92SEftw

Hey all, hoping somebody can help me solve my issue

The issue I'm having involves hesitation after the car has fully warmed up to operating temperature. The car runs perfect when cold. This can be felt the greatest while accelerating from a stop. I push the gas and the car doesn't really go anywhere for about 2-3 seconds sometimes then it finally starts to accelerate.

I've done the following repairs within the last 10,000 miles that I was hoping would solve the issue:

sparkplugs
air filter
fuel filter
6 new fuel injectors

I'm out of ideas and my mechanic who is a retired Nissan master mechanic cannot figure it out either. The only code the car throws is related to a speed sensor causing the ABS light to stay on. Hopefully somebody here has ran into this issue and has a solution. Thanks.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

First two things I think of are maf and knock sensor/wire. Have those been checked out?

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

Knock sensor and harness?

cardana24

iTrader: (81)

when I was having complete power loss mine was a coil problem. Are your coils cracked?

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Yeah, knock sensor would actually be culprit #1 in this situation. Your symptoms are classic bad knock sensor symptoms.

92SEftw

I don't know much about accessing the knock sensor. The MAF sensor seems fine and is not loose. I was thinking it may be coil packs as well, but I would like to be able to identify which coil pack it is rather than replacing them all. What would cause the knock sensor to go bad? The car only has 108k miles, although it is a 92. Is this sensor easy to replace?

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

I would check the knock sensor and sub-harness. That seems to be one of the only things you didn't mention that were changed.

92SEftw

Seems like it has something to do with either the knock sensor, wiring harness, or coil packs. I think the first thing I'll check out is the coil packs, seeing as they are easy to swap out.

After the car warms up, it also idles rough at stop signs and will occasionally die, but hasn't done that in a while.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

That would be either the knock sensor/harness or MAF.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

Try the coil packs then Knock sensor/sub-harness. From there check the MAF.

tresboi

iTrader: (9)

Maybe it's the knock sensor or sub-harness?

sanford7575

I had the same issue a few years back on my '92 SE; all hesitation disappeared after i changed the cam position sensor...

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

CPS.. are we talking about what is referred to as the "crank angle sensor" in the FSM?

I'll have to try this on my blue VE. I've developed some stumbling/stalling over the past few weeks along with a very aggravating general lack of power (even when cold) and changed out all my coils over the weekend to no avail. I was about to try swapping MAFs and then injectors as a last resort. It didn't even dawn on me the CPS might be bad.

Never really heard of those going bad on the VE, but my recent experience with stumbling/stalling on my mom's Hyundai attests to the fact that a bad CPS certainly causes stumbling issues. I don't recall her car having a lack of power, but her car did distinctly randomly stumble (kind of like the power was turned off for a split second and right back on) and occasionally died out of the blue.

92SEftw

Well I'm no mechanic by any means and dont know how to "check" the knock sensor, wiring harness, or cam sensor. I can perform general maintenance and replace easily accessible parts, but that is about it. Is there a diagnosis procedure that can easily pinpoint what is causing the hesitation/lack of power? I didn't want to take the car to the Nissan stealership because they charge $100 just to have the car on a lift, and I already know the car isn't throwing any codes related to the problem.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

Lol! You have so much ahead of you to learn. These cars are T&A. I don't remember how to test for a bad knock sensor/ harness. You'll have to search past threads. As for cam position sensor (crank angle position sensor) it is located on the back of the left head (front head) held in by 2 bolts. Its the round looking device with the plug from the harness on top. You would just unbolt and unplug it then pull it from the head. Lube the replacement around the cylinder. Align the little key to the void in the back of the cam and slide it in and plug it back up. Make sure you mark where the original cps was so your timing isn't out of spec. Bolt it back up and you should be done.

92SEftw

Wishful thinking on my part Looks like I will have to just throw some more money at the car if I want to get it running right. At least I have a few ideas now on where to start. We should swap engines Maximo, yours looks pretty damn clean!

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

You should read what I said about it in the climate ctrl unit thread. If u need a visual of the cps, its the round black thing on the back of my front head in my sig. I've thrown a lot of money in mine (reason why shes not 4 sale)and finally seeing the light at the end. To eliminate a lot of issues I replace everything. My 93 is more new than my 02. Its a learning process. You tackle issues with your motor and you'll learn it like the back of your hand. That way when you do have a problem you will already know what is, how long in dwn time, where to get it, how much and the quickest route to get to it to replace it. Just don't give up.

maximagician

have you done the unplug coils one at a time to see which cylinders dont
change idle?
then swap the coil with a cylinder that did change idle when unplugging
to rule out the coil,then do the same test by unplugging each front injector one at a time,report back

92SEftw

Is it safe to do this while the car is running? I haven't tried it yet. Are we assuming the cylinder(s) that change idle have the bad coil pack?

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

The only way to do it is with the car running. If the idle changes with the coil unplugged (loss of power from no ignition) then it works. If the idle stays the same whether u unplug or not then its bad.

92SEftw

I unplugged and plugged them back in one at a time and they all seemed to change the idle to a rougher idle. Maybe the coil packs aren't issue then. Some of the unplugged coils only changed the idle slightly though.

