Missfire Headache
09-23-2009, 09:46 PM
#1
Missfire Headache
Ok last weekend i replaced the valve cover gasket again because of a leak. There was a small sense of missfiring when in gear idling and accelerating.
Now after everything is back together the missfire seems to be more and i havent touched then fuel injectors which i think is the cause of this. I have been running on 89 ocatne for years and today i put in 93 and the missfire seemed to went away for alittle bit but came back.
so the headache now is finding the codes from the ecu. i am confused when i run the diagnostic and i am not sure i am doing it right. It has one red light and when i have it on run i get a 55 normal which i doubt it is normal. Am i suppose to have a check with the car running too? if so how can i do that?
i dobnt have a volt meter so i cant really check the ohms for the injectors, so i cant really test out the rear injectors.
thanks
Now after everything is back together the missfire seems to be more and i havent touched then fuel injectors which i think is the cause of this. I have been running on 89 ocatne for years and today i put in 93 and the missfire seemed to went away for alittle bit but came back.
so the headache now is finding the codes from the ecu. i am confused when i run the diagnostic and i am not sure i am doing it right. It has one red light and when i have it on run i get a 55 normal which i doubt it is normal. Am i suppose to have a check with the car running too? if so how can i do that?
i dobnt have a volt meter so i cant really check the ohms for the injectors, so i cant really test out the rear injectors.
thanks
09-23-2009, 09:58 PM
#3
I replaced my head gaskets on my "89 and when it was all put back together there was the same slight misfire when idling and then when I got back on the gas it cleared out. One of my rear injectors had a bad connection because I could wiggle it and it would straighten right out. It's kinda wierd but I've never had that misfire again.
Don't now if this helps at all but that my experience with it.
Don't now if this helps at all but that my experience with it.
09-24-2009, 04:26 AM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Columbia SC
Posts: 2,284
yup sounds like one or more of your injectors are dying or on the way out! I am having the same problem. I first tried to check the codes and got code 55 each time I did! I did figure out which injector is dying, because it has gotten worse when it used to be intermitt, and only miss on certain days or something like that. My bad injector is on cylinder #4. I also dont have a volt meter, but will soon get one, as there may be other injectors that are soon to fail, and dont want to do the job twice. But you can check each one by carefully unplugging it and see if the engine idle speed changes, if you unplug the injector and there is no change in idle speed, then you know that that is a bad injector! More important is you have to do it while the engine is missing! I checked mine one day while the car was missing badly! All I hear was putt, putt, putt out of the tail pipe, and the engine was shaking so much. I pulled all the spark plug wires carefully, and listened each one made a change in engine speed except cylinder 4. I even changed the spark plug in cylinder 4 and it still missed, so I did the process of elimination.
09-24-2009, 12:07 PM
#8
alright i havent tested the injectors yet, but can wet spark plugs also cause some minor misfire? ps i have a ve and have NGK plugs with less than 20,000 miles on it but is over 3 yrs
09-24-2009, 12:14 PM
#9
now why would you have a wet plug anyhow?
09-24-2009, 03:57 PM
#10
i had one time (on a ford probe) where the head gasket blew BAD and the plugs got very very wet and it destroyed them so that even after we replaced the head gasket and put a new head on it, the plugs were totally shot and the engine wouldn't fire. but at that point they were clean and dry ('steam cleaned', if you will) but evidently burned up due to the shorting.
now why would you have a wet plug anyhow?
now why would you have a wet plug anyhow?
