Hello all.....I seem to be having a problem with my VE. When I start the car, lets say in the morning, and drive it, for like the first 10-15 minutes it runs like a friggin bat out of hell. I mean it just pulls nice and hard in every gear. But only for 10-15 minutes. After that initial 10-15 the car is just sluggish.

For instance, during normal driving, ie. not gunning it or dumping in first, if I go through first gear and shift into second, and keep steady gentle throttle it fells alright and accelerates ok. But if Im in second after going through first the same, and while still in second gear mash the throttle at around say 2-3 grand, it feels like the car wont get out of its own way. It kinda feels like something is holding the engine back. Its almost like the car isnt getting enough fuel or is getting too much or something. Its not the clutch slipping cause the revs dont surge up or anything. Its just not as it is when it runs semi cold. Can anybody help me with this??????

 

Knock sensor??

 

2 words : knock sensor
http://internetautomart.com/maxima/3rdgen/tuneup.html

 

Thats what I thought, so I checked the knock sensor, but it checked out fine.

 

check your coolant temp sensor
also check for a plugged cat and bad o2

personally I'd do the resistor diagostic procedure just to confirm that it isn't the knock sensor

 

From open loop to closed loop it takes 3-5min. (Injection ctrl = From TPS based guesswork injection to O2 initiated feedback mode)

MAF, Plugs, coilpacks, injector [engine bay] warmup time could also possibly fit that 15min. Also engine cylinder soot heat, bad gas etc causing ping (the mentioned KS retards ign). So in the 15min window fits basically 'any thing', except TPS.

All this happens in city, say under 30mph??? Howabout hiway speeds...

 

Im familiar with the closed loop and all but thing is that the car will already be in closed loop for a good bit before it starts acting up.

I dont hear or notice any pinging or knocking, and as I said I did the resistance test on the Knock Sensor (something along the lines of key off and check resistance in knock sensor harness).

Also, to answer Wiking's question, it does it city, highway, anywhere. It does it in any gear too. Say if Im going to or from school on the weekends, the car barely makes it up some of the hills.
Something else is that its sulggish untill it breaks past like 4000 rpm, and then it seems to smooth out a little bit, but it still doesnt seem all there.
AHHHHHH its driving me nuts.......To know that I have VE power, but only for the first 10 minutes of driving. I mean come on...get this, I was on my way to my friends house who lives like 30 minutes or so away from me, and on the way there another 3rd gen that lives around my friends area started messin with me. I knew right away lookin at the trim and whatnot that it was a VG with rims and tint. So were just like drivin along and messin with eachother, ha ha good times whatever. Then I realized that it was a stick, so I was like cool. So we got to the one light and he was a little bit ahead of me at the line to begin with, so it stayed that way. but I could not for the life of me pull on him. The gap just stayed the same. And I was shifting good and precise and everything. I was walked on by a VG, I mean come on I had a VG and they are powerful engines, but they are not powerful enough to walk on a VE. Thats just one reason why I need to fix this problem.

 

have you checked the injectors resistance when warm?

 

Two possibilities:

1. Buy that VG
2. Start swapping [from *bosch*??!! plugs]

 

did you check the ECU for codes?

Otherwise, it's going to be trial and error thing. There are always so many expensive possibilities.

I other words, I am not saying for sure it's the KS, but that is a likely culprit in your scenario.

The KS might test out fine, but when they get bad they just start retarding the crap out of your timing when the car is hot. Mine would run great for about 30-40 minutes, then it would lose about 25-30 percent of the hp, at least that is what it felt like.

I remember once on the freeway I was cruising along for about 45 minutes. I was going up hill and went to pass a car going just a little slower than me. In 4th gear it wouldn't go any faster. It wasn't that steep of a hill, either. After that, I kept trying to "test" it out, by slowing down and speeding up in different gears. Same result. Significant loss of hp.

The funny thing is, a lot of times if my car would sit for just a little while (40 minutes to an hour), it would be fine again.

 

I checked the ecu for codes and found none. I think that were on the same page Calvin. Did it feel like all of a sudden your VE turned into a four cylinder???? Cause thats just about what mine feels like after this kicks in.

 

Moderators..... As this seems to be a wide spread common issue, I nominate this topic for a VE Sticky! Ok basically I have some of the same problems and get lazy searching and bookmarking .

 

common issue = floatin, corroded computer centers called: ve-hick-less.

Revenge (?) from 80's supercomputer CDC scientist (closet greenpee activist):

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/14

 

When i first got my max about five years ago it had about the same issue...The exact symtoms were Cold it would run like bt out of he!!,as it warmed up to operating temp it would loose alot of lowend power until it hit the magic 3500 rpm number then away it would go....
I checked the stored codes and found the k/s code...So i did the k/s btpass and it still done the same thing.. So i gave up on than issue for a while...

Then when i was addressing the the vtc clacking issue...I found craig brace's site on how to ground the vtc's...BAM!!!!!

After i did this not only did it quiet down the vtc's but it solved my no power below 3500 rpm issue after warm up...I done this over 3 yrs. ago and have tested my findings SEVERAL times by ungrounding them and the same problem occurs...NO POWER BELOW 3500 rpm after warm up...

I guess my vtc's are so far gone that they are retarding the timing when energized...
[side note: When not grounded the vtc's are active below 3500 rpm,after 3500 rpm they turn off..]

I have been hoping a thread like this would come along for a long time so i could explain my accidental fix for this issue....

I would like the big dogs[matt,jeff,mrgone,etc.] to chime in on this also...

 

This and other VE issues have been covered more than once. I'd strongly suggest donating $20 for the ability to search. It will pay for itself 20x over.

 

I know I should cough up the 20 bills for the membership, but its 20 bills that I dont have to cough up. Im up at school all year long and have just about no cash at all. On top of that Im not sure how much longer Ill be owning the car cause Im in school for another two years and I may need to sell to fund the school situation. I know thta sounds like a lame excuse, but its true. thanks for the help though everybody....I guess Ill just have to try some different things. Im just trying to aviod the situation of buying a $125 sensor and have it not fix the friggin problem.