92 SE auto runs smooth at idle and slow acceleration (at a stop) but stutters to the point of making funny backfire futting noises when accelerating on the highway. Sometimes wants to just cut off all power till I back off on the gas. Like it's tripping over itself.
Timing is right. VTC's grounded. Tried a different MAF.
Could old gas have messed up an injector? Vacuum lines? O2 sensors?
I'm at a loss here. Any ideas would be appreciated.
TIA
Rob

My money is on a bad coil pack or two...

because????

1 or 2 might be bad,because under heavy load the coil pack is'nt giving enough spark and the plug is fouling out... just my opinion.

I have experienced the same issue that you are having and it was one of my front coils..

I also have seen similar issues the past few years on here and it was the coils...

Ditto on coil packs. Same symptoms, same cause.

So how do I tell if they're working or not? Pull the plug one at a time and drive it? Or replace one at a time? At least I can get to the coil packs instead of the injectors.
Again, TIA.

Pull them out and check them for cracks,if you have some cracks then tape them up with electrical tape until you get some replacments coilpacks...

If they are not cracked then then stick a ohm meter on them...

OK, thanks for the help, I'll check them out.

Ahh I have a similar problem although its not constant its random and happens once in a while, also with the car running rich, My guess is since its running rich because not enough spark? maybe its not cracked too much? what do you guys say / think o.0? could the coil be causing the problem if it happens only once in a while?

i have the same problem

thought i was going to make it home today

BAD gas milage too

all front 3 are cracked on mine sooooo im kinda screwed

any one know were i can get some at a good price??

thanks

Kyle Cisneros

Exactly, also crack coils will usually show signs of arching (grounding) where the spark will arch to the head instead of traveling to the spark plug where it belongs.

Unless you have a coil that ohms out of spec, taping the coil with electrical tape is usually all it takes. If that solves your problem there's no need to buy new coils. I'm going on 5yrs since I tape my coils and I have never experience any more hesitation since doing so.

Besides, ever since I read another member tape his coils to resolve this same issue, and a few weeks or months later he replace his tape crack coils with new coils, he stated he couldn't feel any difference between the tape coils and new coils. So that tells me my tape coils are staying until they ohm out of specification. I think it was Mike (formally known as aswm66) who said this

Hello! My name is Ryan and I just bought a 91 Maxima 5 speed. I have a problem like this and I wanted to start a new thread but I can't for some reason (if anyone wants to repost this in a new thread that would be great).

I don't mean to thread hijack I have a very similar problem- but only when the car is warm (has been driven for 20+ minutes).

It starts to stumble under any acceleration or at any kind of high rpm. At first it stumbles at 3000 rpm then eventually 2000. Popping noise from exhaust. Eventually it gets to the point where it idles rough and can barely be driven.

The seller had the problem diagnosed as a clogged cat at a local garage. It could make sense since the whole exhaust is new, except for the catylytic converter. I bought this car knowing this problem and I have a reliable second car.

Do you guys think the Cat is clogged? does it make sense that it runs great from a cold start but crappy after being driven??? If i restart the car it remains crappy until it has cooled for an hour or two. No check engine lights or anything just popping from the exhaust and feels like a lack of power.


Besides the cat, I'm thinking it could be the coilpacks, o2 or maf sensor, or coolant temperature sensor. But it runs really rough and I would think cutout from a sensor would be smoother than it is.

I just got new plug wires and put the back 3 on and it still did this problem. I'm putting the front 3 on tonight.

Sorry if I'm hijacking but this seems relative to his problem too. If your car does that all the time it sounds like it could be a coil but I don't know much about these old fashioned distributor+coil cars. :-P

Thanks for any help I'll update you if I find out the problem!!

I will probably be removing the cat wednesday or so, registering the car tomorrow. I paid 600 bucks for it, nice condition 91 maxima se 5 speed 194k miles but garaged almost its whole life. Did I do well?? Good luck guys!

I had a coilpack go on my Chevy once and it vibrated drastically and had a loss of power. that car was distributorless though and it was running on 4/6 cylinders. The lack of power from my car feels and sounds similar to what happened on my Chevy, except this is much more erratic. It pops here and there but not constantly, and its smooth at low rpms/idle even when its crappy at high rpm.

If it was crappy all the time, I would think it would be a coil.

Anyone have pictures of this tape job?

I see insulation cracked on the leads going into a few coils, but sounds like a coil has to be removed to see the cracks mentioned here.

what about those symptons on a VG.

Check the condition of the spark plugs..If the electrode tips are worn then replace them,along with the wires/distributor cap/rotor....

hey guys i have a 92 maxima SE, 5 speed, twin cam, when it gets cold outside, randomly it shakes voilently @ 2500 rpm, and doesnt wanna go up and if i keep giving it itll eventually stop doing it and it likes to stall randomly every once and a while

Sounds like a bad mass air flow sensor or coolant temp sensor...

Can running on 87 octane fuel do this?

Not likely...

Does anyone know what ohms should be at for the coil packon a 92 se(DOHC) 5 speed

No that or 89 octane is what I run.

this is really pissing me off, buying new parts for this beast is a bend over and a half, anybody have the same problem as me and know exactly wats wrong?

SAME problem... i replaced my plugs, cap, rotor and wires all at the same time... still didn't make a difference.

i am gonna try the tape on the coil trick... i PRAY this fixes it cause this is pissing me off. the car ran beautifully one day and then literally overnight started doing this.

and it is random like one user posted... it is never at a consistant RPM or time during acceleration/deceleration.

also, the backfiring is actually through the airbox (you can hear it very clearly even when in the cabin).

any more thoughts on the matter? i see this thread is a week old...

