After living with the well known hesitation problem for 17 months, I thought Nissan was nice to offer a fix. Since I had an early production 2002 I had the ECU flashed and a new MAS installed. To my great satisfaction the hesitation disappeared. Along with it went my horsepower, the ability to idle after stopping for a traffic light, and the last hope of Nissan ever selling me another car. As far as I am concerned, my car has never lived up to the name and never will.

 

I'm confused---what's the problem now?

 

He said..

 

I KNOW what he said, but what exactly happened to his HP, and what's this idling at a stop light. I'm just curious about the specifics.

You're trying to tell me you see EXACTLY what's wrong now?

 

Thank you. Seriously, it feels like a neon. It's like someone took 100 horsepower away. Slower than my '98 thats for sure. Pulls strong from 2k to 3k, but that's it. Can't even light 'em up anymore. I have no idea why it now stalls out when coming to a stop. I watched the tach drop from 2000 rpm to 0 in a flash. Kind of annoying. The temporary solution is to heel-and-toe. Should be an interesting stop at the dealer tomorrow.

 

Could it be a faulty MAF that they installed?

 

Very highly unlikely since they swapped out the maf.. But if they messed around with yuor ECU then you may have loss hp through there. I was talking to another org member today and he went in for the same tsb. Afterwards he said he felt as though the car loss hp. His car doesn't pull like it did before. And I believe he dyno'd @ 202fwhp non sae.. So sae corrected would probably be 190fwhp. That's a big loss for a stock 2k2.

 

I hope it is a faulty MAS. That should be a simple repair. If not, the update must have gone wrong. The tech must not have taken it out for a ride.

 

The service manager told me the update did not go well the first time. The computer did not want to take it, and it totally disabled the car. The second flash worked, and the car started. The stalling problem occurred becase the tech did not tighten up the flex joint on the intake. Air was getting in after the sensor. A quick turn of a screwdriver and the hesitation is gone, power is back, life is better.

 

Sounds like a line of BS to me. Either a flash is successful or it isn't. When a flash fails, it will render a computer completely unusable. In general, when a ROM flash fails on a computer the ROM chip has to be physically removed from that computer and then flashed by hand in an external and highly specialized machine prior to being re-installed in the original computer!

I do believe the part about the loose MAF connection and that causing the car to stall out.

Which dealer was it and where are you located?

 

Wilde Nissan in Waukesha WI. There was a rubber ring missing between a joint on the intake that was causing the stalling. An apprentice tech forgot it. Once again, air being sucked in after the sensor tends to render the sensor useless. Oh well.

As far as the update, the 2 techs and the service manager told me the first flash failed. The second attempt worked after a call to Nissan Tech. That call is another story which I currently reserve judgement on.

 

Not neccesarily true. In my work, we have to flash our test PDAs and smart phone devices. I've had flashing fail due to connection timing out, flashing wrong ROM iamge, aborting the flashing app, or other probs. Our devices have bootloaders and as long as those aren't screwed, we can usually flash again w/o any probs.

If the bootloader gets screwed, then many times, you are screwed and have to get the flash chip replaced or send the device back to the manufacturer.

 

2002boy

so is your car better? i will be getting this update next week...now i am scared that i will mess it up... **** they can never get **** right....

playero,

 

bump

 

I had something similar to my 2000. Just didnt have the stalling. I thought maybe it was the mass air flow sensor or some fuel delivery issue but the dealler assured me it was the tranny. They told me it was under warranty so i really didnt care. Low and behold it was the tranny. Got my car back on the 9th and it runs like a son of ***** now. Dont know what control system or other could have effected the performance but i couldnt lightem up either before o brought the car is. Between 2-3 grand it pulled well and over 4 it felt like someone slowed the car down. It was horibble. But in the end the tranny was the prob. Good luck with that. Have them check the TCM too...Nissan screwed up with some of them.
-Jared

 

so is it worth it for me to even try and have them update my ecu? i don't want a flash from hell too...

 

What size rims do you have? My 2000 has the stock 17in wheels and been told that is part of the reason why my car doesn't lay good rubber. After having my a$$ handed to me by an integra one afternoon, I was kinda po'ed, I went to light it up at the next light and it made the weakest burn out I've ever done compared to my previous cars (94 grand prix, 89 sonata, I know I know but the sonata was my first car). I brought the car used so I really don't know what kind power I should expect from it. Right now the power on this car is a disappointment. I had the tranny tsb done when I first brought the car because of the hard shifting.

 

The car has been running fine for a week now. The hesitation is gone and maybe, just maybe a little more power in the midrange. The stalling was the missing gasket.

I am very happy the hesitation is gone, so the update was worth all the trouble. It didn't cost me a cent, and the dealer will be kissing my butt for the next year.

 

2002boy:
Since your fix did require a new MAF, if you could post the build date on your car it would give us that have not done it yet, an idea if our cars will need a new MAF or not. THANKS

 

It was built in Oct of 2001. When the techs run the Consult computer on your car, they will be able to tell if you ned the MAF immediately by the "bios" version of your computer.

 

THANKS!!

 

I have a 2000 SE with 17 inch rims. Obviously the 16s will spin better. They will also give you better acceleration for the holeshot but less on let says 70-100mph. Either way you should have sh*t on an integra, I tossed one with my old Jeep Cherokee with an intake and h/p muffler. My MAF has been giving me crap too what should i do? When I scan it on the SNap On Computer it keeps giving me odd readings, the only part that sucks is that since the car is a 2000 the MAF has to be programed by a Nissan dealership. Whats this 5 year release BS. Let me know if i can help again and good luck with your Max.
-Jared