prmaxi

hey guys this doesnt have to deal with any specific year but i need some suggestions, okay i recently replaced my ignition coils, now i did all of them besides because the lower part of the rubber connector broke off and is now stuck in spark plug chamber, it got me so piissed i cant get it out and its delaying my car from being on the road again any suggestions or tools that you think might work?

95franklin

I remember I searched a while ago when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my coils. Someone tried putting super glue (or something) on the end of the coil and sticking it back in. I guess the glue bonded with the part that was stuck on the spark plug and they were able to remove it. I'd suggest a stick with super glue. Better yet, I bought a 'grabby thing' from Canadian Tire not that long ago. It's super handy and cheap.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en

jholley

iTrader: (13)

I got that boot tip that slides over the spark plug stuck in one of those long firewall chambers. I removed it using extra long needle nose pliers that I got at the HW store.

EDIT:

When you get that piece removed use silicon adhesive and electrical tape to keep it from happening again. After fixing mine I was able to slide it in & out easily.

prmaxi

thanks guys, i will do i seen a 16 in long needle nose at sears for like 20 bucks ima go head and get that, now the only other concern i have is that when i tried to where the rubber down at first with the spark plug socket (" i know stupid idea") but would i have to worry worry about any debris going in to the actually whole once i start pulling the spark plug up, cause there is some

jholley

iTrader: (13)

You don't want any debris falling into that chamber. After I got that rubber boot removed I held a long narrow funnel against a vacuum hose to pick up any rubber debris left behind.

kymera_gr7

I KNOW its not the coil packs themselves. It has to be faulty wiring. I kept all my old coilpacks and swapping them between the new one (which is a month old at best) has no different effect. This has to be wiring or a fuel injector..

kymera_gr7

**facepalm** now i feel dumber than ever. it was as simple as replacing a spark plug that the seating ring had been bent on. car runs fine. gah i feel stupid.

now to research exhaust and supercharging this sonnab*tch. LOL

Ray4thGen

hey i'm new here, i have a 4th gen max, and its in the shop now, im in the process in changing my shocks and struts and im debating in lowering it. what is a reasonable amount 2 cut off the shocks to lower it? your responses will help me a lot, thanks everyone.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

Don't cut your springs. Ride quality will become horrible

iniazi

Quesiton: I have a P0303 error code, and engine is definitely misfiring (engine is rough, idle + high-rpm). When I unplug the coil the engine doesn't get worse. I opened up the spark plug and I see it spark. Could it still be the coil?

Btw, when it happened, I'd been driving it for about 30 minutes without problems. Car turned off for 10 minutes and restarted it and it was rough. Next day it was still rough when started (this was when I check the spark plug etc). When I started it up the day after that (yesterday), it was fine. It was smooth. But when I started driving, in a few minutes, it went rough again.

If it sounds like coil, then I'll replace it, but if it could be something else, I'd rather save the $80.

jholley

iTrader: (13)

Swap coil 3 with coil 1. If you get P0301 error code then that coil needs replacement. Since you don't get constant misfiring check out the connector that mates with that coil.

Firewall
1 3 5
2 4 6
Radiator

iniazi

Well it is constant misfiring, since when I unplug it it doesn't get worse. I'll try the swap thing tonight. And the connector, you mean the plug from the timing, or is there a removable connector in between the coil and the spark plug? Could an air leak somewhere (I'm starting to think that I might have left something loose when I replaced the starter 3 weeks ago) cause this? or atleast to just one cylinder?

Thanks!

jholley

iTrader: (13)

You stated in your earlier post that when you started it yesterday morning that it rode smooth. If it's not always misfiring then it could be a loose connection. Make sure the coil is firmly seated over the spark plug. While the engine is misfiring during idle wiggle around the connector that clicks directly right onto that coil. Next try swapping coils as I suggested earlier. If none of that makes a difference then you could have a faulty fuel injector #3. Do a search and you'll find how to test the resistance of those firewall coils thru an 8 pin connector located near the harness bend close to the power steering fluid resevoir.

iniazi

I'm sorry, I see what you mean. Anyway, earlier today, I swapped the two coils and it didn't make a difference. Still #3 misfiring. so Its a bad injector? One thing I didn't try, I just realized, is to also swap the spark plug, just in case. but it did spark fine when I tested it couple of days ago.

Ok, so I'll search the forums on how to test the injectors.

Thanks!

