I’ve got a 96gle with only the bank 2 coils firing,bank one firewall side has no spark.i checked voltage and the voltage is correct coming from the ecu
except that it’s a- voltage (neg).the only code I get is for the cam position sensor. Replaced ecu.,with new one same problem.any ideas??the negative voltage on bank one is the same as bank two except bank two is positive voltage. All good coils new plugs 15$ each. Sheesh!
yep I’m new to the maxima club,any input is great thanks

 

There are several ground wires bolted on to the radiator side of the engine at the bottom of the valve cover. Perhaps some corrosion at the grounds causes your problem.

remove each ground screw. Sand the contacts on the wires. Also on the engine under where the ground wires attach.

Perhaps the positive side of the coil wires get power just fine. But the coils can't fire if the negative side isn't grounded properly. All three don't fire. They will have a common ground.

I'm not saying this will solve your problem. But it just might.

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On pin 1,3,8 signal is a neg.
on pins 2,7,9 there positive this 3 cylinders are running fin
car runs with only 3 cylinders on line wow. Going to try all grounds like you said reset grounds . Thank you

 

I didn't say to reset grounds.

There are some wires which ground to the engine near the front valve cover. There might be corrosion there which interfer with grounding. So remove the screws, sand the contacts, also the engine right below the contacts.

I really don't know what those wires do. I'm guessing that they serve as grounds for the coils and fuel injectors.

I've had strange electrical issues on various cars in the past which finally traced to corroded grounds.

Are you in an area where road salt is used?

 

Yeah I’m cleaning all grounds in the area you spoke and no I’m in so.cal
no salt here

 

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I asked because areas with road salt have the worst corrosion issues.

I'm in Portland. I found some corrosion on those contacts a couple of years ago. I was not having issues. I cleaned mine as preventative maintenance whIle I replaced my valve cover gaskets.

 

what really puzzles me is the signal wire coming from the ecu to coils 1,3,5
is a negative pulse signal.thats the puzzle could that be from a bad ground?

 

Well I fixed it thanks to your help appreciate the ground solution it ended up being bad ground going to bank 1 all 3 coil packs . Could not find the ground but spliced a new one and pigtailed the rest .turns out the the signal wire going to coils from ecu is an ac volt 0.45 to 0.55 volt AC
RUNNING STRONG WITH 210G miles on it yep my project now thanks for the help portland

 

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I really didn't know the exact answer. I just used logic. The front bank would get three separate impulses to fire the coil's from the ecu. They would probably use a common ground. All three were not firing. So the common ground was most likely the issue. The ground wires near the front valve cover were the most likely suspects. Seems that you created a new ground point.

Thanks for letting us know how things worked out.
Your experience might help someone someday.

 

I'm a senior citizen.

I've been working on cars since I was a teenager.
The old 1960s and 1970s,cars dI'd not have computers or check engine lights.

We learned about general theory of operation.
In other words, how and why cars worked. Or why they didnt. We also learned about various experiments to figure out what's probably wrong.

 

All the positive wires are connected in series each other as well as the negative to each other on each Bank and the signal wires are independent to each cylinder! The main connector that feeds the coils are located: Bank 1 just rear or the timing chain cover on the passenger side and for bank 2 the driver side of the front valve cover. This is where you could have started with your troubleshooting. Checking for power on the chassis side and checking the grounds on the engine sub-harness! Check all the grounds to each cylinder and to the ground source and look for any high resistance. You found it already and this is just to help you trouble shoot it thru a mental schematic....Good find
JvG: I'm not a senior citizen yet about 11 more years but you're right theory is part of the basics and these young guys really need to just study the wiring diagram for these cars, it's relatively simple...I'd take these cars all day over a carb and points! But those cars were simple as hell and today's can be a little tricky but today's cars are way more reliable, efficient, handle and brake better! These computerized cars can eat your lunch if you don't have the proper skillset!

 

CMax....

Im used to the simple cars of old.

I've grown used to the Maxima over the years.
I know some of the wiring diagrams. Probably not as much as yourself. Or some other members.
Chances are that younger members have more exposure to electronics.

I'd probably feel lost if I bought a late model car.

 

Correction electronic games and toys.....Not sure on the troubleshooting skills....Orgers start posting threads b4 they even look at their problems...lol. Look, inspect, and do a few test and most will learn something. But reading your cars owner's manual and a service manual would sharpen most peoples knowledge to say the least.

 

My last response to this thread guys. I know old cars to distributors points and carbs , backyard easy .,
Now this taught me the difference between a bad ground, no ground, and a good ground, with a multimeter I finally zeroed in on it . My first round check on my 3 wires checked good (with a 12v setting) but when I checked
the resistance I had over 500 ohm resistance on the ground wire bam problem solved.now it’s closer to .006
now to the rest of this project.

 

Which other projects will you be doing on your car this summer?

 

My a/t on my 4gen 3.0 idles at 1500 to 2000 after warm up
starting cold it’s at 1000.when I drop it into gear it idles at around 1200..
I think my trannys about explode if I don’t solve this .i tried the idle screws with no luck no difference.top and bottom screws . I put back into original positions.no vacuum leaks . Unplugged tps slight drop in rpm for 2seconds then back to 2000 rpms .and when I check timing , how do I recent it with no distributors??

 

Perhaps the throttle and cruise control cables need adjustment. They would hold the throttle plate open, thus allowing too much air into the engine.

Adjust both of them so that you can press down slighty on them with your finger before the throttle starts to move.

This 's similar to a throttle cable adjustment on older cars with carbs.

Timing is not adjustable.

Are there any codes?

 

Codes come up as”0115 temp sensor
0105 absolute air pressure
0446 evap vent circuit
0125 closed loop coolant control””
ill check cables in the morning.

 

I suspect that the temperature sensor or it connector is defective.

It is probably telling your ecu that the engine is very, very cold. The ecu would respond by increasing idle speed condiderably.

 

That checks out cause my fans will only turn on cause I unplugged that sensor.
Ill find out if a relay is out then see what happens thank you.

 

That sounds like IAVC or vacuum leak to me

 

Agreed.

She said no vacuum leaks though.

So I thought the next logical thing.

 

Sounds like the rear harness isn't plugged in all the way! Check this!
1. Does each coil pack connector pin#1 have 12 volts ( ignition On)?
2. Does each coil pack connector pin #2 have a good ground source?
3. Does each coil pack connector pin #3 during start mode, measure approx. 200 millivolts (.2 volts) (ECU trigger)...

 

Thanks for coming back to tell us your issue was fixed. some ask, get an answer and the world never knows if the proposed solution worked or not.