97 maxima
123k miles

since i bought the car ive sometimes heard an audible pop out the exhaust when i start it but usually never while driving, but about a week ago the cel came on and showed a cyl 3 misfire.

i checked the coil it was in spec ~12ohm, i replace the bosch plugs to ngk and thought it would fix it and it drives a bit better, the code is gone but it still misfires/hesitates s occasionally while driving say 1500-2000 rpm and it sometimes idles rough when im at a stop all rear injectors in spec as well ~14 ohm. no starting problem either im betting on a bad coil but idk, its killing my gas mileage.

i notice it happens more when im low on fuel, could this be caused by a bad fuel pump? it has new fuel filter, cleaned tb recently and watnot.

 

may need to replace those coilpacks in the rear...

 

I had a fuel injector that was good when the engine was cold. The car would shake and hesitate about 20 minutes after running. And the CEL would flash.

The injector coil was 11.4 ohms when the engine is cold and opened circuit when the engine is hot.

 

I assume u have already cleaned TB and MAF.

In that case, its either plugs, coils, or injectors. dont forget to check CPS too jus as an precaution,

When was the last time u used some Chevron techron? U know that stuff work magic right

 

Problem: bucking 1/5 trips while driving (I drive mostly stop and go city miles less than 5 miles per trip). Occasional stalling when put in clutch coming to a stop or just let rpms drop. RPMs drop to around 400 (normal for my car idle is ~600) and then come back up to normal but sometimes the car stalls.


Ok this is long but here is the history:


Spring 2010
-Bought 97 SE 5spd with 195,xxx miles
-Check engine light on never messed with it cause car ran fine.


Summer 2010
-Car wouldn't start. Checked simple stuff and the fuel pump was not turning on (no noise). I pulled off seat and took off fuel pump rubber cover and moved wiring around. Tried starting car and worked fine. Had same problem and same solution a few weeks later.
-Installed HID fog lights


Fall 2010
-Car bucked then stalled while going up a hill in low rpms (1500-2000). started car again and didn't have a problem until the next time I went up same hill a few weeks later and same problem.


Nov. 2010
-Checked engine code and came up with a misfire in cylinder #3
-Used two bottles of fuel injector cleaner (cyl3 code still read)
-Replaced all spark plugs with platinum ones (they were all fouled) (cyl3 code still read)
-Battery died and was replaced free with warranty
-Checked resistance of every coil and were all about the same (cyl3 code still read)
-replaced fuel filter (cyl3 code still read)
-Alternator died and I replaced it


Dec. 2010
-Checked fuel injector resistance and all were same
-Pulled out spark plug coils to swap but cylinder three spark plug tube was filled with oil this time
-car started bucking wildly on occasion in any gear
-stopped driving car 202,xxx miles on car fyi


January 2011
-battery was dead after not driving car for 2 weeks and it tested bad and was replaced again
-replaced rear valve cover gasket, spark plug tube gaskets, and grommets.
-Cleaned EGR tube which was super carbon gunket up
-replaced vacuum hose with crack in it between left and right cylinder banks
-cleaned intake manifold carbon deposits some what
-replaced cylinder 3 coil with new ebay one after changing gaskets and removing oil from spark plug tube
-checked codes and I got 0201 which is an ignition problem but I no longer had the cylinder 3 misfire code. I read on the code forum to drive and check in a few weeks to see if another code pops up.
-car still bucking


February 2011
-replaced two front tires
-Cleaned dirty Stillen air filter (came with car) with K&N cleaner and oil.
-filter is much cleaner and car seems to run a little better but I noticed there is a super small hole in filter as well as a possible crack in the piping between the MAF and the throttle body (can't tell if it actually lets air in could this be the problem?
-Checked codes again and got 0201 which is an ignition problem code as well as 0102 which is a MAF type of code.
-Cleaned MAF sensor with MAF specific cleaner
-Drove car and immediately started bucking
-Rechecked all coil resistance and all came to be around 4.8 kohms
-Backprobed MAF, voltage readings were within spec of chilton's manual and rose linearly with increased throttle.
-202,xxx miles on car fyi


What should I do now?

 

possible crack in the piping between the MAF and the throttle body (can't tell if it actually lets air in could this be the problem?

It sure could be.
Also I just bought my Max for a song because it was missing. I found a bad block to chassis ground and the thing runs great now.