multiplexor

Hey guys,

It's starting again!

Previous thread: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=375081

After that thread i brought my car in for a checkup.... ran it through consult and fixed the problem.... or so i thought.... tonight i'm heading home and while waiting at an intersection, the car just stalls... so i start it up... put it first and before i can clutch out, it stalls again... finally i start it again and press on the gas and let the clutch out faster. finally starts moving, i have no problems, aside from the feeling that something is blocking my exhaust...

like i'm pressing on the gas, my car runs a deeper type of sound...

Problems with my car that i'm aware of:

i'm losing coolant somewhere....
i just drove my car for 15 minutes pretty hard... as per the haynes book,
my lower coolant pipe is cold, my engine is hot, and my upper coolant line which runs into the radiator is burning hot.... i'm assuming my thermostat is fine....

on long trips of 5+ hours i will sometimes see coolant just leaking from my engine.... makes me think it's the water pump, but i dunno if that would cause the random loss of power, resulting in stalls?

Stupid question, but could something be stuck in the engine, not affecting the internal parts, but causing something to block up?


I cleaned my throttle body about 1.5 years ago...
replaced fuel filter 2.5 years ago...
Spark plugs when i first got the car... 88,000 miles, i'm now at 125,000 miles
I tested ignition coils and they were all reading different values....

muffler and cat are about a year old.... i have custom y and b pipe...
my rear o2 is dead, but it shouldn't affect anything....

Just got an amsoil oil change about a week ago....

dunno what else to say... help guys

Thanks

multiplexor

to add on to this

my clutch is slowly dying...

when i let out first gear there is a loud screeching sound... i forgot what that problem was called...

when it's colder outside, my clutch slips in 4 and 5th if i put too much power...

good times... :-/

multiplexor

morning bump

multiplexor

Afternoon bump? ;-)

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You got alot of crap wrong with your car.

PTownMax

iTrader: (5)

the stalling is gonna be your coolant temp sensor (CTS)
that and a tune up and you should notice a huge difference

multiplexor

uhm.......... yes



I'm going to be doing a major tune-up this year... I was strapped for cash the last little while :-/

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

ie.. hard to tell you what's wrong when there's like 14 things wrong with it

Bobo

Sounds like a POS to me. Good luck!

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

What is your problem now days? Any particular reason you have to be an **** so much?

Bobo

What is the distinction between a moderator telling the originator of the thread that he has a lot of crap wrong with the car and me referring to it as a POS. If it were me I would cut my losses and get rid of it. The clutch is on its way out, it doesn't run properly, its losing coolant and its a Montreal-based car. Have you ever seen what an older Montreal-based car looks like? They are rust buckets. So I'm entitled to my opinion, perhaps POS is a little strong. But if the author posted pictures perhaps you wouldn't be so harsh on me!

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Can't be worse than USA east coast maximas. If you don't know how to help,then don't tell people it's a pos. Especially when you haven't seen the car.

I can tell this guy doesn't know much about cars as he has an OBDII maxima but still went to the dealer to use the Consult. He could get the codes with any generic OBDII code reader. Most shops and even parts stores have these. So that tells me his problems could be fixed if he did them one by one.

But since there's multiple problems, it's almos impossible to tell which is causing the idling problem.

But you knew this right?

Bobo

Sorry about that Jeff, I'm an accountant not a mechanic. I'll stick with my West Coast Maxima - I've never had a problem with it. Oh, yes I did have to get an 02 sensor replaced on warranty about 6 years ago. I see multiplexor prefers to drive his car with a dead 02 sensor because "it shouldn't affect anything."

How's your fuel economy?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Not that I particulary care about my mph but if you must know. I usually get 340 miles on about 15.2 gal of gas. That's a work commute also. Then again I have a cai, JWT ecu, Y, high flow 4 -gen cat, custom catback, Y2k muffler, huge 13" Cobra rotors, 300z calipers, rear bbk, 17x8 wheels with 245-45-17s on them. And I drive fast.

