I’m back everyone! I used to post here often, until I picked up a Q45 that’s kept me pretty busy ... but I kept the Max as a backup car, and I had pretty much fixed everything and was done learning, so to speak lol.

However, I have an issue that is wrecking my brain... and I’ve already spent too much on diagnostics, and won’t be doing any more going forward. 2 independent shops and finally today the Nissan dealer. Basically they tell me the same thing the other places have said. Only reason I took to them, is because the symptoms changed from the first time I took it to independent shops. So figured I’d get a full on manufacturer’s diagnosis.

Anyhow: I have a misfire in cylinder 3. I have changed injectors, coils and plugs already. The dealer tells me my coils are bad. I told them I just changed them yesterday (aftermarket, brought and installed myself because it’s the easiest thing in the world) per recommendation from another shop which also overcharged me for a **** diagnostic that didn’t fix anything either (they kept it for 3 days and just said it’s a misfire)

Non of my other cylinders are misfiring. This issue is causing frequent stalling, and engine light blinking on highway and loads. I even changed the fuel pump earlier this year with some temporary improvement, but not long.

I have noticed the problem gets worse when I’m low on fuel. It doesn’t go away completely, but mitigates it. It never stalls or shuts off once it’s moving, only when coming to a stop or pulling from a stop. And not “every” time, but enough to induce some worry.

I feel like the issue is related to my mother having driven the car over the past couple years: she would only take it up to the store a mile away and back most of the time. So not much highway mileage or engine warming up. When I used the car regularly, I usually took it on road trips often and had no engine issues. But driving from point A to B without warming up, these issues seem to occur.

There was also an incident where the radiator blew and the temp gauge reached the H for a bit and we limped it home making sure it didn’t smoke the engine. The misfire issue seemed to have started about a month or so down the line. However there’s been no big coolant loss or overheating involved (always had a little bit of coolant loss here and there).

Last year, I had an independent mechanic go thru and basically tell me one of my cylinders was dead. The one with the misfire. However, that was before I did the injectors and coils and everything else. I didn’t doubt him, but it seemed odd to happen so randomly.

Basically just asking if it is a dead cylinder (and the Nissan mechanic today said the cylinder is firing, which of course it could be when just idling with a full tank of gas, but maybe not all other times)... what would be the next step? What would cause this? Carbon build up? Maybe pour sea foam directly into the spark plug hole?

last inspection of spark plug showed a very burnt electrode. Replaced coil and boot along with it. No improvement. But my latest drive to the city and the engine was more responsive and I experienced no complete stall issues. However check engine light and loss of power still noticeable.

I originally pushed for a change of the exhaust system (its noisy and rusty, and already had a couple sections sawed and welded up which makes it quiet for a little while, then it comes back) and EGR tube induction, but the mechanics saying that’s not the cause.

 

Have you had a compression test done?

 

Have A compression test done, a leak down also... Cylinder Contribution test also could be helpful here.. A recurring cylinder misfire needs to be diagnosed Properly. Find the Top shop in your city and pay to have those tests done.

On another note, Are you loosing oil or coolant..? How is the wire harness.?

 

Clearly this is all your Mom's fault. Never let her drive the max again. Seriously though, this should be easy to diagnosis/fix.

Assuming you are getting a P303 code, swap coilpacks 1 and 3 and see if the issue moves to cylinder 1. If the code moves, your coilpack is bad. Don't use aftermarket coilpacks, gotta use OEM.

If your coilpack is good, then it's likely the injector. A tale tell sign it's the injector is when you said, "engine light blinking on highway and loads". The FSM acknowledges this blinking as a faulty injector. Just because you replaced the injectors, don't assume they are all good. Happened to me, I replaced my injectors only to have one of the six injectors be a dud right of the box.

As the others have stated, consider doing a compression/leak down tests to confirm the cylinder is still good and you have a healthy engine. You can rent these tools from Autozone for free.

As for spark plugs, hopefully you are using NGK's, either OEM spec or coppers.

Keep us posted.

 

This is very, very ... very likely another one of those Occam’s Razor situations.

I am in full agreement with Wizard’s assessment related to a persistent failed/failing coil-pack and/or fuel injector.

I’d encourage you to start there first.

 

Thanks guys for the replies...

for the most part it only seems to be cylinder 3. I did buy cheap (new) ebay injectors, but I threw the same ones (they were even remans) into my Q45 and didn’t have any issues.

One of the shops claimed to have done a compression test and said it was good. But I need to find out what his numbers were. This is why I don’t like “dropping my car off” at these places, because I know the engine better than they do. I need to be able to look at the numbers too.

What’s odd is both the dealer and the indie shop said coils. I did the coils at the advice of the indie shop, but that didn’t help. For it to be coils again, I doubt it. Especially since it’s just the cylinder 3 that’s misfiring. The dealer tech also said the coil is firing.

I do have a pretty bad oil leak, which has also been pissing me off. Thought it was my old valve cover job, but no. I did have to re-tighten and properly bolt sequence my recently replaced oil pan gasket, but after a thorough cleaning of the under part of engine, it’s the upper oil pan area that’s dripping..and right onto the front exhaust. But I’ve just added some blue Devil to it on the latest oil change. Probably won’t help considering the gasket is liquid.

I’m running NGK G-Power platinum currently. Cylinder 3 has Denso platinum with a spectra premium coil (I changed both couple weeks ago thinking it would make the cylinder code go away).

 

Agree @ Wizard x 3

swap the coil and test!

Use OEM coils!!!!!

Any valve cover leaks around the Plugs?

 

Dead Cylinder?