09-24-2009, 06:46 PM
#11
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 78
a few months ago i became determined to figure out what it was. i thought it was a misfire at first, which technically it turned out to be. anyway, i pulled all the spark wires, good. pulled all the plugs, number one, no change. AHA! cylinder number one. the spark plugs are about 5 or 6 months old and are ngk iridiums so i thought there is no way it can be out. so its getting spark. im damn sure its getting air, it may not be getting enough fuel, but then why would it sound like its gargling, i asked myself. so i did a compression test on all cylinders. number one had anywhere from 40psi to 80. all the rest had 120 and over. BAM!! no compression. everybody ive talked to about it is telling me its worn piston rings.
and if you think about the gargling sound. imagine this, the injector is spraying, nothing is getting burned, the gas just seeps around the cylinder getting into the oil, reducing the viscosity, and so the oil is not getting to all the parts it needs to, so it just sits in the bottom of the engine and the pump gargles it around.
im not 100% sure on the exact workings of an engine, but that seems logical to me
09-27-2009, 10:40 PM
#15
I would think probably 16412 (both of them maybe?). I had a really bad misfire and tracked it down to a rear injector but I just swapped in a whole good rail rather than screwing with trying to get injectors out of/in the rail 
Be careful (trying to) remove the fuel hoses from the 17520WA hard lines. You can kink those right over pretty easily if you're not careful with getting the "soft" hoses off.
Be careful (trying to) remove the fuel hoses from the 17520WA hard lines. You can kink those right over pretty easily if you're not careful with getting the "soft" hoses off.
09-28-2009, 07:36 AM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Columbia SC
Posts: 2,284
I would think probably 16412 (both of them maybe?). I had a really bad misfire and tracked it down to a rear injector but I just swapped in a whole good rail rather than screwing with trying to get injectors out of/in the rail
Be careful (trying to) remove the fuel hoses from the 17520WA hard lines. You can kink those right over pretty easily if you're not careful with getting the "soft" hoses off.
Be careful (trying to) remove the fuel hoses from the 17520WA hard lines. You can kink those right over pretty easily if you're not careful with getting the "soft" hoses off.
09-28-2009, 10:32 AM
#19
Just wanted to know if this cured your misfire? I have the same issue, Ive tracked it down to one injector but am going to replace all 3 on that side of the engine near the radiator. Ive got to get 3 pintle caps, and O-rings. I thought the injectors had 3 O-Rings. I saw one that was sitting on the hole where the injectors go with the fuel rail removed.
09-28-2009, 07:35 PM
#21
http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...placeable.html
09-29-2009, 06:45 AM
#22
the guy 2 posts up from you made a thread (which is still on the first page btw).... and i posted a link
http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...placeable.html
http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...placeable.html
09-29-2009, 07:30 PM
#24
omg what a f-ing pain in the butt, alright i have put in some good used fuel injectors in the rear and now the 3rd one in the rear(by the fire wall) is still missfiring. i checked the ignition coils and they were good. Now tommorrow i am going to the garage and let them figure this out. Because i am not going through all that and taking everything out again
09-29-2009, 07:52 PM
#25
omg what a f-ing pain in the butt, alright i have put in some good used fuel injectors in the rear and now the 3rd one in the rear(by the fire wall) is still missfiring. i checked the ignition coils and they were good. Now tommorrow i am going to the garage and let them figure this out. Because i am not going through all that and taking everything out again
09-29-2009, 08:15 PM
#26
that's the risk we take by doing one at a time. only sure fire way is to use all new injectors with oem o-rings and to be careful not to pinch them. otherwise you always risk having one fail the very next day. i had 3 fail within a week. but i replaced all of them at once.... with VE injectors, not knowing that it was a stupid idea until after my MPG's went to hell.
I dont get how to check the ohms on the injectors, first they all say 11.5 next they all 12.6?
09-29-2009, 08:25 PM
#27
if the pintle caps fall off it's possible for the lower o-ring to fall off too so that could complicate things.
09-29-2009, 08:30 PM
#28
dirty connection can corrupt the OHM readings. it's also possible for their resistance to increase over time if those injectors are also on their way out.
if the pintle caps fall off it's possible for the lower o-ring to fall off too so that could complicate things.
if the pintle caps fall off it's possible for the lower o-ring to fall off too so that could complicate things.
09-29-2009, 08:41 PM
#29
how do you know for SURE the o-rings seated properly if you have pintle problems? it's usually smart to attach the fuel lines to the rail before installing the rail into the intake and let the fuel pump run before, that way if it leaks, you'll see it with your eyes instead of having to wonder if it's leaking deep down where you can't see it inside the intake ports.
