Hi all,
It’s my first time posting here so I hope that you guys can give me some ideas and help me out with this problem. My girlfriend has a 91 Maxima 4dsc with 210000 miles on it.

About 2 years ago the check engine light came up on the car, and she had to replace all 6 injectors. After that the engine wasn’t running smooth so she had to replace 2 grommets on injector #3 and #5. After that it ran smooth for few months then is started to lose power when accelerating. She had it diagnosed at the dealer and they said it was the MAF, so she replaced it as well. I have also replaced the plugs to Bosch +4 in May of this year. The starter was replaced less than a year ago as well.

She didn’t drive the car for a week and today she tried to start it and would not start. The battery is ok, but it just would not start. The problem is that I am in FL and she is in MN so if I was there I could figure it out, but I was thinking that some Maxima experts might jump in and give some ideas to what it could be.

Thanks a lot in advance. I really appreciate your help.

 

cap and rotor?

 

Go back to the factory NGK plugs ASAP. No Maxima has ever taken well to Platinum plugs, especially the Bosch +2/+4 plugs! Copper core only my friend.
Is the car turning over and not firing or just completely dead? If it isn't firing
try an electrical tune up:
1. Distributor Cap/Rotor (Bosch = Nissan direct replacement)
2. Factory Spark Plugs (they work great)
3. Plug Wires (Magnecore or NGK)

Don't hate Bosch, they sell quality products, most of which are used as factory OE or factory replacement parts on Nissan vehicles. Platinum plugs in general don't sit well with Maxima ignition systems.

Check all the fuses too. The fuse box cover is under the steering column on the far left, almost against the door. There is a large indent (hole) to stick your fingers in and pull it out.

 

get the iridium ix plugs....little more spendy but definatley worth it!

 

ngk iridium ix


sorry

 

NO! Copper core ONLY on a VG-powered Maxima. Do a search, you'll see.

Btw Fred, don't just make another post. Edit your old one. It saves space. We really hate, no DESPISE that here.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Hey Badaxxima, the car turns over, it’s not completely dead, but my GF says that the RPM goes to 4000 and then back and it doesn’t start. About the plugs, it ran the same with the old ones as it did with the Platinum, but I will tell her to switch back to the OEM plugs. I have few more questions.

1. How to check the Distributor Cap/Rotor?
2. Spark plug wires were not replaced for a long time, I believe they are still OEM, but I dono if that would cause the car not to fire up. (Could be)
3. Even before this happened she was complaining that the car is running very rough and it would stall when she was slowing down when approaching the traffic light. Some mechanic told her that she was running on 5 cylinders and that one was misfiring, but I don’t trust any mechanics. Most of the problems with the engine started after she replaced the injectors.

Thanks for the help guys, looking forward for more info.

 

ah, u guys are nuts.....just use plan ol' Bosh Platinum, every maxima that i ever worked on took them fine, getting more expencive plugs, or ones with 4 ground terminals or whatever, is pointless, the biggest change will be them not working.

-looking for a performace gain with just plug?..lol Not Going to happen. Stick with stock NGK, or the Bosh plat. (the normal ones)
- just take off the cap (3 bolts) and check it out, inside, if u see white/gray cracks inside then the cap should be replaced and the rotor shouldn't looked burnt.
does the car have a rich fuel mixture??, is the exhaust really black??bag mpg..does it smell like fuel or rotten eggs (sulfer)
maybe the O2 sensor, vacume leak, broken hose...
- i had my factory wires on my car for 100k miles.. still held perfect resistance, but i changed them out to be safe, no difference.

1st thing u must do::GET A Manual.. 15 bucks will save u alot of time and money..

Good luck

 

[QUOTE=ChrisCheezer]ah, u guys are nuts.....just use plan ol' Bosh Platinum, every maxima that i ever worked on took them fine, getting more expencive plugs, or ones with 4 ground terminals or whatever, is pointless, the biggest change will be them not working.

