My motor as been missing horribly for a while. It's worse at low RPMs and when hot. It seems to run decently when it's colder and at higher RPMs. I replaced the cap, the plugs, the rotor, and the coil and it still runs like crap. When I replaced the rotor, it ran better than it had in a long time on a 30 minute drive, but on the return trip a few horus later it was running poorly again.


Please, someone give me some ideas before I light the damn thing on fire.

 

Injectors.

 

.

 

Son of a *****, thats what I was worried about. I need to find my multimeter.

 

Why don't you just pull one plug wire at a time while it's running, see if it gets rougher or stays the same that way you can find which cylinder is not firing.

This happened to me once too, but it fixed itself after driving for a while.

 

you can still have a faulty injector with an accurate reading. i'd just do what the above post says, as well as checking if you're getting a spark to the cylinder(s).

lol, this thread reminds me, i told an ex gf once that my engine was missing and that's why my escort was running like crap. she said "yeah right", i swore to her that was the problem. then she got pissed at me figuring i was lying to her trying to make her feel stupid or whatever. she thought i was saying there was no engine in the car

 

I looked at a G20 the other day, and it had a miss too, looked like someone swapped in the wrong injector I know everything else was working when I heard the wonderful cracking sound when I pulled the wires off the plugs
cracking = good sound , ignition working

 

Nobody in this podunk town (Beautiful Rolla, MO) has nissan parts besides the dealer, so I have to wait a week or two before I can go back to STL and get a few injectors from a junkyard. Thanks for the help guys.

 

I would strongly recomend not going to a junkyard for injectors unless you just want to change them again in the near future. I would suggest buying them from Brian and buying the IM gasket from the dealer, because otherwise you are just going to make more work for yourself. Also unless you planned on swapping the whole injector rail you're probably going to destroy the injectors when you try to get them out.

 

Hmm, This may seem kind of far fetched but what about the wires?

When I replaced my Spark Plugs it was misfiring badly with original wires. Often if the wires are old they can get dryrotted (depending on where you live and engine temp) and when pulling/wiggling them out you could have created a crack at the bottom of one of the plugs where it meets the plug. Listen to each plug and see if you can hear them arcing (ticking) If so. Take the wire off and wrap some electrical tape around the bottom to seal any possible cracks you can't see. Then Put it back on and see if it still misfires. Just happened to be my problem, thank got I checked that before I replaced the injectors.
________
Family Ii Engine
________
HERBAL HEALTH SHOP

 

whats up pat listen i dont have any vg injectors but i do have a multim if you need to use it let me know by the way hows that tranny holding up

 

Thanks 94maxshima, I'll have to try that.

I should be able to find a multimeter here at school I can use. The tranny is making a slight whirr sound, I dont know if it's the bearing we did or something else, but I dont really care at this point. It's only noticable when the radio is off and I'm next to a building. If this car lasts through the next 2 years or so I'll be happy. It's got some ugly rust by the wheelwells and on the rails that go to the back bumper so I'm going to invest as little as possible in it.

 

Describe to this automotive newbie the definition of an engine miss

 

A cylinder not firing

 

i would still say injectors also, this "kinda" happened to me to but not as badly, i replaced the fuel filter and rotor and went fine now. Now to deal with my doors locking when my engine cranks

 

Who is Brian and how do I get intouch with him? I'm needing some injectors myselft and trying to locate some for a reasonable price. Also, what size injectors does the VG motor have in it?

 

Other than what was mentioned above, how can you tell if an there engine misses. Like Sounds, etc.

It's just that "running poorly" sounds vague to me

Sorry for thread jacking Nizzmax.

 

http://internetautomart.com/ That's his site.

 

Some of the symptoms are a lack of power when you accelerate like you are being held back (also a jerking feeling when accelerating). Also a rough idle and rough acceleration can be symptoms also. But these can also be symptoms of other problems not just injectors.

 

I be Brian

 

sometimes its the connections to the injectors. you can barely push it and it will change the rpms if its going bad. mine are.

 

My car has been doing something similar. Idles a little rough and is jerky/powerless, but once I hit 3200 rpm's its perfect. Also, to throw a little twist into it, today when I got into my car and started it up it ran perfect for most of the day... like brand new. ???? wtfbbq??

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I just run 5/6 cylinders at the moment and also suspect an injector problem. Besides the annoying vibration at most RPM ranges, and lacking any decent power, I am actually used to it already and just treat it as a fact of life.

 

No offense, but make a mental note that when diagnosing misses it's best to start with plugs, wires and injectors. Generally, replacing the plugs and wires is fairly cheap and some good injector cleaner in the gas tank and maybe some good use of SeaFoam is the best way to go before looking to replace cap, rotor, coilpack/coil, and the injectors themselves as the last things can get to be especially expensive and are less often necessary. "Live and learn".