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

ok i bought a 97 se for 600 bucks from craigslist and the guy told me the ecu was bad and that the car had no power what so ever.. long story short i swapped out the batteries and i got it to crank, i have all the electrical working but the car wont crank i have already heard the fuel pump priming(replaced it 3 weeks prior to me buying it) but it wont turn over.. it sputtered once and ran for about 2 seconds all it does it crank over and over (didnt do it for too long to save the starter) the starter is kicking over the motor just not enough to start i ( i put the battery from my civic in it to check the battery but the cranking amps is only 450) could it be that the battery just isnt strong enough to kick it over? or what? im confused, what should i check next.. now that i bought the car im broke so anything that wont require a boatload of cash is best..thanks guys pm me with ideas or suggestions.. i appreciate it

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

oh and i have already checked my CEL and the only codes it showed were 0401 (intake air temp sensor) not sure how to fix that lol or if that will keep me from starting

kymera_gr7

i doubt the intake temp sensor would cause a no-start. maybe hard running but not a failure to start. i would go about checking your alternator, electrical connections, and starter.

midnitefx

Have an issue that i noticed the other day. Car runs great, starts fine and is otherwise healthy.

usually under agressive/WOT pulls in any gear really, the car will hit around 3200rpms and have a pretty noticeable loss of power/hesitation up to about 5200 rpms where it comes back to life and pulls hard. At first i thought it was clutch slip, but thats certainly not the case as the clutch is infact grabbing quite well, even had a member on here take it for a test drive to confirm.

Im not sure what the heck it is, but i did a search and pulled up a maxima.org thread where someone had a similar issue but he just unplugged his TPS and plugged it back in and it worked...while i havnt tried this yet i just wana see if anyone else out there has had this issue and has an answer

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

What year Max do you have? How many miles on the coilpacks?
Sounds like coilpacks to me based on the info you've provided.

Shift_A32B

iTrader: (14)

Okay, so I barely bought a 97' Max GLE (193k miles). The car runs fine but there are a few minor problems. First of all I have the 'Check Engine' light. What should I do about this? Second, every time I brake to a stop (red light), my car vibrates a little (I noticed that the needle goes below 1000rpm) so I was wondering if that is normal. (Spark plugs were replaced but it still vibrates, and I don't stop violently, My Max turned off twice on me out of nowhere.) (By the way, when I shift my trans to Drive, rpm was not at 1000, and that was fixed, after a while rpm went back where it was...below 1000rpm.)

My engine is all stock and soon I will be getting a job. I am planning to upgrade my engine, etc. What should I start with?

I am new to cars so bare with me =D
Thank you.

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

i have already checked my alternator besides it wouldnt keep it from starting with a good battery on there and my starter is working fine i even had it check at auto zone and it tested fine, which electrical connections should i check.. i still have all my interior electronics working fine(climate control, PW,PL,Power sunroof, horn, lights everything i can think of) any other suggestions?

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

well i got to tinkering with it this morning and decided to rule out spark, fuel, or power.. i unplugged all the coil packs and tried to start it and it just cranked over and over just like before.. so today im going to take the coil packs off and test the plugs one by one. then when i find out if the plugs arent fouled out then im gonna start trying to find out which coil pack is bad.. how would i go about doing that and where can i find a decent price for a set of coil packs??

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

ok so i checked the plugs and theyre ok a little run but more then less still pretty decent.. and i can smell gas on the tip of the plugs..so im pretty sure i have fuel(can also hear the pump prime) how do i check the coils without a ohmeter or however its called ??

kymera_gr7

i wouldnt trust autozone or advance auto parts (save for one guy i know at autozone) to test anything. my alternator was grinding and screaming, the warning lights came on, so i took it out and over there to get my core charge knocked off the new one. they insisted on testing it and said it was fine. now, believe it or not a faulty alternator can cause a bad start. if you have a fried/broken wire somewhere thats grounding itself out that'll keep you from getting a decent start.

trust me, i know it cost money, but you're going to wanna replace your starter unless the thing is already brand new. car problems are like medicine, its step by step tinkering and testing with one thing after another to come to the conclusion of what the problem truly is.

testing your coilpacks with a multimeter or ohm-meter will not guarentee that they are working or not, it will only give you defined results to which are NOT working. just cuz the packs tested properly doesnt mean they are working, remember that. if they DO fail you know for sure they're shot. but generally, you wanna check the resistance between pins 1 and two (left and center) on your packs. I forgot what the resistances are suppose to be but if you search the forums you can find out.

