dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

I am close to 100k miles. My 2003 Maxima SE AT is driving me crazy with all this engine pinging around 2k rpm. I ALWAYS put 91 octane gas but it doesn't make any difference. At 60k miles, i replaced my spark plugs with Denso Iridium....no difference.

I researched a lot and it looks like the best thing to do is to use one level "colder" spark plugs than OEM. I am planning to put NGK PLFR6A-11. ...instead of the OEM NGK PLFR5A-11.

My question is.... Is there ANY negative side/effect of going to "colder" spark plugs (NGK PLFR6A-11)? Would this affect performance? Morning starts? Gas mileage? Engine behavior/feel? Anything else? Btw, i live and drive in Nor California....we almost never get below freezing temperatures, but we have HOT summers. (100-110 degrees)

I've replaced the spark plugs on the VQ35 before, so the actual work involved does not bug me. All i want is to stop this pinging and make sure that i am not hurting my engine in a new way. Plus...i'll check if my valve cover is leaking oil...last time i had a little oil in one of the spark plug wells.

Thank you!

P. Samson

The only downside is the possiblity that over time "normal" deposits don't get "burned" off the plug because the plug is literally cooler (more efficient heat transfer to the head). In theory if these deposits build up to a point of "bridging" the gap, then of course you lose the spark. You won't see any initial change in "performance" except that if your pinging was actually caused by preignition then this may be the fix. It's worth a try.

IloveVQ

iTrader: (1)

All motor performance is a lil affected by using colder plugs but it wont be much. Sounds like the right first step to me. Good luck
BTW are you using an oil catch can? i made one for like 15 bucks and i think it would help your problem a little. not a solution but it will certainly help. you can find the instructions in the stickys how to... I got creative with it but you can find the general idea there.

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

I'm in the same situation as you with the constant pingng and just replaced my spark plugs with 1-step colder plugs this past weekend. Unfortuanetly, while the pinging is somewhat reduced, its not gone. I've already changed the ignition coils, replaced the PCV valve, and replaced the ignitions coils. This is just to say that while replacing the plugs is a good step, it may not be complete solution. It's not for me at least.

dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

I have an oil catch can. Initially, i used the small one....the one that included the air filter from Home depot. It worked fine and it collected LOTS of oil. However, due to me driving 400-500 miles a week, the limited capacity forced me to drain the oil every weekend. This was a little too much so i got rid of it and bought a "real" oil catch can from Ebay. I knew that they are not very good so i modified it inside by adding an extension to one of the inlets and putting some steel mesh on the bottom(to hold the oil). Unfortunately, my custom Ebay oil catch can does NOT work very well. It catches very little oil. I am wondering how i can improve it...but so far, no luck. Any ideas and tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

A real catch can would need to have a coalescing oil filter in it. Companies like Wilkerson, etc make them.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

I got the same results from a catch-can I got on ebay. Ran it for 2000 miles and there was not a single drop of oil in it. I switched back to the oil/water filter from Home Depot.

dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

I may do the same thing. Btw, after continuous use and heat/oil exposure, did your "home depot catch can" get damaged?? Mine lasted for 2+ months with no problems but i was worried that it will start leaking with no warning sign. After all...this plastic air filter is rated to work at much lower temperatures. What's your experience?

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

I ditched the filter and just used the 'reservoir' as, well just that, a place to let the caught oil sit until I emptied it. Been on for over 5k, aside from how it looks, doing just fine.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

Still going strong. I've had no issues with it.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Vague post, Mileage & timeframe please.

djchinky

iTrader: (3)

are you sure it is pinging and not chain clatter? at first i thought my problem was the pinging and also got denso irridiums.. but after listening closely i think it is the chain clatter problem that comes around 2000 rpm and up..

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

If you've followed the story, then you would know, yes it is spark knock(ping).

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

Get them from www.clubplug.net

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

According to the '02 service manual, pg MA-18, the standard plug is PLFR5A-11 and the cold plug is PLFR6A-11.