-Roo

the first thing you should do is check your ECU for codes.

If it is a sensor, like the MAF, coolant temp or o2 sensor, it will likely tell you. Not always, but it's a place to start that is free.

After that, you have to do some testing or trial and error.

here have been several long discussions about these topics, especially the VE.

If you have a cap and rotor, you have a VG engine, which does not have coil packs, so you have nothing to tape.

You should still check your ECU for errors.

Various leaks in the exhaust manifold, a bad o2 sensor causing it to run rich or another exhaust problem usually causes backfiring through the exhaust.

However, since you said it's coming through the TB, it's usually some kind of problem with the spark plugs, wires or timing. Since you had the problem before and after you replaced the cap, rotor and wires, I would guess (that's it -- a guess) that you might have a bad TPS or have the car timed incorrectly.

duh, i feel like a moron for not putting 2 and 2 together (cap/rotor = no coil packs)... i should have known better!

ill run the codes... see what i can find.


you mention timing... what would cause the timing to just be off one day out of the blue?

definetly no exhaust leaks. besides even the slightest one one would not cause behavior such as this.

like the one guy commented further up, i dont need to keep bending over throwing money into new parts to find its not the problem. errr, such a dumb issue...

good source for o2 sensor's and other misc. parts? i dont have time or patience to go to a junkyard especially when its ~30 outside.

thanks ya'll.
-Andrew

how old is your timing belt?
if you are backfiring through the airbox, then your timing is DEFINATELY off.
and for a parts source try http://www.internetautosupply.com/catalog/ not the greatest site, but the person there does know his parts

as far as i know, the timing belt has never been changed.

but say that was it, wouldnt i have felt it coming on kinda gradually, instead of overnight my car just starts doing it...?

belt on that site is only like $20, might just say ****, tackle that job and see how she runs... i just dont look forward to doing it on a FWD car!

keep the input coming boys!

the belt may have finally stretched farther than the tensioner could compensate for

my maxima is also idling rough and misfiring specially after you let go of the accelerator. the car wont even run because when you put the shift on the drive the engine dies. i recently change the 6 injectors and everything look fine nothing is leaking or anything. what could be the cause of roug idle and misfiring ive been trying to fix it for 4 days now. i'll appreciate any advice tnx..

Bad plugs? wires? cap /rotor? IAC? Coolant temp sensor?

hello well for some reason it won't let me start a new thread so i'll try adding to this one. basically my problems are the same. here is the story (sorry so long but it might give clues since i think i have more than one problem and it all happened at once)

1. Bought 91 Maxima GXE w/ 165k for $400 as fixer-upper for son. Symptoms were: rough idle and would stall when put into drive… had to basically floor-it to start off.
2. gave oil change, fuel and air filter, PVC, put lots of injector cleaner in tank for 2 weeks… acceleration seemed to get slightly better
3. still rough idle and would occasionally upshift and rev high when pressing pedal and other times would not accelerate at all when pressing pedal at higher speeds.
4. installed new plugs but idle still the same after new plugs. Noticed some old plugs had slight oil residue but not fouled at all.
5. noticed that idle would not change when 2 of the six plug wires were removed one at a time. (cyl #1 & #5 if I remember).
6. Assumed that plug wires or distributor cap may be bad causing cylinder to miss
7. Cold weather snap (20’s) and battery went dead, jump started it and drove to have Batteries+ install a cheap new battery and check alternator—checked out ok.
8. drove Maxima back home to work on it… started and ran fine but still rough
9. Replaced plug wires, cap and rotor… all new
10. Now car would not start -- turned over but would not run or would barely idle (cough) and then stall out
11. Removed and checked new cap and noticed that the center button on top of cap was broken
12. Re-installed old cap--still no start… Re-installed old rotor-- still no start
13. smelled gas, so let it sit for 30 min
14. still no start. Tried again while holding down gas pedal while cranking… no start
15. Sprayed starter fluid into air filter intake while cranking… would sometimes cough and fire but would not stay running
16. Installed new new distributer cap with good button but still no start
17. Pulled new plug wires and checked resistance… all good. Removed new plugs, checked gap, etc… all good… reinstalled plugs checked fire order with manual
18. Checked spark from coil… sparks!
19. Checked sparks from plug wires, sparks
20. Let sit overnight, tried next day and still no start
21. gave up (too cold out!) live in country and don’t want to have to tow it to town to have it looked at.

Any ideas how I can get this running again? At least enough to limp it to AutoZone to check the codes?
Where would you start?
From the forums I have gathered a list of many possible causes listed below:
MAF Mass Air Flow (same as Air Flow Meter?)
CPS (crankshaft position sensor)
Engine Cont relay bad <---not sure what that is
Coolant Temp sensor keeps car in ‘cold’ mode
EGR valve open/clogged
Throttle body (although mine was supposedly just cleaned 2 weeks ago)
Using Non-NGK plugs
Ignition coil bad
Injectors clogged or stuck or ?
Fuel sending unit (under back seat?)
Bad gas cap (not holding pressure)

did you check to see if the rotor turns when you crank the motor?

had same problem. new ngk iridium plugs fix'd her up

yes when you try to start it the rotor does turn.
i'm all for buying the NGK's if that is really the problem ...but i still don't understand how the car ran 'ok' with old champion plugs but will not even start now when i put new champion plugs in.

You replaced the plug wires one at a time, making sure you got it on the correct Plug? If not you may be out of time. Find top dead center of the firing stroke of cylinder one and make sure the rotor and cap are pointing towards that wire. Then follow around in the firing order.

Have you tried pulling engine codes?