OK, I have a '97 SE with 73K miles on it and I've noticed that after shifting gears (during normal driving), there's a brief hesitation in accelleration/throttle response.

Basically, once I get into the next gear and let the clutch all the way out it feels like the car hesitates about 2-3 seconds, then begins to accellerate.

However, when I put my lead foot down and shift really fast, I don't notice it.

Any ideas?

 

bad ignition coil

 

No kidding? How much does that monkey cost to replace?

 

clean throttle body and air filter

 

Cool, was planning on doing that this weekend anyway (weather permitting) as well as changing the plugs. Hopefully that'll fix the problem.

 

If its a serious hesitation its probably the ignition coil, costs about $100 from the Nissan dealer.

 

$60-$70 each online

 

check your KS 1st, b4 u look at ignition coils...my car was doing the same thing...replaced KS, problem dissapeared, low end grunt came back.

 

Demon....
....Hopefully, it is not more than one of those "monkey's." You have a total of 6 coil packs. I doubt that all 6 are bad, but a couple could be. That is something that quite often happens on our 4th gens.

I would try the ks(knock sensor) first too. From what I have heard, it can cure some of those ailments and then you don't have to blow a lot of cash on coils. Look at it this way, if you find a good deal, you can probably find a knock sensor on ebay for like $100. Each coil pack is like $55-65(sale in group deals by JRNissan). You don't know if you will replace the correct ones. Anyway, it is worth cleaning out the eir filter, changing the ks, and cleaning out your throttle body.

Also, are you using regular unleaded? I was for a while, and I don't know that this is what caused it to stop, but I am using 93 now(we don't have 91 around here.....just 87 and 89), and it is not hesitating. Mine was not hesitating as much as it sounds like yours was, but it was doing it at WOT at around 3500rpm. It is not doing it now, and I have been running premium fuel through it for about 3 tanks now. Just a suggestion.

 

Well you can always do the other little stuff, if that doesnt work, wait for a CEL. I did, now I know Cyl 5 misfired badly, so now I know whch one to replace. Time to buy a coil pack hooray

 

that sucks to hear that, Blue C. It hurts me to see another "red Brother" having to do stuff like that.

 

Oh man, I was so sad when I started driving today, it felt like a lost an entire cylinder. My exhaust almost sounded like a civic, and it was very slow. I put gas in cause i was at about empty, but i still had a couple gallons in there. After another startup or two, it went away. Had the codes pulled, duplicate Cyl 5 misfires, and duplicate regular misfires. Il have it fixed this weekend. And hopefully Ill have my cefiros ordered next week, thats right, a red maxima with cefiros........

 

Thanks for the replies!

I'm running 93 octane, so I don't think that's it. I'm going to try replacing the air filter, clean the tb, and replace plugs first and see what happens.

If that doesn't work I'll look into the knock sensor and coil packs next. Thanks again.

 

Yep, it's definitely coil packs - I could have told you that from the very beginning. I know what it feels like to drive on only 5 cylinders, instead of 6. It feels like driving in a tractor.

Anyway, it's very weird - from what I have noticed, ignition coils are discussed in this forum at least 10 times a week. In MOST cases, it's coils #5 or 2 that are defective. I myself got a "cylinder # 5 misfire" code when my coil was going bad. Some 8 months later I got a "cylinder # 2 misfire" code.

You know what's even more phucked up? - Each time I had a bad/deteriorating ignition coil with my gas tank at least half full, the hesitations caused by the bad coil(s) were gone. Only with a less than half full gas tank that the hesitations reappeared. I guess this goes to show that what you experienced is rather normal.

 

Ok, since I just got the car two weeks ago .. it's still under the 1,000 mile 30 day warranty. How can I convince the dealer to replace all the parts without the car throwing a CEL?