Help! Occasional misfire at idle
12-18-2002, 12:21 PM
#1
Donating Maxima.org Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 188
Help! Occasional misfire at idle
My 99 GXE runs great, but when I'm at a light it will misfire now and then. It only happens once in a while. A could sit at idle for a long time and nothing or will get a miss then nothing for a few seconds then miss again. Somedays nothing at all, just smooth idling.
Is it time for a tune-up or is there somting major about to go wrong?
Thank you in advance.
Jim
Is it time for a tune-up or is there somting major about to go wrong?
Thank you in advance.
Jim
12-18-2002, 01:07 PM
#2
Member who somehow became The President of The SE-L Club
iTrader: (19)
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 16,033
How many miles are on the car?
Have all the services been done?
What spark plugs are you running? (NGK I HOPE)
Have you tried cleaning your throttle body? ww.motorvate.ca That cures a lot of idle problems.
Try a bottle of fuel system cleaner such as Techron in a tank of gas and / or switch the brand of gas you buy.
Has your check engine light ever come on and is the bulb for the light working? (test by turning ignition on but not starting the car)
You could check the ECU for any stored codes, see the sticky thread at the top of this forum for simple instructions.
You can test your coil packs to see if you have a weak one. A service manual will help you out big time in that area. Haynes is a good book, available at your local book store.
Have all the services been done?
What spark plugs are you running? (NGK I HOPE)
Have you tried cleaning your throttle body? ww.motorvate.ca That cures a lot of idle problems.
Try a bottle of fuel system cleaner such as Techron in a tank of gas and / or switch the brand of gas you buy.
Has your check engine light ever come on and is the bulb for the light working? (test by turning ignition on but not starting the car)
You could check the ECU for any stored codes, see the sticky thread at the top of this forum for simple instructions.
You can test your coil packs to see if you have a weak one. A service manual will help you out big time in that area. Haynes is a good book, available at your local book store.
12-18-2002, 02:19 PM
#3
Donating Maxima.org Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 188
Originally posted by njmaxseltd
How many miles are on the car? 145,000
Have all the services been done? 118,0000 Before I bought Car.
What spark plugs are you running? (NGK I HOPE)Tune-up performed by a Nissan dealer. I have copy of invoice. Replaced plugs, fuel and air filter.
Have you tried cleaning your throttle body? ww.motorvate.ca That cures a lot of idle problems. Thanks for idea. Will try
Try a bottle of fuel system cleaner such as Techron in a tank of gas and / or switch the brand of gas you buy. Will try.
Has your check engine light ever come on - Never
and is the bulb for the light working? Lights up when starting.
(test by turning ignition on but not starting the car)
You could check the ECU for any stored codes, see the sticky thread at the top of this forum for simple instructions.
You can test your coil packs to see if you have a weak one. A service manual will help you out big time in that area. Haynes is a good book, available at your local book store.
How many miles are on the car? 145,000
Have all the services been done? 118,0000 Before I bought Car.
What spark plugs are you running? (NGK I HOPE)Tune-up performed by a Nissan dealer. I have copy of invoice. Replaced plugs, fuel and air filter.
Have you tried cleaning your throttle body? ww.motorvate.ca That cures a lot of idle problems. Thanks for idea. Will try
Try a bottle of fuel system cleaner such as Techron in a tank of gas and / or switch the brand of gas you buy. Will try.
Has your check engine light ever come on - Never
and is the bulb for the light working? Lights up when starting.
(test by turning ignition on but not starting the car)
You could check the ECU for any stored codes, see the sticky thread at the top of this forum for simple instructions.
You can test your coil packs to see if you have a weak one. A service manual will help you out big time in that area. Haynes is a good book, available at your local book store.
12-18-2002, 06:41 PM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 456
Ignition coil
Hey,
More than likely it's your ignition coils, probably just one of them going bad. I had the same problem and I ended up replacing the bad coil with a new one. I got a misfire code from the ECU that's how I knew which coil I needed to replace.
Good luck.
More than likely it's your ignition coils, probably just one of them going bad. I had the same problem and I ended up replacing the bad coil with a new one. I got a misfire code from the ECU that's how I knew which coil I needed to replace.
Good luck.
12-19-2002, 11:34 AM
#6
Newbie - Just Registered
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 1
Same misfiring problem
Hi there - I joined this site & forum just to find this problem!
Have had the very same symptoms on my '99 GLE - 61K miles. Started just after I had the 60K service done. I had no engine lights and the dealer said there were no codes. They confirmed the problem but weren't sure what to do. They re-replaced the plugs, did injector treatment in the fuel twice, tried some used coils, tested for electrical ground faults ... They told me to finish the second tank of fuel, with injector treatment, and report back. The problem seemed to become less frequent, but was definitely still there.
Then day before yesterday (before the tank of gas - always 93 octane by the way - was used up), I was driving along (~40MPH on a secondary road) the car shuddered, the "TCS OFF" light, the "SLIP" light and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on.
Drove right to the dealer. They said that the code indicated a problem with the spark plug coils, but they couldn't tell which one. So they replaced them all. $530 later (not including the 60K service @ $726) and we still don't know if we got the original problem.
I'll report back after I've driven it around a while.
Any other ideas?
WBC
Have had the very same symptoms on my '99 GLE - 61K miles. Started just after I had the 60K service done. I had no engine lights and the dealer said there were no codes. They confirmed the problem but weren't sure what to do. They re-replaced the plugs, did injector treatment in the fuel twice, tried some used coils, tested for electrical ground faults ... They told me to finish the second tank of fuel, with injector treatment, and report back. The problem seemed to become less frequent, but was definitely still there.
Then day before yesterday (before the tank of gas - always 93 octane by the way - was used up), I was driving along (~40MPH on a secondary road) the car shuddered, the "TCS OFF" light, the "SLIP" light and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on.
Drove right to the dealer. They said that the code indicated a problem with the spark plug coils, but they couldn't tell which one. So they replaced them all. $530 later (not including the 60K service @ $726) and we still don't know if we got the original problem.
I'll report back after I've driven it around a while.
Any other ideas?
WBC
12-19-2002, 12:10 PM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,812
Re: Same misfiring problem
Originally posted by WholeBeanCoffee
Drove right to the dealer. They said that the code indicated a problem with the spark plug coils, but they couldn't tell which one. So they replaced them all. $530 later (not including the 60K service @ $726) and we still don't know if we got the original problem.
Drove right to the dealer. They said that the code indicated a problem with the spark plug coils, but they couldn't tell which one. So they replaced them all. $530 later (not including the 60K service @ $726) and we still don't know if we got the original problem.
a couple notes here...
1) You CAN figure out which coil is bad. If you search the .org,
you'll find out how...
2) I had similar issues, and it turned out to be faulty wiring --
To check mine, I would shake the wiring in certain spots, making
my way down the entire wire loom...I had it down to jiggling one
wire, and my car would shut off
3) Could be a bad oxygen sensor...
4) Could be a bad knock sensor...
---my last two are guesses...
hope this helps,
FLO_BOY
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