Threxx

My 95 Maxima SE 5-speed is having a pretty bad hesitation problem and it's driving me nuts! It's kind of similar to the jerky feeling you get from sloppy clutching, but it happens when I'm not even messing with gears.

It's almost completely limited to acceleration under 2k rpms, but sometimes it will show up even a little after that. If I floor the car, it doesn't really hesitate, it might a little, but not noticably. It only happens when I am going easy on it, anywhere from 10% to 50% throttle. It's much more noticable in 2nd and 3rd gear than any other, but that's probably because first gear revs up so quick and 4th and 5th gear are so tall that you can't feel the hesitation as much.

Also, I drive three main trips every day, each one lasting 30min to an hour and ranging from 15 to 40 miles. And it seems like the longer I drive the worse the hesitation gets. Like after the 30 mile drive it is just acting up like crazy. But it may just be that after an hour of the hesitation it is about to drive me bannannas so I notice it even more.

I took it to the mechanic and he said he didn't feel a hesitation. But all he did was romp on it, and it doesn't hesitate at high rpm or full throttle. So he wasn't much help.

I've already ran fuel system cleaner through it 3 times, changed the plugs (NGK), and cleaned the throttle body. I only run amoco ultimate 93 octane. I don't know what else to do?

My dad rode with me and he says he thinks it's normal and that I am just bogging the engine down by trying to make it accelerate starting under 2k rpms. But I told him this is a pretty powerful V6 motor with very nice torque and heralded by many reviewers and the smoothest motor around. And seeing as how my friends 4-cyl 5-speed 92 Honda civic CRX doesnt hesitate when accelerating from low rpm, I didn't think a maxima should either.

The only other clue I have on this witch hunt is that when I first bought the car (3-4 months ago), it had a "Service Engine Soon" light on. The guy that I bought it from said he had it checked and they said it was from a bad O2 sensor and some other sensor had gone bad too, but I can't remember.

The weird thing is that the light went away on its own after I had been driving for a few weeks. I know the bulb didn't burn out or anything because it still comes on when I first turn the key to the accesory position- like on most cars. But it just disappeared. Could it still be throwing a code but just deciding to leave the light off now, or what? Would a bad 02 sensor cause the problem described?

Well, any help would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to solve this problem unsuccesfully for over 3 months with no luck.

Thanks so much!
-Kyle

Mike S.

Shot in dark.

Coil packs. Your vq v6 has 6 coils....one on top of each spark plug. When a coil goes bad(from exp with a pos 86 olds) the coil may stop functioning when it gets hot. The car may run fine for a while....but when the coil would get hot enough it would not restat(the sitting car would heat soak the coil.....then trying to start it would not work). I think one of your coils is going bad. As it gets hotter through your trip...maybe it starts acting up.

I'd also bring it to a Nissan Dealer....go for a drive WITH them. For like 30bucks they will tell you EXACTLY what it is....."local" mechanics don't really understand a VQ engine....thats my theory!

Toolrocks

iTrader: (1)

This may seem dumb, but I had a similar problem with my 95 that I easily fixed by adjusting the throttle cable. It had never been done in 120k miles. It really made my car responsive and I properly adjusted it so my idle rpm's are the same as before - around 700 flat. I hope something this simple is your problem. Also, I don't remember the thread name (it's at the top of the forum list) but do a search on ecu or engine codes. There you will find out how to retrieve engine codes and fixes. Good luck.
Here's the link to the thread http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=45274

Bags

iTrader: (3)

maybe your throttle cable is sticking? or not adjusted properly

maybe your fuel filter

the check engine light..do a search on that.. it will tell you how to reset it. i know it's not on but mabye reseting it will help or make it come back on

thats what i got for ideas

Threxx

OK guys, I am deperate here. Can somebody give me a link to somewhere that describes how to change coil packs and a link that describes how to adjust the throttle cable? Is there a test I can do to see if either of those things are the problem or do I just replace/fix them and see if it goes away?

Thanks,
Kyle

Toolrocks

iTrader: (1)

Go to Trak Auto, or equivelant, and get the Haynes manual for your car. It is an indespensable tool. It tells you how to do both, with illustrations. Other than that - I don't know of any threads. Good luck. Oh btw, you'll need a multimeter to check your coils.