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

No, the cylinder(s) that DON'T change idle have the bad coil pack.

With a properly working coil/injector setup, the car should run noticeably WORSE (lower idle speed, chugging, etc.) with the coil unplugged. Check all of them until you find the one that does NOT make the car run worse. That one will be your culprit

92SEftw

Makes sense, Im going to go try it again. If one doesn't change the idle at all I will know that its a bad coil pack seeing as the injectors and spark plugs are brand new and installed by me, and yes they were installed correctly.

Update: the coilpacks appear to be fine, unless there is hairline cracks in them somewhere causing the car to only stumble when warm.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

I know you said you changed your plugs, but you might want to pull them so you can read them. They may give you some answer to whats going on. Other than that its probably the knock sensor or cam position sensor.

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

92SEftw -I see your car is an auto.

For what it's worth, the exacerbating "no power from a stop" thing is rampant/expected/par for the course on VE autos. VE autos are infinitely more susceptible to heat soak than the 5 speeds (or more accurately, the perceived symptoms are worse). Unfortunately, you'll likely never "fix" it. VE autos have relatively low torque down low and combined with the generally hp-robbing auto transmission and overall VE heat soak issue, they combine to be the kind of death-knell for VE autos.

It used to drive me crazy on my old VE auto - it's why I got into VE 5's

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

OHHH! And smack that fly in mid air. LMAO! Wait which one besides the blue one was an auto? Your mom's (the first one)?

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Lol my very first VE I inherited from my mom at 16 was an auto. It was the sky-blue color. My current '93 was an auto but I bought it with a blown tranny and so it's never been driven/operable as a VE auto in my possession since I did the 5 speed swap and JDM swap on it.

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

Oh man my pops had one in sky blue as one of his take home cars back in 94 for work. It was a GXE. At 5yrs old the only Max I had seen was my dads 87 2nd gen. The car that not only got me into mechanics/cars in general but Maximas especially at 3yrs old (Maxima fan since I could write Lol). I thought that was the baddest car ever until he sold it in 93. (use to draw pictures of it all the time) That was until he came home with that 93. I remember looking at it on the driveway as it rolled into the garage thinking wow Thats Kool! I want one. Anyways I'm surprised you were able to get much excitement out of the a/t to make you want to seek even further into the 5spd area.

nickdoof

iTrader: (2)

Let me make this simple for you because it 100% sounds like a knock sensor.

1. Go to Radio Shack and buy a 710k ohm resister.

2. Unplug your knock sensor and insert one end of the resister into each port in the plug( going back to the computer not to the sensor)

3. if it runs fine like this you know your knock sensor is bad.

gitanesteel

Newbie to the Maxima world - got a hesitation that was partially caused by a bad injector. That's been fixed. Now get a hesitation if I hit the gas too hard from a stop - I'm assuming that could be the tranny issue you mention. Periodically it will do it also at higher speed - 50-55 mph - rpm's about 1600-1700 and I'll feel a couple of hesitations. Is that also the tranny? 150K miles - fluid looks good.

maximagician

I thought it was a 470k ohm resistor?....anyone else know?

do we all agree that this bypass has been tested and confirmed?my old gold 92se A\T had its k.s. bypassed for like 40k miles and was still running great when i sold it with like 250k on it

the ve knock sensor is kinda primitive unlike newer
car versions of this same safety system?anyone?

aackshun

iTrader: (3)

HRMMMM... Sounds familiar doesn't it?

maximo018

iTrader: (6)

And as I explained to u mine has a cps issue.

My fault I haven't been on here in a week.

nickdoof

iTrader: (2)

I'm second guessing myself on the ohmage of the resistor now. I thought it was 710k but 470k sounds familiar now too.. Heh.

This trick WORKS! My car was a freaking SLUG, and thanks to a resistor that took 32 seconds to install it TRANSFORMED this into a different car.

Sure, you should replace the knock sensor. It's safer. But I just wanted to actually enjoy driving my vehical. And just so you know, if you have VTC rattle like most ve's do, it will destroy your knock sensor and give it false readings in no time. Very frustrating after taking the time to replace the sensor.

bluewater

I have 92 Maxima SE. After reading this thread, I would like to bypass the Knock sensor with a 470K ohms resistor. So I went to Radio Shake today. However, I can only find 4.7K or 470 ohm resistors there. Can someone confirm what should be the right resistor for this bypass? Thanks in advance.

bluewater

I went to another Radio Shack store and found the 470K resistor. Installed in my car and set the timing from 20 degree BTDC to 15. Test drive it. Feels like it has the same effect as setting the timing to 20 degree BTDC. Will drive more and feel the difference.

I took a pic for this installation...but could not attach it. Will try later.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like your TPS needs to be adjusted and setup right!

bluewater

I paste the picture in the text box when I write this message. However, the pic is removed after I hit the "Submit Reply" button. Can someone tell me how to attached a picture?

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

you need to use a photo engine such as photobucket and click on the (IMG CODE) box to copy, then hit (ctl v) to paste......the org gives instruction iirc.....

bluewater

Thanks. I hope this try is successful. Here is the picture. Connectors in the red circle are the knock sensor connectors. And the red arrow points to the 470K ohms resistor.