here, I got a set of aftermarket hanshin's for a lil over 200 bucks off amazon. here's the link.

http://www.amazon.com/Nissan-Infinit...1304219&sr=8-1


moving on now. so you have fuel getting into your engine, thats good. spend the $3 per plug on NGK platinum/iridium. I use the NGK G-power platinums. a lil fancy and over-rated but made some major improvements in my cars performance. now, lets assume you may be getting some junk or fuel problems, maybe some varnish in your engine. go with the hotter plug, when you ask for the G-power plat/irid, tell them you want the 6k heat range (the hottest of the plugs available). this will ensure you're getting decent combustion.

let me know what happens.



EDIT: i completely spaced and over-looked the fact that the guy claims the car has a bad ECU. assuming the problem isnt in the engine, i'd say it probably is the ECU. LOL!

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

yeah the ngk iridium plugs are whats in it, if the ecu was bad would the self diagnosis thing work.. or wouldnt it just not work? the guy at oreillys told me the coil packs they have are 79.99 for the front and 69.99 for the rear A PIECE!!! if i bought them from them i would pay more for the coil packs then the entire car.. LOL i think ima going to start with the ecu this payday and put it in and see if that starts it.. if not then i know its NOT the problem and i have a extra ecu(there will be a sell off for parts after i get it running maybe a lil trading for a center console)lol thats a pretty good price for those coil packs.. i was going to just try to have my wife get in and try to start it and have me arch each individual pack one at a time to see if it works if all of them are gone imma take a look at replacing them prolly one at a time once it fixes it.. ill just stop buying them lol and when i do the ecu swap ill take a bunch of pictures and do a DIY for swapping them out

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

i have the thought of maybe just getting another engine(a good running one) and robbing parts off it till i either get this one running or i decide to just swap out the good one for the bad one.. any thoughts? and OT but is there a difference in the 95-96 front fenders and the 97-99 fenders? size wise..

MaximaStudent

My husband and I were given his parents' 1995 maxima because their mechanic told them it had a busted head gasket, they didn't want to mess with it, and we have pretty good luck reviving cars.

1. We used Steel Seal, it stopped the coolant leak/coolant coming through the exhaust.

2. Car still was overheating, so we noticed there were bubbles when we pressed on the radiator cap. We replaced the radiator cap.

3. Now the temperature gauge is spiking at idle at stop lights. It goes back down to just under the middle of the gauge as soon as we accelerate.

Does this sound like a radiator fan motor problem now? We checked the fan fuses, they are fine. I've googled this for hours but I can't get a good picture in my head about how to test the motor. I hook the battery up to the motor, what does that mean? Can someone give me a dummy guide to what to do next?

Thanks for your help, we've gotten it this far. The car rides so smooth, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, we know it just needs one more fix.

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

You need to replace your head gaskets...as its obvious and the mechanic said it himself. Since you have been driving it still, you may have cost yourself more damage. Valves may be bent now in which case, you would need an engine swap. If you cannot replace the head gaskets yourself, just swap the engine as the cost to do the heads will be the same or if not more than an engine swap.

midnitefx

sorry, its a 96 and according to the cluster and to my knowledge it hasnt been swapped i have just over 125k

blackmaxtn

I have 99 max gle i put a cold air intake on it and the check engine light came on i went to autozone to get it checked it was the knock sensor and o2 sensor i changed the knock sensor already any suggestions on o2 sensor? Do i need go get my ecu flashed sense i put cold air intake on my car? i plan on getting a y-pipe and exhaust this month do i need to get my ecu flashed for these upgrades?

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

You do not need any ECU flashing. If you have a code for the O2 sensor, it must mean the ECU is not getting the reading its suppose to get from that sensor. The cold air intake will not just trigger the O2 sensor. get it replaced.

kymera_gr7

beatdown:

swap your ECU. let me know what happens.