The family max, at 170k miles, is doing this same thing now. Worse when it's hot. Sometimes/most times the miss is small but sometimes surprisingly overt. Getting some shaking that I'm not sure is part of the miss issue yet as well.

Sometime in the near future, I'll add about 1/3 a can of SeaFoam into the crank case, 1/3-1/2 a can into the gas tank, and will use 1/3 of a can "per cycle" to SLOWLY suck it in through the intake manifold ( so it can get into the piston chambers ) with the engine running by some random vacuum access line I haven't decided on yet (anything that will provid good suction into the intake manifold and be large enough to accomodate the fluid - like maybe the PCV line on the manifold side). I'll then cut the engine off, let it sit for a 15 minutes or so, [EDIT]turn on the engine (which sometimes requires a few tries and some pressing of the throttle {"gas pedal"}) and keep revving it for as long as you have too until there aren't clouds of smoke and chunks of carbon/various deposits of gunk being spit out your tailpipe/exhaust and the engine is idling better and cleaner on it's own (which may take 5-15 minutes depending on how dirty the engine internals are/were). Then, I repeat the "cycle" and, again, suck 1/3 of can into the intake manifold, let it sit for 15 minutes, do the revving etc. I do this for a few cycles until it seems I have cleaned things out really well.[/EDIT]

Next I'll pull the plugs/wires, dry up the plug alleys, inspect for any valve cover gasket leaks (especially if the valleys are full of oil ), replace the valve cover gaskets if necessary (hopefully this won't be necessary ), use a syringe to squirt a little bit (1/8-1/4 can MAX - evenly dispersed onto each cylinder/into each plug valley) of SeaFoam into the plug valleys so it'll get directly to the pistons, get my plugs and wires prepped with Dialectric Grease and Anti Seize, install the plugs and wires, fire the sucker up and add SeaFoam to the gas tank if I feel like it could use some more and drive it around for a bit and see if the miss is gone ... which it will likely/hopefully be.

** Valve Cover gaskets can leak, causing oil to fill the spark plug valleys which can flood spark and fill the wire boot to foul up the wire to plug connection, which can cause mising too and which will only be fixed by drying everything up and replacing the gasket and torquing everything down correctly.

***One of my worst concerns is that the reason why the missing for both of us is worse when it is warm and the car has been driven is because the oil has filled up the valley after having been driven and since the oil is warmer it is thinner and leaking through the gasket more easily. Then, the valley is draining after it sits long enough. I sure hope this really isn't what is happening though.

Somewhere in the process (probably when the plugs/wires are out/off), I'll probably pull the EGR and clean everything up with some towels, toothbrush, q-tips and some Carb Cleaner and reinstall it.

Finally, I'll change the oil/filter and add some syn.

Just did this to a Saturn with 220k miles on it and it went from barely running as if it were a cammed v8 with a broken rod (really, no exaggeration) ... to running like new.

Good luck!

 

 

^^^ "Too many words". I'm sure you're referring to me.

Loquaciousness can help. I like to help. I wouldn't have been as motivated if I didn't need 15 posts of "merit" in order to be able to post my own thread ... in case I want to post my own thread when I start working on a maxima soon.

 

I had the exact same problem with my 92 GXE. I tested the injectors, and narrowed it down to the cylinder, and it was getting electricity, but wouldn't fire when the car was warm. You can usually find someone selling a set of 6 injectors (sometimes still connected to the fuel rail) on ebay for less than $100. replace the bad injector and keep the rest for when it happens again. I know some people that have their original injectors and have gone over 200k on their Max, and some that needed to be replaced every 15k. Good luck

 

Good to know these symptoms seem to always lead to injectors only. I still like trying the cleaning methods aforementioned before paying to replace injectors.

Question.....
I mentioned that the valve cover gaskets MAY be leaking oil into the plug valleys ... though hopefully not. How many of you reading this have found the gaskets to be an issue? How many of you find them causing oil to fill the plug valleys?

 

Thank you tempmax, for the step by step. Long? Maybe, at least not redundant.
I don't reed fast, but I reed gud.
I'm having the same problem- the engine is missing; I've already changed the fuel filter, ran a dose of fuel system cleaner in the tank, and replaced the plugs, using dielectric compound at the coil connections. After that didn't work (it did run a bit better of course), I bought some SeaFoam that I plan to use directly through the intake, to get at the injectors. You said the chances are good that the steps you stated will work for such a problem? I would have thought the chances were good the injectors would have to be replaced. But at such an expense, it's mandatory to try the simpler things first.
Question- I don't want to look like I'm hijacking 4dfcpat's post, but maybe he had the same additional conditions? a) A loud tapping noise that I originally thought was a valve tappet or something, coming from the forward facing cylinder head, b) a gasoline smell from the tail pipe, which I assume is from the engine computer trying to adjust to the misfiring injector?

