wifes_maxima

Hey everyone I have the same problem, rattles/pings from detonation when using cheap low octane gas, usually when I put in higher octane gas it will clear it up. However lately it doesnt seem to matter. Im having a problem with the car where it will stumble when you step on the gas trying to take off from a start when its cold, and it stumbles whenever it reaches about 4500 RPM just feels like it has cut off. The car doesnt make any noises like its popping or backfiring its as if it were shut off untill you let off the gas a little let the engine get down to about 3800 rpm and will take off. It acts like it has a rev limiter on it. The car is bone stock has about 96K miles on it in the past few months I got a check engine light, and got a p0133 if I remember right and another what ever the code #s were they referred to the #1 O2 sensor on both banks reading slow. I was messing around the other day and put the car in 1st gear and would accelerate part throttle and would be able to get as high as 5200 rpm but if I applied anymore throttel then it would start to cut out again.

BewstAdd1ct posted "you need something that can check the fuel trims." does anyone have a chart on this, I have an auto-x-ray where I can monitor the real time events.

Thanks in advance everyone

spastic

In my '02 I did the oil catch can mod. It didn't eliminate the ping but it lowered the occurrence and intensity of it to the point where it really doesn't bother me any longer. If you do happen to go this route get some good hoses. I tried that braided clear PVC hose that everyone has in their pics for the mod. It would always collapse on me. I went with black fuel line hose. Works great. Good luck.

GBAUER

iTrader: (2)

If you get your engine flushed (BG flush for instance), it should take the rattle down some. The rattle has nothing to do with fuel trims or anything of that sort. It is actually the timing chain rattling in the housing. The oil drain holes that allow the oil to enter the casing where the chain is are kinda small and get clogged up with gunk over time. Flushing the engine cleans these holes and allows oil to freely flow into and out of the casing. The other cause of the rattle is a low oil level. If that's the case, welcome to the world of oil burn in the 3.5. Just keep the oil level up and the engine clean and the rattle should go away.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

Mine had nothing to do with the chain or low oil level.

csmoot

Got a response from Nissan USA and told me there's no known problems with 3.5 engines knocking and pinging w/ supreme gas. I guess not a lot of people complained enough about this. The rep advised me to go to another dealership to have them look at it. Basically useless info from Nissan..... What a surprise!!!!!

GBAUER

iTrader: (2)

Different sound. The rattle is the chain, a muffled pound is the timing / octane level.

MadMaxNH

iTrader: (1)

How sketchy is the engine flush? Dealer service or the knuckleheads at Valvoline? I definitely have more of a rattle than a thump. I took it down from 17 to 16 becuase I thought that was the cause. I would be interested in a link to the PCV bypass catch basin hooyah too.

BewstAdd1ct

id take it ot the dealer if youre going to have it done. i dont like engine flushes, however...

fornimage

I have an 02 Max with some pinging on heavy loads between ~2,500-~3,000 rpm but it's not that bad that it would cause damage to the internals. It's very light pinging and you really have to listen for it. All I have is an CAI and nitrous and the rest is stock. If you're car is stock running within factory spec.(i.e. timing, premium gas...) and it's still pinging then I would suggest trying to go with a step colder spark plug.

I recently changed mine to one step colder iridiums(NGK--->LFR6AIX) for nitrous use and the pinging is not there anymore. This may or may not help you but it is logical to reduce pinging since pinging is partially due to higher than norm. cylinder temps.

The stock platinum plugs(~56k miles) that I took out looked fine except for one or two of them that had very very little amounts of metal missing from the ground strap. I expected this since the stock plats. weren't made for nitrous use. Hope this helps.

GBAUER

iTrader: (2)

I'd just make sure that you got it flushed at a quality place. Not Jiffy-smooth. I use nothing but synthetic in my car. If you open the oil cap, you can see the inside is spotless, yet I still had the clogged drain holes. Engine flush is an OK thing to do. It's seriously hard to screw up.

MaxBoost925

iTrader: (33)

I had some knocking and pinging using 87 gas. I mixed it up with 91 octane and it went away. So it's ok.

GreyGoose

the MAF could be bad but it would not throw a CEL

ABS

Here are a few ideas if you haven't tried them yet:

1. Have a Nissan tech check the operation of your knock sensor or just go ahead and replace it to be sure it's working. A faulty knock sensor will not throw any codes.

2. Recalibrate/reset your ECM idle speed and timing adjustment. I think there is a link to the process in the FAQ section of the forum.

3. Replace your PVC valve every 30k and do it now if you haven't replaced it in some time.

4. Stick to a high octane name brand fuel for a few tanks.

5. Clean your MAF with some alcohol.

6. Revert back to your stock intake (more restrictive) than your aftermarket intake as this could help richen the air/fuel ratio.

7. Make sure you have the TSB for new ECM code and new MAF applied.

My 2K2 had pinging when it had low miles but that problem disappeared with the hesitation TSB (#7 above).

Please keep us posted.

Andrew

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

Why is that, when all the other sensors can and will?

DaBoxSE

iTrader: (5)

This knocking and pinging you are all describing, is it loud? I'm trying to find a way to describe the noise BOTH my girlfriends car and my car are having. She has a 2k max auto and I have a 2k2 max 6spd. Her makes sort of a crackle/pinging sound when it is under load. Low RPMs (2k - 3k) especially when slowly accelerating up an incline. Mine has the same sound but not as often or as loud as hers. She filled her tank with the cheap stuff to try and save some money and her SES light came on and it lost a lot of power. She refilled it with plus and the light went off and the it drove fine again. But the sound is still there. I did the same thing with my car also. I went from religiously using Super to trying Plus for one tank and the same sound started in my car. But like I said, its usually when it is even slightly under load especially on hills or inclines. Is this something that I should be very worried about? Should I check my PCV valve? I dont understand how the MAF would have anything to do with a pinging noise... I'm surprised that I'm having the same issue with both the VQ30DE and VQ35.

BewstAdd1ct

anything that can cause a lean condition has the ablilty to cause a ping as well.

because the sensor can give an incorrect reading but still be within the threshold. if its not bad enough to throw the trims OOR, you get no CEL...