Ok...

1997 Maxima GLE 140,000

I am having an Intermittent Kicking/Surging/misfiring problem. When i am stopped for more than 10 seconds, my idle dips to about 500(Which is where i set it), and the engine Intermittently Kicks. it does NOT ALWAYS kick when i come to a stop. I feel a jolt, and the rpms drop into 450 range. It usually kicks once, then kicks 3 times fast. However, if i turn the A/C on, it is more likely to jolt and kick both more violently and more often.

THERE IS NO CEL

That is just idling. Sometimes i even have surging problems on the highway. these are most noticeable at 1500rpm in OD while going up a hill, and in the 1500-3000 rpm range.

My dad was running Bosch Platinum Plus spark plugs before i got the car....and by the time i got it, i decided to change the plugs. I (Unknowingly) Put Bosch Platinum in the car, and started to get these problems about a day or two after. It started with the idling problem, and quickly progressed to wild kicking while going down the road. I went home and put the old Platinum plus plugs in and the problem was gone. The car still felt like it wanted to kick if i stayed still for too long however.

So, a few days ago i invested in a set of NGK Laser Double Platinums. i put them in the car, and went for a drive. Horrified, i immediately got the surging/bucking/kicking again.

On a wild hunch, i took the Autozone coil out of my car (Rear #3 cylinder) that i had replaced and threw the OEM coil back in. The car immediately improved, but still kicked at idle. I swapped the Autozone coil back in again to make sure that it was the problem, and did NOT get the horrible kicking back, but it still kicked at idle.

My TPS reads ~700 closed and ~3800 WOT. I have not checked the range of the TPS with a multimeter to see if it suddenly drops to zero.

I just cleaned my IACV, TB, and EGR return tube after the problems came up.


My maxima is NOT lighting a CEL, so i am not pinpointed to a problem.

For future reference, i did have trouble pulling the far rear driver side coil when i put the Bosch platinums in (The problem arose 1-2 days later) and i yanked on it and bent a good bit before i realized i needed to remove the EGR evap module thing. I think this coil that i tugged on was actually the one that i then moved to the center socket on the rear (And swapped the OEM coil with the AZ coil)


Thanks in advance, and Sorry it is so long. I DID search for answers, but i am extremely confused on this subject.

-Thomas

 

You may want to try this, since it's free: remove and clean (with a soft cloth, I've used my shirt) your transmission-side crank sensor -- may as well clean your cam sensor while you're at it, only takes a moment or so each. If you get too many starter shavings on the crank sensor tip it can cause problems with the ignition system.

I had a problem with my car bucking HARD last year (specifically at low revs, mileage about the same, also no CEL) and that's all it turned out to be, so it's worth a shot.

 

U sure all plugs are gapped correctly?

Check plugs, coils, camshaft sensor, and injectors. Might jus wanna hit the JY for the coils.

 

I thought platinums were not supposed to be gapped. They are all about the same though... approx . 040 to .044 id say.

EDIT: I think they were all .044

Can you also please tell me where the camshaft sensor is?

And if it is the coils, i cant check them because the problem is intermittent and they all read about the same...except for that autozone coil. it always read weird readings.

the Fronts read about 1.0 to 1.1 and the rears read 1.5

 

UPDATE: I just drove the car home and i noticed that when the car accelerates-
1.It does not have the power it should
2. the RPMs will jump and
3. while slowly accelerating and already moving, the RPMS will fluctuate while accelerating. They oscillate while going up.

 

I dont think this a camsensor issue as the problem is intermitten.

Sounds like bad coils or bad injector.

The camsensor is located on the engine block Near the coolant reservior. Its a lil above the alternator

 

Sounds like a typical coil pack issue. No CEL means it's on the power side of the coil where the ECU can't see the failure.

Remove the coils, take the stalks off the actual coil packs. Inside there is a spring which seats up against a terminal in the coil pack. I bet you have some corrosion up on the contact terminal of one it not a few coil packs. Clean them up really good and reinstall them.

 

I would get those fuel injectors rebuilt.

 

I tested the resistance of my TPS also.... Closed it is 650, WOT is 3900, but at about 3500 when slowly opening the throttle, it open circuits. would this cause my problem even at a lower RPM?

 

Also, just i also just tested the Injectors... they are all acceptable in the 12 range. 11.8-12

 

As everybody else has stated, it's most likely a coil pack or spark plug.


Simple, yet not a definite solution, buy Coppers (reduces the "knock/kick/jolt" by making it to once in a blue moon, and as time and money allows, save up to buy new OEM coilpacks.


You can check out my thread on the SAME EXACT problem, and I can't tell you how much trouble shooting I had to go through to find out it was stupid spark plugs that were faulty


So, I hope that heals up your pre-mature headache

 

I found a coilpack that looked as if it was broken, and JB Welded back together... And held up for 6 years. I replaced it with an Autozone Coil Pack...i instantly got a P1320 code after i started the car up again, and the car still has a bit of hesitation with the AZ pack.

 

Somethings that were not mentioned yet. Air filter (I've seen them cause several problems, including this), and low octane gas.

 

I can have my car running, plug in the MAF, and the car dies.

 

That will always happen. The MAF is read as soon as it's plugged in and "resets" if you will. Hence the dying car. It just shows that your MAF is operational and good.

 

Thats a relief. I guess when i take the car to the dragstrip this friday i will hopefully kill the coilpack that is going out. Yes, i am going to the strip on a dying coil pack. my WS Ypipe should be shipped soon and i want to see what the car runs without it.

 

Ok, im bringing this thread back to life because the problem is still here. As of now, my car only has power when it is cold. any other time, it feels like a 4 cylinder. i still have NO codes. when i am accelerating, the car will sort of oscillate/surge slightly when getting into the higher rpm range of a lower gear. as of the stalks of the coil packs which were talked about, will those come right off without me breaking them? i do not want to break a coil pack as i am at college right now and have no other transportation.

Short list-

• No Power When warm
• Oscillation of rpms occasionally
• cannot even spin the tires
• gas mileage seems to be suffering
• engine doesnt seem to be running as smoothly as it should
• NO CHECK ENGINE CODES!!!
• 150,xxx miles
• Pissing me off.

TIA guys

 

If you haven't even checked you coils why are you bringing a thread back to life? No coils wont break taking them off. Go and check them by unplugging them while the car is running and see if your idle gets worse or nothing changes. If nothing changes then the coil is bad if it gets worse that coil is good

 

i mean the actual stalk that reaches to the spark plug. someone said corrosion could be built up in it. it is still intermittent so unplugging it wont show anything unusual happening.

 

you can simply look down it to see the spring. If its black then you can seperate it and clean it but it shouldn't cause a failure. Intermittent could be a problem with the coil clips. The wires get brittle and break but that would usually send a 1020 code or another code of the same sort. Even if the problem is intermittent the test will still show you if the coils are good or not

 

Going out on a limb here, would a Bad Knock sensor or a Catalytic converter cause any of the problems?

Say, for example... Bad coil pack kills Knock sensor or the other way around, and since i have been running 93 octane in the car(Which is possibly in retarded timing mode) Wouldnt the car be running rich? when i bypassed a bad coilpack for a while by using a 93, is it possible that an intermittent misfire still existed and is destroying my cat? When i cranked my car up the other day, my friend smelled it and said it was running rich.

TIA

 

This could be a combination of crap.