dawalkster

iTrader: (1)

recently i have been noticing that when im at wot in second gear i get very noticable hesistation around the 4k rpm range. what could this be? ive got no cel on and just weeks ago i replaced all my spark plugs and fixed a coil problem because i had terrible hesistation in every gear. so could it be another coil problem even with no cel? any ideas?

-=PK=-Maxima

might be your knock sensor (which doesnt trip a cel). check your ecu for codes, and if you get 0304 then its your ks. also, it could be that you have a dirty throttle body. clean your TB if you have never done it

BOSS

It's none of these, END OF STORY.

It is another coil(s) deteriorating. Read this ENTIRE thread http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=286287&page=3, make sure you read all of it. Like I said before, When a coil is defective, at FIRST, it NEVER triggers a code. That is why people mysteriously drive their Maximas for a long time with these hesitations/micro-second pauses in acceleration or when idle, without knowing the exact cause.

The CEL (or SES light to be exact) will never go on with defective coil, unless the coil is weak enough to cause a SEVERE cylinder misfire. Only then will the ECU throw a "CYLINDER #X MISFIRE" code, after which you know which coil to swap/change/replace.

As an example, when one of my coils was deteriorating, I felt the hesitations and what not for about 4+ months until finally one day I got a code because it misfired so much.

Also, don't think it can't be a coil simply because you just had one replaced. These are prone to failure on 4th gen Maximas. I replaced coil pack #1, which was almost dead. Guess what, only a month or so after that coil #5 started to go bad, as I found out 4 months after when it triggered a "cylider #5 misfire" code.

dpassino

how did you find out that is was the coils? did you use a special tool or some other means?

BOSS

I don't quite know how to explain it. You'd have to go through a coil problem to know what I'm talking about. Deteriorating coils have these specific pauses or hesitations that you get from nothing else, but ignition coils.

Some say that knock sensor produces these too, but it DOESN'T. The "lag" sort of feel or power loss feel that you get out of a bad knock sensor is very different. Only ignition coils cause the MICRO-SECOND, or perhaps MILLI-SECOND pauses, usually under heavy load, most often when say going WOT.

Like I said, it's hard to explain, but once you go through a defective coil once, you'll never blame another component for the frequent hesitations. I've been on the org long enough and you wouldn't believe how many members had these same problems. It's funny actually because I've honestly seen people spend thousands of dollars, replacing unnecessary parts, which happens more often than you think.

In 90% of these cases, I've heard too many times of people replacing the following:

1) Fuel filter, which you need not replace - maybe once in your vehicle's lifetime provided that you put clean gas in. Either way, it wouldn't cause the kind of hesitations we're talking about here.

2) Knock sensor - (like I already mentioned above)

3) New throttle body or cleaning TB - if it really were clogged to the max, you'd notice your car "choking" or simply loss of power, which again would feel far different from the short pauses or hesitations

4) spark plugs - again, no point in changing those if they look good, that's all there's to it

5) fuel pump, fuel injectors, and others - again, no micro-second misfiring would result from these, symptoms would be different.

In the end, ONLY heavy electrical wattage, like the one found flowing through the ignition coils can cause very frequent, micro-second misfiring of a cylinder. Lastly, you must accept the fact that OUR CARS CAME WITH SH!TTY IGNITION COILS - END OF STORY!