Bobo

Sorry about that Jeff. You misinterpreted me. I was asking multiplexor about his fuel economy as I was trying to help him given he has a dead 02 sensor that should be replaced.

I'm not remotely interested in your fuel economy, Jeff, as you know how to maintain your vehicle.

I don't want to be considered to be an ****, but I have been called worse in my time, lol! Something I'll have to work on I guess.

multiplexor

yo guys

it's my rear 02 sensor, on the cat, this doesn't affect fuel economy... i believe i read it's used to verify something else... I just can't remember what at the moment... :-/

For jeff I had pulled the codes myself off the dashboard... i have a dead rear o2 and my i think the other code was 0111... but this doesn't affect the engine, it's for emissions only...

they guy with the consult tool had only plugeed it in, monitored some readings before doing any big engine fix... he had reset my idle speed, and reset a bunch of other internal values.

Oddly enough, that fixed the car for nearly 2 months...

I'm going to start by channging the coolant sensor and possibly a few coil packs to start with.... then change the other 3 a month later...

Bobo

As I said before, good luck! Don't be offended by my earlier comment. It's just that I saw you had several problems and it might cost a fair chunk of change to remedy all of them, and I sense that could be a bit of a challenge for you at this stage.

How many miles are on the car and how long have you owned it? How many miles have you put on it? Do you have the maintenance history on the car?

multiplexor

Hey no worries... I totally agree.... I had run into money troubles where I was only able to afford my necessities... for the car and for general stuff in my life... no chance to fix the things which require fixing... :-/

The car currently has 125,000 miles on it. I've had it since about 2001.

Since then I've fixed what needs to be fixed... just within the last 1.5 years i've not had a chance to fix what needs to be fixed... :-(

Oh, I bought it at 88k.

Bobo

Well 125,000 miles is nothing for a Maxima and given you've owned it since 88,000 you know what you've done to it over that last 37,000 miles. I suspect the previous owner didn't have much in the way of problems with it so you're just going to have to isolate the problems one by one and get them solved.

Hopefully Jeff won't ban me now, lol!

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

When I had stalling, it was my MAF. www.car-part.com $35 and up.. or 400+ from dealer. I got a $55 shipped unit from ww.car-part, and it has been fine since 9/04. When my ECTS went, it only gave me a CEL, no stalling. $85 for a water pump, I took mine in when mine was leaking, try it yourself with the hanyes, or take it in, mine was $120 for labor.

I bought my 4th gen with 87k, and it now has 227k,

multiplexor

Small update

I went out for the hell of it and measured my coil packs...

They're all reading different values.

curious, what's a "infinite" measuring supposed to give? mine readings kept giving odd values... infact one pack kept flucuating between different values... :-/

i'm going to buy some new ones, get that potential problem out of the way...

and the bad part
can someone tell me what exactly this means? on my last coil pack, top right, near the drivers area... close to the iacv.... well when i pulled it out, i looked in and saw about half an inch of oil... the others were clean, except for this one. any thoughts (most likely negatives ones on this...heh)

Time to uhm..... sell the car... :-/

EDIT
Oh... For the hell of it i switched the packs around... and took off driving... while takeing an exit to come back home, I was in second and gunned it when it felt like was in a "loss of power" mode... when i gunned it i saw smoke
coming from the back of the car.. looked like white smoke.

oye!

multiplexor

Hey guys, i'm curious... I'm going to be looking into this problem this weekend, but at the moment, would you guys think that this could be caused by bad spark plugs?
I believe they last about 30k right? if so then i'm due to replace them within the next 5,000 miles...

sorry to keep buggin you all If I end up going to a mechanic, I'd like to be 100% sure so they don't sudennly say "oh it's a your fuel pump" when in actuallity it couldn't possibly be that part... :-)

Thanks again.

