Having almost killed the last service writer I dealt with at Desert Nissan for being a total dumb@ss, I took my car to United Nissan instead. I describe my problem (severe pinging) to the service writer and within just a few moments he's got the car in the shop and to my total amazement offers a rental WITHOUT me even asking!!!!!! I about **** a brick. Nice to see that it is possible to put Nissan and customer service in the same sentence.

MAXIMADAVE: They put a new MAF in....which didn't help get rid of the pinging. So it goes back again tomorrow. Just thought I'd throw it out there since you're dealing with the same thing right now.

 

thanks for the heads up.

I've been on the phone with NNA almost on a daily basis about my problem. Kenny (NNA rep) was pretty cool about my situation and spoke directly to their tech dept, regional serv mgr and various other mgrs in my region and they all tell me its normal. Kenny also told me that 5 other Maxima owners tried to return their Maximas under arbitration because of their excessive pinging and lost . Kenny assured me that due to the fact that I called NNA (others here on the org should call NNA too if they have excessive pinging) and opened up a file about this that if anything went wrong with my motor due to continous pinging issues and my motor fails because of it, Nissan will fix it for free. I asked Kenny also to put their tech notes in writing on a letter head stating: "Pinging in the VQ35 is normal and does not cause any problems with the motor and actually helps out gas mileage". This is also stated in the owners manual if most of you didn't know.

I'm still not finished with this yet and have kept EVERYTHING documented just in case something does happen. I have checked out other Nissan forums including www.my350z.com and some Z owners are also complaining about excessive enging pinging so it's not just associated with the Maxima.....

...to be continued

 

My dealer did the same including the 2 updated TSB for hesitation. Ask the dealer to perform the latest TSB for the hesitation issue. My car screams on the freeway without any hesitation what so ever, just the pinging

keep me posted

 

theres a dealer around my area that has very very nice customer service in the service department...the guy i work with is so coo...he doesnt ask stupid questions and usually knows wut im talkin about and the poor quailty nissan did on makin our cars and he takes care of the real fsat

 

what is pinging??? and explain hesitaiton to me i ahve an auto so when i floor it there is obviously a delay but is it a case of how long the delay is or wat?

-J

 

That sucks

 

what exactly is pinging?...how does it sound and whats the cause?

 

pinging sounds like shaking a bunch of marbles up in a tin can. It can be caused by running to lean or having your timing advanced too much. It occurs when the air/fuel mix in the combustion chamber detonates before the spark is applied.

 

Thanks, I'll definetly ask for the latest one.

 

i've been runnin 87 octane recently and havent had any problems with pinging. its awful not being able to afford the good stuff (poor college student), but to my surprise I havent had any pinging, even under WOT. how did your pinging start??

 

Wow. You guys should get a dyno w/ a wideband to see if the curves are all raggity. If so, that indicates an ign problem

 

I was planning on that Jeff at the Stillen show next month. I'm curious what #'s I'm putting out.

 

I disagree that pinging doesn't cause any problems and helps gas milage. Pinging damages engines.

 

I can tell you without even doing a dyno that ignition is off. Under medium acceleration (not all the time) it feels choppy. Kinda like when you hit the limiter but very very mild( barely noticeable). BUT, try to explain that to the people at Nissan. 2003 just DOES NOT have problems with the ignition coils, even if it falls out of the car into their hands. Oh well, guess I'll just have to go through the process and prove them wrong.

 

mine isn't raggity at all. It seems alot faster and more responsive since the newly updated TSB on the hesitation. It just pings when it's hot outside.