eonblue

I just bought a 97 Maxima (GXE 3.0L V6) and the car ran smooth on the test drives (i test drove it on three seperate occasions each time the gas tank was on E (empty)). I bought the car and then filled up the gas with low grade 87 octane gas not knowing that i had to put medium or high grade gas into it. I topped it off and then when i drove it for the next day or so the service engine soon light came up and i noticed that the accelleration is a little jerky. should i be worried about this? my friend who says he "knows a lot about nissans" said that the low octane gas can cause a "miss-fire" in one of the pistons causing the light to go on and also causing it to go a little jerky. however, this is studdering is quite noticable.

I went to the dealership and got it checked out. Just my luck. The dealer said (I'm not sure who to trust anymore) that the car needs a whole new "wiring harness" because the one right know could short. The wiring harness costs $2,500. He said that the car will run fine as long as "the grounds go out." He also said that if the car starts having "hots go out" that it could just flat out fail on me, not the electrical stuff but the whole car! I don't know if he was trying to scare me or what. When I got into the car the check engine thing was gone, so I'm not sure how to get those error codes everyone asks for. He gave me a print out and said all the error codes were there, but I have no idea how to read the thing. It just seems like mindless data. Although I did see that one test had a "cylinder 5 mis-fire" checked with a "1" while all the other tests did not have any miss fires. I'm not sure how to interpret this stupid thing and since i can't get the error code anymore I'm not sure what to do. The car was definitely jerking as i accelerated in first gear and seemed to shake a little more than usual in idle (which seemed a bit low at 600-700 RPM), but ran fine otherwise. I'm not sure what to do...would it help if I posted what that printout said? I'm lost at this point and any help is appreciated.

-eon

P.S. it still had a full tank of that 87 octane gas in it...and the dealer mechanic said that while 87 octane gas is not good for a '97 V6 3.0L engine it still should not cause it to slightly jerk during acceleration, have a piston mis-fire, or cause the check engine light go on. i have also stumbled upon the notion that the 97 maxima is notorious for electrical problems...is there any merit to this?

XaMMax

I have a similar problem although my 96 Max is just slow to accelerate. The engine check light is also on but someone told me it could be the oxygen sensor.

THT

iTrader: (8)

Sounds to me like XaMMax's problem is an O2 sensor and knock sensor. Usually, when the O2 goes out, CEL comes on and the knock sensor trips which will result in your car retarding the ignition advance. Get your ECU codes read and fix it from there.

eonblue, take your car to Autozone and have them read the codes for free. Post the codes here and we'll be better able to help you.

~THT

jay722702

hey if the sheet from the dealership says cylinder 5 misfire, change the plug. i had a cylinder 1 misfire the other day and pulled the plug and the tip broke into the engine causing the misfire and a pinging noise. the tip eventually burnt up and i replaced the plug and the problem went away. hope this helps.