All,

When I accelerate from a stop such as leaving an intersection, the car has a small hesitation. I even notice it when I'm in 4th or 5th gear giving it some gas to speed up. Its small but still noticeable.

I've had a tuneup and that did not fix it. What else could I look at?

It idles smoothe as silk. I get good gas mileage. Not sure what else to check.

Its a 98 SE with 82K on it.

thanks,
Stephen

 

Tighten your throttle cable..

 

You have a 98:

1. Spark Plugs -OEM Only (NGK PRF5G11)

2. Fuel Filter - 5minute mod

3. Throttle Body Cleaner - $3 can at Pep Boys

4. One of your Ignition Coils is bad. They range $98 to $108 each at the dealer. But you should have had a Check Engine Light go on.

Try 1,2 and 3 before you consider 4.

 

 

the same thing happenened to me and mine was a knock sensor. pull some codes from your ECU. see if you get 0304. remember the knock sensor itself cant trip the CEL. I am almost positive it is the knock sensor!

 

Yep, same thing happened to me, and it was the knock sensor. Drove it around like that for a couple weeks before finally getting the CEL; O2 sensor went at the same time....

 

5 minute mod! Its really hard to do..... especially if you have ABS like me. Also, how do you tighten the throttle cable?

 

Try this:
With the engine running, grab the main engine wire loom near the
firewall, beside the passengar side wheel well...Give the wire loom
a little bit of a shake, and see if your RPMs change.

On my car the engine wire loom, near the firewall, is wonky...there's
even a Technical Service Bulletin on this.

OR, TRY THIS:
There are two (maybe one) ground wires near the fuel rail, behind
the plastic "Nissan Maxima 3000" engine cover (not under it, behind it).

Let me know if you have questions...

take care!
FLO_BOY

 

It's probably a worn ignition coil

 

I have ABS, 5 minute mod bro

 

Why are noobs all of a sudden bumping ancient threads? And bumping a thread that's almost 9 years old?

 

LOL to get his thread count...

 

I fixed my hesitation while acceleration, rough idle, and engine stalling problems. I changed the MAF, and it fixed all my problems. At first i tested the MAF with a multimeter, and it proved ok, but thats because the MAF wasn't acting up at the time. So i just drove around with the multimeter in my car, and when the idle was getting rough, and i knew it was acting up, I quickly pulled over to the side of the road, and tested it. Volla!! it didn't pass the test, it was actually faulty. So when testing a MAF, you must test it when it's acting up!! I also changed my idle air control valve prior to changing my MAF, and it fixed the problem for a day or two, then it went back to bad.

 

sometimes....late at night....I find the oldest thread I can....write a post to the effect of I second that or maybe even a simple "cool"....then wait for batman to appear....

 

i got a similar stiuation here....96K mile on car, AUTO.
when cold or after a 10 min. ride, car will hesitate out of a stop.No codes pulled up on CEL. I changed the all spark plugs and coil packs, MAF is new, fuel pump new.Leaning toward a faulty Crank sensor...But dealer said it will pull a code.
the Car is at the nissan dealer Professional's now...they can't see any problems. TB bulliten was updated and they relearn all throttle postions.No codes pull up on there system(car seems fine they say).only thing was the A-apha was runing rich in the air to fule mixture %,with the K&N air filter cold intake.but this should not matter.the air filter was install @ 20,000. miles.Dealer is test driveing it with code capture device.But the hesitation is not happening now.Like always...when You bring it to the Doctors.the car acts fine....
Keep You posted on the results.

 

i dont see whats the big deal about bumping on a old thread? does it really bother people that much. alot of these "old threads" answer questions.

 

Verdict.....1 Coil pack on spark plug was bad(intermittant)...misfire, causing hesitation while accelertion out of stop.rich fuel air-fuel ratio at O2 sensors.
this is the answer to the problems..