09-29-2009, 08:51 PM
#30
how do you know for SURE the o-rings seated properly if you have pintle problems? it's usually smart to attach the fuel lines to the rail before installing the rail into the intake and let the fuel pump run before, that way if it leaks, you'll see it with your eyes instead of having to wonder if it's leaking deep down where you can't see it inside the intake ports.
09-29-2009, 10:30 PM
#31
Sucks you're still having problems with it. I actually finished my rear injector and KS job in the dark with a flashlight pinned between my shoulder and my face. 
I think actually the most frustrating part of the whole job is trying to clean off the old RTV adequately and get it all re-sealed up as far as the water piping goes. That was a big PITA, especially in the dark. I was kind of half-expecting to have a leak or some other piddly problem since I kind of rushed getting it all done, but all is a-okay, thankfully.
I think actually the most frustrating part of the whole job is trying to clean off the old RTV adequately and get it all re-sealed up as far as the water piping goes. That was a big PITA, especially in the dark. I was kind of half-expecting to have a leak or some other piddly problem since I kind of rushed getting it all done, but all is a-okay, thankfully.
09-30-2009, 07:23 AM
#32
Sucks you're still having problems with it. I actually finished my rear injector and KS job in the dark with a flashlight pinned between my shoulder and my face.
I think actually the most frustrating part of the whole job is trying to clean off the old RTV adequately and get it all re-sealed up as far as the water piping goes. That was a big PITA, especially in the dark. I was kind of half-expecting to have a leak or some other piddly problem since I kind of rushed getting it all done, but all is a-okay, thankfully.
I think actually the most frustrating part of the whole job is trying to clean off the old RTV adequately and get it all re-sealed up as far as the water piping goes. That was a big PITA, especially in the dark. I was kind of half-expecting to have a leak or some other piddly problem since I kind of rushed getting it all done, but all is a-okay, thankfully.
10-02-2009, 12:23 PM
#34
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wind Gap, PA
Posts: 16
Currently I am doing a single injector for #4 cylinder. Some other lad mentioned 10-14 ohms is what you're looking for. New BWD injector is 12 ohms. 3 other originals are 21 and another is 30 ohms. Gonna take a chance and not replace that one right now.
Set your multimeter to 1K in the ohm range and touch the red and black pins to the contacts in the injector. Should be a consistent reading. If the contacts are green, that won't help. Dremel makes a fine tool for cleaning them.
Set your multimeter to 1K in the ohm range and touch the red and black pins to the contacts in the injector. Should be a consistent reading. If the contacts are green, that won't help. Dremel makes a fine tool for cleaning them.
10-02-2009, 02:40 PM
#35
Currently I am doing a single injector for #4 cylinder. Some other lad mentioned 10-14 ohms is what you're looking for. New BWD injector is 12 ohms. 3 other originals are 21 and another is 30 ohms. Gonna take a chance and not replace that one right now.
Set your multimeter to 1K in the ohm range and touch the red and black pins to the contacts in the injector. Should be a consistent reading. If the contacts are green, that won't help. Dremel makes a fine tool for cleaning them.
Set your multimeter to 1K in the ohm range and touch the red and black pins to the contacts in the injector. Should be a consistent reading. If the contacts are green, that won't help. Dremel makes a fine tool for cleaning them.
10-02-2009, 05:20 PM
#36
Alright after 2 more new injectors. The problem was the spark plugs! one plug wouldnt fire at all. i threw in an old plug n wal la!. I couldn't have thought it was a sparkplug because they are less than 3 years old and i have taken them out to look at n clean. Everything is now normal. Thanks for all your help
10-05-2009, 06:53 AM
#37
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Wind Gap, PA
Posts: 16
For my sake, I hope you're wrong. My 91 GXE has 221K on it and runs like a champ. Maybe I'll order a few more injectors just to keep on hand.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ballerchris510
3rd Generation Maxima (1989-1994)
9
09-10-2015 09:35 PM
Maxilano
7th Generation Maxima (2009-2015)
1
08-31-2015 07:33 PM