Oh small update...
I drove about 200 miles this weekend... not ONE problem from montreal to ottawa and back... well for 10 seconds in ottawa i had a bucking problem, but it went away...

today... i'm having a bunch of problems... when in "crap" mode and i floor it, white smoke... when i feel all my power is back, I floor it and nothing, no smoke...

I keep getting the huntch that it might be a seal somewhere... :-/
maybe my Amsoil 5w30 is slipping past certain gaskets or somthing?

Thanks again for your patience guys

tavarish

iTrader: (27)

hmm...white smoke emerges from the head gasket...I believe....i forgot if it was head gasket or valve guide seals...

multiplexor

That's my fear... heh

Would a head gasket cause these types of problems? power loss, etc....

I thought a head gasket going south would just involve white smoke all the time... at this time it's just intermittent.... like my car is switch to crap mode... lol

Bobo

You commented about spark plugs. If they are NGK platinum plugs, they should be goo f for at least 60,000 miles or 100,000 kilometres.

Armelius

You need to find a good mechanic. Change out thermostat, plugs, and anything else you might have a code on. The head gaskets should be replaced too. Then adjust the valve seats and spend some money.

BTW, I hate all accountants and anyone else who would call a maxima a POS.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

How do you adjust the valve guides????????????

Bobo

Yeah well I hate people who say people from Ontario are the worst drivers. If it weren't for the snowbirds from Canada spending money in your state you would have more people picking oranges for a living, so put a fork in it bud. At least I had the good sense to get an education!

And if you read the thread closely you would be able to determine that the originator of the thread doesn't have a problem with me. In fact I would love to hear what he has called his car in a moment of frustration, lol! There was absolutely no need for you to come along and stir up the pot at this time.

Armelius

One orange...two oranges...one apple...two apples...Oh, I am sorry, I didn't know my job depended on canadians. Three oranges...three apples...(canadians fuel my economy)...four apples...four oranges...People from Ontario are the worst drivers especially if they are over 50...


If your car is spewing out white smoke you should really have it operated on...while they are replacing your gaskets adjust as much as you can to specs and dig deep in your pockets...avoid driving the car until it's done or you might damage your engine and the environment.

Bean counter education: This is one bean, this is red and this is black. Supply and demand.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Again, EXACTLY how do you adjust the valve guides???????????????????

Armelius

I give up how? Or are you talking to tavarish?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

YOU Since that's what you posted BEFORE you edited your post. But think again since you posted it wrong again.

Now you state adjust the valve seats??? How in the hell do you adjust the valve seats????

Bobo

Armelius, old buddy, if you read the author's words more carefully you would understand that he is cash strapped and presently not a man of unlimited means. Consequently, constantly telling him to dump more money into his car may not happen anytime soon.

One would think that a fellow 95 Maxima owner would have more sense but I guess nothing should be taken for granted.

Armelius

That is why I recommend stop driving it. Or else he will go further in the red.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

How about answering question?

Armelius

He might need to replace one of them. That would be an adjustment in accountant lingo.

To adjust the valve guide he might have to ream cylinder head valve guide hole and replace the valve guide.

He may have to replace the valve seats. Check for pitting etc. Bore out the old seat until it collapses. Ream cylinder head recess.

I don't know Jeff...I am not a mechanic. How else you explain oil fouling up his spark?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

That is adjustment. That is replacement. But I don't know how those things would be directly related to a coolant loss problem

Armelius

The coolant is going out his pipe and that could be a head gasket. He said he has oil in his spark plug area. Lot's of it.

Ask rmurdock about adjusting the books. Something is getting replaced or placed somewhere else. Adjusting the position from inside the engine to outside the engine.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Oil in the spark plug area is more likely a valve cover gasket vs a valve seal/guide or valve seat.

Armelius

Right. And if he has the money or time he should go ahead and do the valve job. If not just replace the gasket. Which I believe I said.