 

No prob.

I would have done that later, as in after I ran some cleaner through the system in case extra deposits clogged the filter during this. Same reason why I do all the cleaning before I change the plugs/wires ... that is if they're still firing enough to crank the engine up and rev it for what it's worth until I spit all the deposits out the exhaust ... which is a part of the SeaFoam process that I forgot to mention and could lead to confusion so I'll adress that.

I usually just use the SeaFoam there since I'm buying it for the engine anyways.

Good, but, again .... it would be ideal to do it after you use SeaFoam via sucking it in through a vacuum line. Don't want to make you feel uneasy about the issue now that you've already replaced the plugs, but using the SeaFoam could free up deposits that will make the plugs dirty enough not to work very well or at all ... which is why it's best to change or clean the plugs after using the SeaFoam through the intake manifold method.

**Don't forget that sanding the connection points on the coil can be a good thing to clean off any obvious corrosion but also any "invisible" build up.

Your last two sentences here answer the question. Clean them/it first as much as possible. Even if you pull the injectors and clean them manually. You may get plenty more use out of them. Always try the most simple and cheap method first, especially when you're doing the work yourself and on a tight budget. Saves money and hassle.

But, you may find that the injectors are not clogged but malfunctioning and you need new ones ... or there could be a combination of malfunctioning and clogging and unclogging becomes a very temporary fix and you will soon need injectors. It just depends on what's actually going on, and you won't find that out till you try to clean everything up first.

I don't think you should worry about hijacking. Looks like he's been absent from the thread for some time and I think your posts are adding informative content.

a) I'm 10000% new to Maximas. Maybe it's this "VTC" issue I've read about:

https://maxima.org/modules.php?name=...ries=General#6

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=296601

b) Possibly. I'd do the cleaning first and see what happens.

***I will now edit my first post in the thread to clarify the SeaFoam process.
By no means should anyone think that you add 1/3 of a can of SeaFoam through the intake manifold vaccum line, turn off the engine, let it sit for 15 minutes and repeat the process WITHOUT REVVING THE HELL OUT OF THE ENGINE TO RID OUT ALL THE SEAFOAM YOU JUST ADDED ALONG WITH ANYTHING IT IS CLEANING BY SPITTING IT ALL OUT THE TAIL PIPE AND BURINING IT DURING CUMBUSTION. IF YOU DO NOT SPIT IT ALL OUT/BURIN IT ALL UP AND YOU ADD EVEN MORE SEAFOAM, YOU WILL RISK COMPLETELY SEIZING UP THE ENGINE.

 

I did the cleaning with SeaFoam with the brake booster line. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that only 1 to 3 cylinders sucked up all the SeaFoam because there was no smoke at all. Then, when I had the manifold off (pulled valve covers, new gaskets, switched from screws to bolts torqued around 10 ft lbs) and plugs out, I squirted 1/6th of a can total of SeaFoam in equal amounts into the plug holes and another 1/6th spread equally into the intake runners. When I started the engine back up, plenty of smoke, because all cylinders were accessed.

When looking at the underside of the intake manifold, the PCV "chamber" seems to run down the center/middle of intake and feed both sides of the two intake chambers at opposing ends ... so it may have a much better chance of feeding all of the cylinders. BUT, the I had tried the PCV first and you need A LOT of patience. First, to get the engine running I had to start it and immediately hold the throttle open a bit until the ECU learned to idle right and then it was still taking a long time to suck in the SeaFoam while keeping the engine running .... so I switched to the brake booster line. Brake booster line was super quick, but I'm sure it doesn't allow the SeaFoam to reach all of the cylinders.

Now that I have my new plugs in, I'm not sure that I want to use the SeaFoam in the intake anymore.

The engine still misses intermittently. Seems like one cylinder. I think 2 cylinders were missing before due to bad wires because the number 3 cylinder wire war certainly shooting sparks out the side of it. Haven't identified which cylinder is still missing yet since it is intermittent and I havemn't tried identify it yet. Seemed to improve by driving around on a low tank with SeaFoam in the tank ... as it may be cleaning a dirty but not really "faulty" injector. Will try this a bit more. Will get the tank near empty, add some octane booster and dedicated fuel injector cleaner and maybe 1 or 2 gallons of 93 octane and drive it around to burn it all up and hopefully clean things up well. If I get another chance to hear a consistant miss with the engine running I'll pull plugs 1 by 1 to see if I can identify the missing cylinder.

Haven't changed the fuel filter yet as I want to save it for a bit later. But, happy to see it seems to be the only other thing in the engine bay ... besides the plugs and wires ... that will actually be easy to work on.