VG30E 1993
Quest (V40) VG30E 1993
Sentra (B13) GA16DE 1991
Sentra SER (B13) SR20DE 1991

Regards,
Damian

damian

Just remembered something from when I still had an auto '92 SE.

Sometimes (when cold) the car would be at +-500rpm in drive and the rpm would hunt a bit while still cold. Nissan tech told me to change to a genuine nissan air filter and not use the GUD brand that I had put in... problem solved!

pj93max

You got to keep in mind that it is NORMAL for a car to IDLE higher during PARK and NEUTRAL. The ECU adjusts the IDLE depending on which gear it's in.

That's why your car won't stall or IDLE rough while in P or N. When you drop it in gear, the RPM should drop to 500/600. This is all normal.

The only thing that's not normal is when the needle drops below 500 or 400 and the engine starts to struggle to stay alive.... usually, that means something is blocking it's breathing.

threeclaws

Having the same problem on the same model, and a bit hgiher mileage.

Except I checked the ECM codes and it's throwing out a 50 and then a 51, any clue what that could pinpoint?

I'm pretty sure that's the code because the red LED blinked 5x, then after awhile the red LED blinked 5x + the green LED blinked once.

james93gxe

Haynes lists code 51 as a fuel injector signal circuit fault, but does not list 50 as a code.

threeclaws

Thanks, all I have is a Chilton's and it doesn't list anything.

I guess I'll check the injectors today then.

EriCCirE

crank down the plugs more, I mean more than you think is enough. That was my problem. Too bad i didnt figre that out before I boght new injectors that have a 20% restocking fee.

Does anyone want to buy a brand new VG fuel injector?

Shoveller

Thank you Search Engine! LOL

Having the same problem. Just replaced spark plugs and wires, it helped a little bit. We'll try some of these other suggestions.

maxinout93

how much are you selling them for?? Orileys has remans for 60 bucks with a lifetime warranty, and New injectors with only a 1 year warranty at 87 dollars!

maxinout93

My 93 GXE does the same thing. WHenever I come close to a stop, it idles normally, but with a putt putt sound and I can feel it in the car and hear it. Its like it has a really bad and annoying miss when at idle or no throttle. I drove it for a few miles today out of town, going 55mph and under part throttle I could feel it miss and stumble, like it didnt have enough power. SOo many issues with this car, Im thinking about getting a 4th generation. Im thinking it has to do with the injectors. Im getting 3 used ones from a guy on ebay for like 35bucks. DOes anyone know how much the O-Rings cost from the dealer??

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

threads over 5 years old, doubt theyre still for sale