You tellum cheezer! I have been running bosch platinums for 60,000 miles now with no problems. Definantly get a manual,check the computer for codes.

 

I have talked with a couple of Nissan techs, including one on this board. You should be using NGK spark plugs. If you want longer life, get NGK platinum and if you aren't too worried about the life on them, buy the NGK copper.

There have been several cases documented by Nissan techs where non-ngk plugs have caused the coil packs on VE30DE engines to malfunction and "spike." I am sure this isn't always the case and actually, you might not even know this for a long period of time because even cracked or bad coil packs will work, they just don't work as well.

For you guys with the VG30E engine (GXEs and SEs pre-92) I would just stick with NGK coppers. I am not sure, but did they even put platinums in the VG engine? Anyway, platinum spark plugs only last longer, they don't provide any added performance.

As for your girlfriend's car not starting, it could be a number of things, but I would start with the easiest things like the fuel filter and ignition fuses. I would check for ECU codes to see if that could be a problem.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the help. I think If I leave the +4s in there it wont hurt anything, but I will tell my GF to change them if she can do it herself. I am not 100% familiar with her car so I posted the pic and I believe that this is the Cap if I am not mistaken. Correct me if I am wrong. I need to explain it to her as well and since I am not there it might take a while for her to understand what I am talking about (women u know ) This is not the pic of her engine but its the same car.

Hey ChrisCheezer what do u mean by rich fuel mixture? The car does not have a black exhaust and the gas mileage is ok, doesn’t smell like fuel or rotten eggs.

Could be the 02 sensor, but I doubt it. By the way, is this car OBD1 compliant?

I really don’t wanna get the manual or anything else for the car, since I am not in MN to help her out with it, and she would have little use for it. I do 90% of the work on my car myself, but I have a Lincoln Town Car so that doesn’t help much.

Let me know guys if have it right in the pic. Thanks for the help again.

 

Hey Red92MaxSE, I believe then she has to replace her plugs, I think that the fuel pump was replaced about a year ago as well, but I will double check with her.
Thanks for help.

 

yes thats the cap, there are 3 screws/8mm bolts holding it down. you dont even have to unplug the spark plug wires to check it out, just unscrew the bolts, and look at the inside of it like cheezer said,

 

It revs to 4000RPM then dies? That sounds like a fuel pump. Man, she got a Max with problems, they usually aren't like this.

 

Yeah I believe it revs up to 4000 RPM but it doesn’t start. At least that what she is saying, that the RPM needle goes to 4000 and then back but the engine doesn’t start. I am gonna make her check the cap tomorrow and see if she finds anything out.

By the way can you hear the fuel pump turn on when you turn the key to on position on these cars? In my Town Car I can hear the pump go on and I also have a switch for it in the trunk. Is there a way to test a fuel pump on this Maxima?

Hey Badaxxima, this car is the most reliable that I have ever seen, I am not really into imports but after driving her Maxima for the first time I was considering getting one just like hers, but the damn things keep their value pretty high. For some reason her car started being troublesome after that injector job that she did. We have pumped a lot of money into it, it has a new clutch and a timing belt, but I guess at 210K we should not be complaining. Thanks for the help guys. I'll keep it posted.

 

yes the you can hear the pump turn on, when you turn the key to the "on" position (when all the dash lights come on, one turn before starting)

If you dont hear the fuel pump come on, then I guess you have found your problem, also check the fuel pump fuse if it doesnt come on

 

Its def. no thte O2 sensor because, if that started to die the car would be running all kinds of "richness" fuel pump is simple under the seats in rear, it should be totaly quiet, and u should never "hear it" when driving.

 

Yeah, I am 100% sure that it’s not the O2 sensor. If it was it would just give you the check engine light or no light at all, but the car would start. Right now I am 50/50 between the wires and the pump. These wires are still OEM with 210K, I told her to replace them but she never listens. I hope its as simple as that, and nothing major. Thanks guys.