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

You're right. I had a brain fart. The two step colder 7s had me confused.

dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

Maybe i should figure out how to fix the oil catch can situation first. My ebay solution is worthless. If i go to the Home Depot air filter option, it will work great...but it is too small. Draining it every weekend is not fun.....

I wonder....what is so special about the Home Depot $20 air filter that i cannot accomplish with the larger Ebay oil catch can. Any ideas will be appreciated. I am ready to modify my Ebay can again.

dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

I checked their website. Lots of products and i am not sure which one i can use. They are all professional grade....and not cheap. Do you have any specific suggestion?

Thank you!

brusk

iTrader: (1)

First find the cause of the pinging not try to bandaid it. A properly setup engine should not ping, this will either be cause by something internal on the engine getting to hot or your running lean. Does this happen all the time, part throttle or WOT all RPM's or just higher. Heres some thoughts

Internal Vaccuum leak - Have you replaced your intake manifold gasket of checked to see if it's leaking. You could be getting more air than what your maf/pcm knows about causing a lean condition.
Fuel Pump/line flow problem - is it WOT or when though.
Dirty Injectors - poor flow and bad spray can cause lean.run a but load of cleaner through the system to make sure you don't have some weird carbon build up that is causing problems. Havn't heard of that one though in years. Shouldn't be anything spark related like weak coils or you would get a mis code and an SES light.

The car has a knock sensor so this should last but a few minutes.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

Sorry about that, TLI in this case.

I used one for 10k miles before switching to the ebay catch can. I switch back for the last 15k miles. I'm at 65k, so this would be about 1 year timeframe.

MaxBoost925

iTrader: (33)

It's really not that difficult.

1) Go to a dealer, use Consult II to make timing lowest setting.
2) Get your 1 or 2 step colder NGK plugs.

...and viola, no more pinging, but less power.

dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

1. Car had this pinging problem since i bought it. (22k miles)
2. This is a common issue on 3.5L Maxima. I am not the only one here who has it. This is why people came up with "solutions" such as the oil catch can and colder spark plugs. Btw, NISSAN knows about this problem but they have not provided a fix.
3. The pinging is there only when doing around 2k rpm.....not there at higher or lower rpm.
4. I clean my fuel system regularly....i use BG44K and Techtron.
5. I have not replaced the intake manifold gasket ... no one ever suggested this, plus i've had this issue since the car was almost new...i doubt the gasket was bad with only 20k miles on the engine.
6. I replace PCV regularly plus all the hoses associated with the system. (did that when i replaced the spark plugs at 60k miles - did not make ANY difference)
7. I use high quality, 91 octane gas at all times.

Maybe i should replace the intake manifold gasket. It cant be that expensive or hard to do.

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

Other than the one or two step colder plugs you can reterd your base ignition timing a degree or two.

Y2K2Driver

iTrader: (1)

I'm still looking for the right one as well, but check out the link below, it has some good information.

http://www.conceptualpolymer.com/PCV...oval%20101.pdf

brusk

iTrader: (1)

That sucks unfortunately I'm new to the Nissans so this is a first I've ever heard of a known issue like that. No if it did it at 20K miles on the engine i wouldn't even worry about the gasket. Just very surprising to hear that a company like Nissan wouldn't come up with a solution for this. Unfortunately I can't come up with any cheap alternative other than what you've thought of. If you can get your hands on a fuel computer for cheap you could try adding a little extra at those rpm's which will fix the problem if it's running lean or at worse case at more fuel which will be a cooling feature. Or depending how nissan has their Fuel pressure regulator you could try to trick it into seeing less vaccuum but once again I have very little experience with the (i'm assuming) returnless fuel systems any real performance we usually replace them with a returning system.

The Hulio

Has anyone found a real world fix for this problem?

I've read every message on the org related to engine pinging in the 3.5, and I'm still at a loss.

My '02 I35 w/69,000km and is totally stock pings like a **** between 1500-2000rpm, and the dealer can't fix it. The car has no stored codes, no CEL, and runs perfectly otherwise. Has great power, burns no oil, it just pings all the time. I feel like I'm driving an unmaintained taxi or something...

