izdebest

Hello! I am a new owner of a 1992 Nissan Maxima GXE and after doing a bit of research, I found out about the infamous fuel injectors. My question is how often should they be replaced? What are common symptoms of bad fuel injectors?

A couple issues I am having are:

At a complete stop the steering wheel begins to shake quite excessively and the rpm is at about 1.
When I go into Neutral... my rpm rises in comparison to in Drive
I faintly smell gas every now and then

Thank you for your help!

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

The stumbling at a stop does sound like you either have a misfire or a vacume leak somewhere and yes they can be infamous for failing injectors but the cars are also over 20 yrs old. Gas evaporates fast. Are you smelling it when you start the car or while driving? If it's when you start it up pop the hood as soon as you smell it and take a good look at where it may be coming from? Common places are the rubber hoses on either side of the fuel rail or where the injector meets the fuel rail. Keep an eye out on it and post back when you see where it's coming from. If you know how to use a multi meter and want to know if the injectors are good you can un clip the harnessess and test the injectors. They should be between 10-14 ohm's. The front ones are a little more accessible than the ones at the back but if you have an fsm or search through the threads you can see how to test the back ones through the main harness instead of at the injectors. Have you tried doing a tune up lately ie spark plugs, wires, air filter etc.?

izdebest

Hey the smell of gas is when the car is running for a bit. I checked for leaks but cannot find anywhere they'd be from. I did find out all the fuel injectors have been replaced so that is not an issue. Though the car is still quite shaky at stops. In park it idles over 1000 rpm. The worst is when im in drive and have been driving for a bit and come to a stop. Rattles like no other. My auto shop teacher told me it may just be from weak pressure from the master cylinder but I am not to sure. I added Lucas cleaner and it helped the shaking a bit but not to much. I am gonna put new spark plugs in next week and already changed the air filer. Oil is still good. Any suggestions?

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

I dont think it would be the master cylinder. Have you changed the cap and rotor? Spark plugs may be the issue aswell as far as your misfire goes. If you change the spark plugs go with NGK platinum or NGK iridium. The coil located by the distributor could be breaking down aswell but as for your raise in idle at a stop sounds like it could be a possible vacume leak I'd start by doing a tune up ie. changing your spark plugs air filter and cap and rotor then maybe have your shop teacher take a look at your vacume lines for any vacume leaks and check the IAC (idle air control) located on the front right side of the intake manifold. It could also take air in from a leaky intake manifold gasket aswell keep looking for your gas leak gas evaporates fairly quick so like i said when you start to smell it check the small hoses on either side of the fuel rail and where the injectors meet the fuel rail as it is possible one may not be seated properly and these are the most likely places to find your gas leak. The tune up is fairly easy to do yourself but the other things i described you may want to see if you can have your shop teacher help you.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

3rd gens are known for the fuel lines under the hood leaking as well, i would check those. otherwise for the shaking check vacuum lines

on the injectors, its ethanol that kills them. 80s and 90s Nissan injector O-rings cant stand ethanol, it eats them up. i ran Shell 91 and Esso 91 in my 3rd gen and my Hardbody, both of those dont put ethanol in their premium and i never had injector issues on either vehicle

GRNMAXDMON

iTrader: (1)

The rear ones are actually easier to check than the front ones. Remember there is one right under the intake but like you stated; you can unplug the harness and check through there.

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

Good to know lol. I always have used petro canada ultra 94 but i haven't payed attention at the pump as to whether or not there is any percentage of ethenol but i do know 87 pretty much anywhere has up to 10% ethenol.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

you would want to check but im 99% sure PetroCan and Husky use up to 10% ethanol in all grades. Shell and Esso should be no ethanol in 91 still

Ray229Harris

Hey you guys. First time poster, long time lurker.

Normally i can find the answer to my problem in the search bar but since i have a relevant problem, i decided to piggyback on this thread.


I have a misfire and when i pull #4 ignition wire i hear no change, so i figure the misfire is coming from #4.

I tried changing the spark plug there and no change.

I tried switching the wires between 4 and 2 and there was little change.

I checked the distributor cap and there's no cracks or burn marks.

The only thing i did notice is that the rotor tip(cant remember the name) looked a little burnt. The tip of it was black (possibly carbon? idk) and a little jagged.




I also noticed that it's pointing to nowhere. Isn't it supposed to be point somewhere near the #1 ignition wire? I put a finger near #1 spark plug. I have a 92 maxima gxe just like the op

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

If they're OEM they normally last about 20-25 yrs....if used everyday...

Levsimus

iTrader: (1)

Your distributor rotates with the engine, you may be thinking of the "Number 1 cylinder TDC - Top Dead Center" which is used to check timing, the distributor itself doesn't necessarily point toward that cylinder. TDC means rotating the crankshaft until the number 1 cylinder is at Top Dead Center of the compression stroke, which to properly set your timing, you would need to do but in this case, probably isn't relevant - and to that end, the direction of the distributor isn't an issue either assuming this is what you meant.

oldpuck81

You probably have a bad injector. The oem Nissan JCS injectors last about 15 years. When they go bad, they short out internally which makes them not squirt any gas into the cylinder, which causes a dry mis-fire. That's why switching plug wires makes no difference. You have to remove the intake manifold and all attached hoses. Replace the injectors with the Beck-Arnley injectors (pink top) from Autozone. They might look a little different from oem w/ regards to the filter screen configuration, but they are the correct ones for about $80/ea.

Ray229Harris

Is it possible that my car is misfiring because the timing is off? Just trying to test the simple things before i try the difficult/expensive things.


Just to add more fuel to the filter (little jokey joke there) my cars idle is below 1000x. Is that a symptom of a bad injector?

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

car should idle between 600-750rpm for auto trans i think. 1000rpm would be too high of a warm idle

oldpuck81

If you're so inclined to dig into the intake manifold, do an ohm test on the injectors. You'll have to remove the intake manifold plenum to access the injector connectors so you can probe w/ an ohmmeter.
Each injector should be about 12 ohms. If they're up over 25+ ohms, then they're fixin' to go dead. If you come across no reading, that might be your bad cylinder. Trust me on this, if you have the money and time, replace all 6 injectors with the Beck-Arnley's if you plan to keep this car for a few years. Don't do them one at a time. I did and I've regretted all the late nights I spent tearing it all apart because I didn't do all 6 even though I had the money. I wouldn't (I didn't) replace with Nissan OEM's unless you just want to spend 50% more for the job. I think Nissan's are ~$125 ea.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Hey be sure to find the #1 eletrode inside the cap....They're not always straight! Did you measure the spark plug wires resistance? Trace all your spark plug wires with a test light attached to battery negative this will show up any spark leakage the easy way! The other way is you feeling on the wires while it runs! If it's leaking spark you'll find it!

ctfolmar

This may be the wrong place for this, but ya'll look like you know what you're talking about. Can anybody tell me what the butterfly diameter is for the dual port gen 3 maxima throttle body? Thanks in advance for your help.

Ray229Harris

I shoulda trusted you. One year later and i'm breaking into the car again for #1 injector.

redhunter

If I recall, you can test the resistance without removing the intake manifold. Some or all of the firewall side injectors can be tested at a connection mounted on the engine right under the far driver's side edge of the plenum. I believe there is diagram that shows what pins relate to which injectors.