 

No they didn't. VG's came with coppers. That's what I always used on mine.

 

Have you checked the CPS(cam position sensor). Right now im haveing a problem almost like yours. Just when i go to start it, it gets to like 400rpms then dies, and just cranks. Its at a friend of mine who is a master tech at kelly nissan in mass, also replacing the tranny(found one for 350 with only 91k on it, mine has 198k)

 

I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive that VG's don't have Cam Pos. Sensor's. The VE's have them because they have coil-on-plug ignition and the CPS is used to establish ignition timing for the ECU.

VG's on the other hand, have an old-fashioned distributor ignition, and therefore, don't need CPS'. Plus, I never saw one when I changed my timing belt. They do have a Crank Angle Sensor to count RPM, but that's about it. A failed CAS wouldn't allow the Tach. to work if that is indeed where the signal comes from.

 

eh my bad lol, i only read a few post and say that it died after the rpms revd. so the cps came to mind because its teh same problem im having.

 

Oh it's cool man, I'm not raggin' on you.

 

Hey guys, my GF is in town and she took some pics after I asked her to check the cap. There is a wiring harness that has all the wires broken, plus few more. The pictures show everything. I bet that’s why the car is not starting. I went to the junk yard and got the same harnesses from a wrecked Maxima. I am wondering can she just strip the wires and attach them to the new harnesses or they need to be soldered? Let me know guys. Thanks for the help.

 

Yup thats definently your problem. Electrical tape should do just fine

 

Holy hell, how did that happen?

 

solder if you can, it makes for a better connection

 

Hey 4dscPat I have no idea how that happened, but I assume that Nissan uses some cheap wires, they are like 18Ga and some are 20Ga. The car is almost 14 years old and its in Minnesota so I assume that they have just cracked.

I would definitely solder the wires but I dono if my GF can do that, so she gonna have to tape them first and see if it starts. Thanks a lot guys for all your help, you’ve been great. I’ll keep it posted as to what happens.

 

Damn that's weird O_o

And yeah, if she's got ancient-*** wires you should just change em out.

NGK wires+NGK V-power coppers+plain old NAPA cap and rotor seem to work fine

 

Hey all, here is an update to that little problem that we had. When my GF got back to MN she has connected all the harnesses that I got for her and it turned out that there were 2 more that were broken, so I went back to the yard and got the other two and shipped them to her. She connected them as well and the car didn’t start, she took another look and saw few more wires broken. She decided to wait till the weekend to fix them up.

She called me today laughing hysterically, I could not understand what was going on, then, as she came down, she told me that that when she opened the hood today, she saw 2 squirrels inside her engine chewing on her wires

These F#$%#@ers build a house in there for the time that the car was parked, I guess its warm in there. And I was trying to figure out why in the hell all the wires are falling apart Anyways, after she connected all the wires the car has started but its running rough. She’s gonna take it to a shop and have it checked out. Thanks for the help guys, it was really funny wasn’t it?

 

squirrels?????
WOW

 

that's not unusual around here.
try a rag soaked in ammonia, I think, the smell keeps them away from the wires.

 

The squirrels around here like to hide nuts under the intake plenum of my van.

 

Yeah, when she first opened the hood few weeks ago she saw tons of nuts in the engine compartment, she just thought they fell from the tree or something, Ill post some pics later, but when she saw 2 squirrels eating her wires she realized that they have opened a Motel 8 in there

 

so everytime she would replace a torn wire the squirls would just tear another one , imagine if she never had seen the squirls pretty soon you would have replaced the hole engine harness.

 

Yeah man, it was going towards replacing the whole harness. Originally it was only 3 broken wires, then every time she opened the hood there were more torn wires. She was puzzled

 

i dont think the 4dsc was nessecary

 

What do you mean by 4dsc was nessecary?

 

grow up you 2.