So far I've done the following:

Ran a 1/2 can of Seafoam through the brake booster line. Other than amusing smoke screen, no change in pinging.
Replaced coolant (didn't expect much from this, but I tried anyways).
Replaced MAF, no difference at all.
Ran fuel system cleaner through the gas tank, no difference.
Took it to the dealer, retarded timing to 13 degrees. Car had less power, but still pinged!!!
Then they updated the ECU to the latest revision, no difference.
I took the plugs out and they were very white, indicating a lean condition. I put in one heat range colder plugs. While I think this helped, it still pings.
My ignition coils are the type with the grey dot or circle on top, so they're the updated ones.
No intake leaks or vacuum leaks found.

I've read about the catch can, and it seems to produce varied results. I can't see the small amount of oil from the PCV causing this much pinging. You'd think Nissan would have accounted for this amount of oil, and designed accordingly, which is why I haven't tried this yet.

Other than putting a match to this car and breaking out the marshmellows, does anyone have any other suggestions? Would replacing the 02 sensors help, even though there are no codes?

Other things I've thought of are all bandaid repairs, most of which would cause CEL. Such as tricking the ECU to get it to dump more fuel, by way of resistors on the signal line of the 02 sensors, or the more rudementary idea of placing a golf ball or something restrictive on the inside of my MAF sensor, to restrict air that the sensor wouldn't know about, thus richening the mixture!! Putting a resistor on the coolant temp sensor to trick the ECU into thinking the coolant is colder than it is, thus richening the mixture.

So far, marshmellows and match seem like the best alternative...

Joe.

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

What brand and Octane gasoline are you using?

I suppose you've also tried higher octanes and different brands of fuel.

The Hulio

SR20,

Yes, I always run premium and have tried all the brands in my area. Shell v-power seems to be best, but of course, doesn't cure this ailment entirely...

Joe.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Maybe try what the OP did

kevin11

Give the pulse plugs a try it might just solve your problems http://www.pulstarplug.com/ they are suppose to burn fuel more efficiently than spark plugs.

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

That won't combat pre-ignition.

sascuderi

Use to have pinging on my 2000 I30 from day one. After I did the following ~4 years ago pinging went away and has never returned:

Changed gas to Mobil
New ingnition coils
Installed updated MAF
Berk intake.

Unfortunatley, did them all at same time so not sure what actually did the trick.

notched306

i have a 02 maxima and have the same problem and is driving me crazy.i will try the colder plugs and see what that does and get my injectors cleaned.

kevin11

Based on the info from the site do you think it would actually give our maxima's a performance boost though?

raelity

I had the same issue. Was worse in summer, always use 92 or 93 octane good quality gas. I also tried plugs first. Finally got fed up and went to dealer - they replaced the MAF 4 months ago. ALL PINGING GONE NOW!

I'm not saying this will always clear the problem, just that it did for me. Hate having to spend the $$, love the result!!

E55AMG2

iTrader: (4)

It's not pinging that you're experiencing. There is something loose in the exhaust system (more than likely the element in the rear pre-cat has broken loose). Colder plugs won't solve anything.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Very good point. Most people on here cannot decipher spark knock from rod knock to rattling heat shield to a rattling cat converter.

faisalx

I also have a 2000 Nissan maxima that's experiencing the same exact problem. I have had the car for nearly 3 years and have put nothing but Premium unleaded in the car except for 1 tank(my brother borrowed the car). The car constantly pings. Steep grades and moderate to hard acceleration are the worst. I do have a check engine light on. The codes report 2 bad oxygen sensors. I spoke with a couple of people who suggest a bad MAF sensor as opposed to 2 bad O2 sensors. Just ordered the MAF and am hoping that will solve the problem

raelity

Please check back in once it's done and let everyone know if the replacement MAF cures it. Oh yeah, Go Bills!

dpourfar

also same prob.not sure what to try. spark plugs first and clean m.a.f. and see what happens