I went to the mechanic and he told me that one of my cylinders might not be working. He also told me that most likely it was the spark plug and that I need a tune up. He also mentioned that if it wasn't that, it might be a fuel injector. Does anyone know the price for a fuel injector if it is indeed that. Also, can it be something more serious, and if yes what? The car makes no unusual noises, seems to drive fine, starts quiet, does anyone have any insight on this, any advice would be appreciated

 

Did you get the check engine light?
If so, then it is probably one of the ignition coils, not a spark plug. I had 2 go, then the other 4 about 2 months later. When I was 2000 miles away from home! Doh!

 

get a 2nd opinion. he may be trying to screw you over. it could be many more things than just the spark plug or injector, which is quite a money maker i might add. Who knows, maybe there is no cylinder problem at all.

 

So ask the mechanic for specifics and then report back to us. Why is he saying you have a misfire and what cylinder is he referring to? Did he pull a code from the ECU and if so, what was the code?

Have you done a full tune-up with new spark plugs and fuel filter? How many miles on your car? PCV changed out? 02 sensors failing?

 

Check your ecu for codes before paying to have any work done...MaxFAQS

 

From reading this one can conclude your mechanic doesn't know the Maxima to well. Go find another mechanic that knows how to work on Maxima's. They should be able to read the error codes from the ECU, providing your check engine light is on.

Your mechanic is simply guessing. If there is a problem with your car, the check engine light comes on and a code is stored which points directly to what has failed. It takes the guess work out of trouble shooting.

 

If I were you I would pull the codes myself. When I take it to a mechanic or even the dealer I already know what the codes are. They run their diagnostics and let me know what the problem is before doing any repair. I match that with what I already know and see whats up.

Pedro

 

thanks a lot for everyone's advice, I really appreciate it. He told me that what he can see it might be either spark plugs or injector. He didn't pull any diagnostics. Thing is, the car has 108k on it and I don't think the previous owner ever got a tune up. I'll get the tune up, than if the check engine light appears, take it to another guy and get it checked out. Another question, Is it possible for anything to be wrong with any component of the cylinder w/o the check engine light appearing?

- '97 5spd

 

Stop by a local AutoZone or whatever equivalent you have nearby and ask them to pull the codes for you. You can also just do the manual process listed in the Hayne's and Chiton's shop manuals. You turn a set screw on the ECU (behind a plastic cover down by your gas pedal). I'm pretty sure it's covered in the FAQ.

Yes, you could be having trouble with a given cylinder that may not throw a code but that's highly unlikely.

 

thanks a lot for your advice, what kind of symptoms would trouble with a cylinder give me?

 

I just replaced an injector. Napa asked $120. The front 3 are easy to get to but the back 3, you have to remove the intake. A local shop wanted $520 to replace the injector. So I did it myself.

 

Grr, it's going to depend on the nature of the problem. You could have a worn piston ring, you could have sludge/carbon build up, perhaps the previous owner rans slick 50 and then went low on oil and you have some carmalized build-up in there. Those are all sort of worst case scenarios. You'd go anywhere from rough idle to loss of power etc. depending on the severity of the issue. Perhaps you're losing compression because of a leaking head gasket. The possibilities are far too numerous to list here. These problems are also the least common/likely to be happening to you. Maybe you have a failing coilpack, spark plug, bad/clogged injector, clogged fuel or air filter, stuck PCV, yadda yadda yadda. Seriously, don't buy this crap of, "you have a bad cylinder" - they're trying to buttrape you for some $$. Go verify the code info at AutoZone or Checker/Kragen or another dealer/shop.

You'd be shocked by the benefits of routine maintenance and a 60K mile tuneup.