Stillen_I30

I've come across a whole bunch of posts on here, some by DBM about how a bad or tired O2 sensor will definately cause sluggish driving, poor fuel economy, etc. How many miles do you get to a full tank of gas? It could also be a fuel filter, and I would think any local mechanic can change that out for you (just go buy it yourself for 15 bucks) or you can do it yourself. the instructions are in hte stickies i believe.

BRIGBOY

It might not be a bad time to clean your throttle body too, the plate could be sticking.

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

yes i am suprised you are the only one that has said this.. numerous people have complained about rough idle and stuff like that.. and have fixed it with cleaning the throttle body.. i would say this should be your first start to your solution

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

I don't think it's your coil packs. If one were to misfire it would set the check engine light immediately. Don't waste your time looking at them.

First off, are you really feeling a "hesitation"? Or is it the low RPM torque that really isn't there is what your refering to.

Does your car "buck" or is it fairly smooth when just giving it the gas and driving normally.

Our engines start to really make power up around 2500 RPM's and over. Thats when you really feel it pull. So is what your feeling the low RPM lack of extream pull which comes on after 2000 RPM's? If thats what your feeling, it's normal. If it's not smooth, as in jerky, one other thing to take a look at is your TPS sensor. (throttle position) Another is the MAF sensor.

Reset your ECU to make sure you have no codes in there and drive it around for a week. See if your check eng. light comes on, even if it doesn't, check for a code that may get stored but didn't set the light.

Also, do check that throttle cable for proper adjustment. There's a locking not on the end of the cable near the throttle body, just snug the cable up a little. That does wonders to your gas peddal feel.

sinewave

IIRC, you should still be able to pull a code from the ECU even if the check engine light is off.

The proper way to adjust the throttle cable is to loosen the lock nut and tighten the adjusting nut until the throttle plate cam just starts to move, then back it off 1-1/2 to 2 turns. DO NOT use the throttle cable as a means to adjust the idle.

Enduro

I'm having similar problem u've described. This is an intermitten problem that I have and it did set the check engine light. Turned out to be engine no. 4 misfire. I switched the coils and plugs around, reset the CEL and am waiting for it to come back. I've also in the mean time cleaned the TB and the idle air control valve. Still waiting for the CEL to come on..i'ts been couple of days already!

KCTYPHOON

sounds like a fuel problem to me.. im no mechanic, but mabye fuel filter, pump? kinked line? this may be a long shot by far, but i hade a similar problem with my old monte ss i use to race around with. what happened was i had an amp screwed down in my trunk for like a year. i changed my stereo set-up, and suddenly the problem arised. (at the time i didnt notice the coincidence). anyway, the car started bogging out like crazy. it turned out that when i moved my amp, one of the screws was actually screwed into a fuel line.(real safe). when the screw was backed out, air was getting into the line. hole was so small, and above the tank, even the mechanics couldnt figure it out. i had to drop the tank to find the problem. but my point is, stupid problems like this usually are a result of something that happend while you were doin somethin else. so, what have you done to your car lately? anything? just thought my experience might in some twisted way be a help....

Threxx

Hmmm- I've already replaced the fuel filter and cleaned the throttle body. I will try adjusting the throttle cable tommorow, and see if that works.
There is no check engine light on- could I still have a bad coil or bad O2 sensor even if the check engine light isn't on?

njmaxseltd- The car actually bucks. It's not just a lack of torque, it feels like its falling flat on it's face. Feels similar to when you shift kinda sloppy and the car is jerky for a second or two. I've driven several manual transmission cars before, some with a lot more torque, and some with less- and none of them have stumbled, they were just, at worst, slow to accelerate. Could it be the Mass Air Flow sensor even with no check engine light? When I bought the car the check engine light was on, and the mechanic said something about an air sensor, but the light went away, so I never went to get it fixed.

Thanks for the help so far everyone!

ybelm620

I had the same problem last week, only that everytime i stopped the car would die. The problem wasa dirty air filter, fuel filter, and o2 sensor needed to be changed. So check those out, hope this helps.

Threxx

But was your check engine light on?

What I'm trying to get at here is, can my 02 sensors, coils, and/or MAF sensor be causing this problem without triggering a check engine light? I already reset it and it and still no codes!

BrokenMotor

i don't think you need to change your coil paks, do you have a Y-pipe?? my car does the same thing at lower RPMs, put the stock Y-PIPE back one, that'll fix the problem.

Threxx

Nope, I haven't done any mods except a front strut tower brace- and of coarse that isn't going to cause a hesitation.