xI3obMar1eyx

Hi ive been searching around these forums for about a year but have yet made any real posts. Well i just recently about a week ago pickd up my 3rd 4th generation maxima any i need some suggestions. Well i bought the car about an hour away from my house and drove it home with no problems really except that the rear passenger side shock needed a bushing . Well a few days later my brother fixed the bushing for me but left my doors open while doing so which seemed to kill the battery. I jumped it after and everything seemed to be fine. Well a day later i came out to my car and went to start it up and nothing. My brother seemed to think it was the ignition switch so i pulled off the covers around the wheel and replaced it and it cranked everytime with no problem. The thing is is that once we got it in i had to jump it again because it appeared that the battery was dead. After as soon as i took it for a test drive i noticed that my gauge cluster wasnt working and it was running for a while but losing power. My dashboard lights would dim it would die out after a while of driving and not start again which believed me to think it was an alternator problem. A friend mentioned that it might be a problem with the fuse and that it wasnt able to get power from the alternator back to the battery with the fuse blown. Basically it was only running off the charge that was given to the battery meaning it was only running for a few minutes and then would dim out and die again. So today i decided to check my fuse for the gauge cluster. I found out it was blown but it appears theres a short somewhere in the electrical system, and everytime i went to put a new fuse in it would blow. I tried the old ignition switch with the same problem and thought maybe it was the wiring from the aftermarket head unit the previous owner had put in. So i disconected the all the wires connected in the center dashboard (radio, air, hazards, cigarette lighter etc.) and still i get the same problem. Does anyone have any ideas about which wires i should check and would it make sense that my alternator would not charge the battery with this fuse blowing like this everytime or is it just a coincidence. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

kymera:

i plan on checking each coil to see if im getting spark at start up and as long as i get spark at every coil thats the next move is to swap the ecu i can get one for 108.00 shipped to my door.. so sometime between now and friday i plan on checking those out..

jholley

iTrader: (13)

To check the fans turn on the AC. They will both go into low speed with the AC on. To check the fan motors directly loosen the fan motor connector and apply 12V. The fans will only go into high speed when the coolant reaches a certain temp.
If neither of the fans work then check those relays located in front of the battery. FAN1 operates both fan motors at low speed. FAN2 operates fan motor 1 at high speed, while FAN3 operates fan motor 2 at high speed.
Also do a search within this 4th Generation Maxima forum. These fan motors have been dicusssed over the last few weeks.

FreeMax

Well I'm a newb so here it goes. First of all this is my first Maxima and the information on this site is great. I have a power steering leak that is causing a very big mess. It is at this point a slow leak but I want to stop it before it gets worse. I have to clean the area as I really can't tell the source at this point. It appears however to be coming from the pump area or connecting hoses. I searched the how-to's etc and didn't find anything. I was just wondering if this was a common problem, as some of the other leaks seem to be, and if so any suggestions where to start. Thanks in advance.

Mike

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

It was a common problem for the 95 -96 years that the clamps were not tightened enough causing the leak. Go under the car and tighten the clamps some and wash off the area then monitor to see if it still leaks.

kymera_gr7

keep me informed. oh yeah wear some gloves or something while your doing that. your likely to get zapped LMAO

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

well i checked each coil tonight and not one gave any kind of spark and i cant find any info on where to test them with a multimeter to see if they are completely dead or even what ohm they should be at and i have a FSM downloaded to my computer and still cant find it.. but luckily didnt get zapped and i just started hearing a "ting" sound when i crank it over tonight after i cleaned the TB,MAF, CKPS, and CPS it actually tried to crank over a lil more then it did but now it tings..im just praying that i dont have a bent valve bc i REALLLLY dont want to rip the top half of the motor apart..

Sicarius_Vis

iTrader: (2)

My 99 Max has a bad jerking/bucking problem. I have tried to diagnose it myself, but I am at a loss as to what's causing it. It is more pronounced after the car has been sitting for a long period of time (overnight). It happens the worst in 1st gear, 2nd isn't too bad, 3rd usually doesn't happen, 4th & 5th doesn't happen. It usually happens from 900 to 2500 RPM. It bucks really hard unless I floor it to get rid of it. The problem goes away after the car reaches it's normal operating temp. No CEL's at all. None stored in the ECU either. Also, I have a slight decrease in gas mileage.

As far as trying to diagnose this problem, after reading the forums, I went to the coil packs first, since those are prone to fail in the 99's. I swapped all 6 of my coils with my gf's Max, but still had the same problem. I changed the knock sensor, checked the MAF with a VM, all injectors with a VM, both were within normal specs. I checked the spark plugs, which looked fine.

My car might have a short in the wiring. My dash cluster goes haywire sometimes (gauges flicker and read incorectly, but only once and a while). But I don't know if this could be related to my problem. I'm leaning towards the problem being either a clogged injector or some kind of wiring problem. Any useful help would be greatly appreciated!