Lazy version of the Easy Button.... For him anyway.

Best of luck!

It always has to be on the harder side. (1,3,5)

Maybe you can also test with a DMM that the right voltages are getting to the Injector and Coil Pack.

 

Perform a compression check! If your coils are OEM then that might be your issue!

 

I would do compression test on all the cylinders. Not just #3. The code may say it's #3 but it may not be.
It also applies to the coils as well. Change the coils in the other cylinders with one good coil (OEM) and see if that one fixes it. Just move one good coil from cylinder to cylinder and see if that fixes the issue.
Just because they say it's cyl #3 does not mean it is that one (well, it is often yes but not always).
I had a horrendous misfire for 1.5 years, finally fixed it by getting new coils for all the cylinders one at a time. Ironically, the last one was #3 and it fixed it.

 

Thanks for all the pointers. hopefully all isn’t lost, but I haven’t been able to do anything since because it’s been sitting in the shop awaiting rack and pinion. Between being in a small town where all the shops shops are short staffed, and stimulus repairs... it has been hell trying to get anything done. It’s the 2nd time in the past month that it’s spent multiple days sitting at a shop. Exactly why I do most all my maintenance work myself. The only way I can get my car serviced same day in this state, is to go to a dealer (and go broke) or do it myself. Do it myself is often just as good as the dealer, and my car agrees 😆

I have noticed some oil pooling around the top of the plug tube gasket in cylinder 3... ironically. But nothing that reached into the spark plug well. That might be a really good suggestion. I think I may just go ahead and change that valve cover gasket again just to be safe. It’s not leaking, but it’s hard to see what’s going on behind the plenum.

 

I had a similar issue; misfire in a single cylinder (also #3). I finally tracked it down using this cheap tester from Amazon: Tool Aid 23970 in-Line Spark Checker Kit for Recessed Plug.

I also didn't suspect the ignition coil since I had just changed out all the originals with Spectra Premiums 3 months earlier, but that was indeed the culprit. In fact, two went bad within 6 months, so I replaced them all again with an inexpensive set (made by ECCP) off of eBay that have been working great for the last 18 months. https://www.ebay.com/itm/262863676080

As a side note, my 95 SE (107K miles) seems to run much better with NGK copper spark plugs than with the recommended platinums. Hope you get it sorted.

 

To original poster

Does the spark plug well have oil in it.

 

Update:

So I have made some progress: the stalling issue was FINALLY fixed with a new Maf sensor assembly ($50 on line). Relieved but also highly annoyed. The stalling issue was the most perplexing and urgent, and I wasted time and money replacing parts and even taking to 3 different mechanics for diagnosis. Can’t recall how the idea came to my mind, but seeing a YouTube video about unplugging it and having the car still run (but it would die when placed into drive), seemed to have confirmed it.

The check engine blinking and cylinder 3 persists, but I’ve got a spark thread chaser to ensure no threads were gummed up. I was noticing the spark plug installed last month by a shop, was seized in the threads... and would also seize when trying to torque. I ended up replacing the spark plug all together.

I’m not getting any miss sounds, and it’s definitely running better; but I’m going to change knock sensor and try my hand at coil #3 with something better. I’m also compelled to redo the valve cover gasket and spark plug seals. The coil is dry, but there’s oil at the top of the spark tube gasket. I’ve wiped it, and it keeps coming back. So maybe when the engine is up to speed, oil is seeping past the coil. In theory. At this point, guessing is about all I can do.

Dealer seems to have suggested 6 OEM plugs, but never mentioned MAF sensor. I wasted $140+$140 doing two diagnostics last month, and still had to figure it out myself. However, I’ve not complained yet because until I can narrow for down the issue for cylinder 3 (and if it’s the 1 spectra premium plug that I installed, I’ll be darned).

 

The knock sensor code appears when there is another code. Most often that sensor is fine. It's code will go away when the other code does.

A defective knock sensor will NOT cause the problem you are having with spark plug misfire.
So save your time and money. Don't bother with the knock sensor for now.

 

Darn. Too late. Already ordered one. But that code has been around for awhile. And looks like I have the proper angled ratchet to get to it. Other sensors I’ve replaced were crankshaft and coolant temp sensors. But the MAF never really gave me a code, though I would see it occasionally when pulling the air box and scanning codes.

I’m afraid of this next fix doesn’t help: I may have a cracked piston in cylinder 3 that’s leaking oil into the spark plug tube, below the spark plug itself. I hate to hope for the worst, but I’ve googled myself endlessly to where I’m considering all options. Like I said: I’ve noticed oily soot splattered on the garage door and the front bumper of my other car... where the tailpipe is.

 

Update:

To my surprise, I re-ordered an OEM coil from Hitachi and put it into cylinder 3, replacing the aftermarket brand I had. The misfire on highway and load finally disappeared! I also ran a scan with my mobile phone OBD 2 and it passed on the misfire scale.

However, I’m keeping the 5 other aftermarket coils in as they haven’t caused any issues. My check engine has been blinking under highway speeds for over a year now, it’s a HUGE relief, and one of the posters from earlier was right, Spectra premium coils aren’t good for this one!

But also, much research has shown that Nissans don’t like certain aftermarket coils. Even though my misfire was happening with the old OEM coils anyway, it seems the OEM coils are better designed to deal with phantom misfires.

From here, I just have to ensure the plug stays clean because with the previous misfire condition, it would leave 1 of my plugs covered with soot. Not to mention, I changed out the spark plug seals (which involved removing plenum and valve cover gasket) earlier this month, just to rule out anything.

 

Didn’t you see Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles telling you?

glad you got this resolved.