I just got a 2002 3.5 Maxima. Everything seemed fine till today on the interstate I put the peddle all the way to the floor to pass someone and I had a big loss of power and a weird rattling noise from under then hood and the Service Engine Soon light blinking then solid then blink, etc...I went to the nearest auto parts store and scanned and it was a cyl 5 misfire so i bought a new coil for the cyl and installed it in the parking lot. Turned off SES light and then off I went...floored it again and BOOM! Same thing. Went to another store and warrantied it and installed a new one...now sometimes when stop it jerks a little and when i take off the same happens kind of like a surge. i checked the plug in cyl 5 and it looks pretty decent but oil on the threads...i took it easy all the way back on home and as of now no light...anyone else had this problem that may be able to help me out and tell me what it may be or may not be any help its greatly appreciated! Thank you guys!

 

anyone? please? ill give you a dollar!

 

Ever had to put head gaskets on your car?

 

I am wondering if you fried a ring in cylinder 5 and it is fouling the plug?

 

Check voltage to coil with key on, if coil stays hot the ECU is not turning it off and on, reason it burns is it is on all the time.

 

Head gasket...ehhhhhh not my favorite...lol it is leaking some water from the bottom but its not showing hot at all. i figured from the ac or running threw water on the roads...i dont want it to be internal lol i can check the voltage for the ecu going bad. i dont want to put a lot in it i just got it off a buy here pay here kinda lot with 1000 down it only has 125xxx on it and ran perfect till today got it saturday. it runs like a dream at 80mph on the interstate as long as i dont goose it

 

How did you change coil 5 on the parking lot? You have to take off the intake manifold to do that. You just bought the car, so I would advice you to change all the plugs. If the code still stays buy used OEM coil and replace the bad one. Make sure plugs are NGK.

 

from my readings the cylinders are

1 3 5
2 4 6

i used a ujoint with a wobble extension to get in the back and change it. the light has yet to come back on...changing all the plugs are gotta be a pain but i am gonna do it as soon as we can get a little bit of warmth here

 

Dude just check the basic things like MAF and injectors and then take it from there

 

cylinder 5 is the back driver side so im pretty sure you could change it without taking anything else off. Its cylinder 1 and 3 that everythings gotta come off.

 

Perhaps you are right. When I worked on my car I took the manifold off, but I changed all spark plugs, PCV valve, resealed the valve covers, changed the breather hose that runs from front to rear valve cover, etc.

 

What brand coil did you install? Our Max's are very finicky which ones work. Dead serious.

 

Its a coil and or fouled plug, if your not throwing any sensor codes. My money is on it just being a fouled plug honestly. But try and stick with OEM coilpacks. I know they are expensive but just go to Nissan and buy them save yourself some headaches.

 

it was an o'reilly brand.. what is the cly numbers on the car...

again i read..

1 3 5
2 4 6

the one i thought was five at top right was the one i changed...it was actually broken on the boot i replaced the whole thing and it ran better with no problems...im actually gonna just replace the boot and throw the orig back on to see if it works to save money...which one is 5 if im on the wrong one?

 

You have an oil leak on the spark plug tube seal. My advised is to replaced the rear valve cover (spark plug tube seal is attached to the valve cover) and valve cover gasket, use the oem 2004 rear valve cover gasket and valve cover (6th generation). They are the same with 5th generation (2001-2003 Maxima) the only difference its cheaper around $85-90 with PCV valve. Replaced the spark plug and use the oem coil. You need to install PCV oil catcher see the link
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS+Performan...52205/10002/-1. I bought all my parts to courtesyparts.com.

 

My 6MT did that about a month or so after I bought it, same conditions too, on the freeway. Turned out to be the plugs, original owner never changed them. I did change out all the back coils too, since I had an extra set I on hand I'd bought a year before.

 

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FYI,when you need real EOM repl nissan parts you can get them online @ wholesale prices at the link i pasted below vs paying full list at local dealer unless you know someone that will give wholesale price locally.

http://www.nissanpartswarehouse.com/

Also,i had to replace the rad in my 02 max and noticed the elec fans would come on a bit quicker then normal (motor heating up a bit faster) when in traffic and the elec fans also took longer to cool motor off enough to turn them off too.

Well i 1st checked to ensure cooling system wasnt airbound and full and all was ok but it was acting like there was less cooling capacity with the new rad from advanced auto.

Well guess what i found when i closely compaired the new aftermarket advanced auto to the old original oem nissan rad.

The oem nissan rad had 76 rows with approx 20 fins per " fin count but repl rad thats supposed to be = to oem rad performance wise only had 70 rows (6 less rows) and 14 fins per " fin count (6 less cooling fins per ") resulting in less cooling capacity.

When you figure that out the new repl aftermarket advanced auto rad had approx 30% less cooling capacity/efficiency then the original stock oem rad had.

So when i found that out i checked autozones repl rad and repl aftermarket rads online inc ebay etc and every single one i checked no matter who the mfg was had same rad stats with 6 less rows and 6 les fins per " cooling fins too,every singel rad oi checked.

So i was not happy with that situation and lthe ocal nissan dealer wanted list price of approx $650 for a new rad and would not discount it for me so he could make sale and help me out.

So i went online and found it for $429 ($221 cheaper!) but still a lot of $$$$ from a nissan dealer that sells online at wholesale prices at the link pasted below.

https://www.nissanpartswarehouse.com/index.cfm

Thr oem rad was pricey for sure even at @ $221 cheaper then list price but as soon as i installed it all was back to normal when in traffic with motor not getting hot enough to need cooling fans until sitting for longer period of time in traffic.

And when cooling fans did come on they got the motor/coolant cooled much quicker and turned off due to the oem rad having the 30% additonal cooling capacity all the aftermarket repl al rad dont have.

So the point i am making is sometimes its best to pay more going oem for cooling as i found out 1st hand and as was already suggested by someone else here when you need ign parts like coils & plugs too.

Scott

 

^^
I would have just paid for a performance all metal radiator with a no questions asked lifetime warranty.

Wait, that's what I did.

http://www.raceinspired.com/p-21475-...1995-1999.aspx

Fits 3.5 too.
If your autotragic you can add an external trans cooler.

 

=============

Not a bad alternative BUT id have to also invest in buying and installing an auto trans cooler too and didnt have time for all that.

I needed a quick drop in at that point to get moving on down the road.

Happy motoring!

Scott

 

OP I have the same issues but cylinder 6 that decided to pop up today after I scanned and cleared my previous codes. I drove maybe a few seconds than FLASH FLASH FLASH the misfire came out of nowhere, never had it do that til today weird.

This thread helps although the info is already here somewhere lol, I hope my issue is only spark plugs cause I didn't change them when I installed my motor only cause when I pulled them and checked them they were clean and looked new but who knows.

 

This is my guess, actually 02-03. (VQ35).

Why would he do that? VC gaskets maybe, HG, not so much.



Yup, this would be a no brainer in this situation as to think when the plugs were last changed.

 

ok. so next question. im going to change plugs myself. i know i have to take the intake off. when putting the intake back on is their a torque spec that it needs to be torqued back to or just hand tight?

 

I don't know the specs but if I don't have specs I just try to match how it was when I took it off. If it was gorilla tight then it gets snugged pretty good. I think their is a bolt pattern as well so you get it tightened evenly. I am sure it is in the FSM

 

13-15ft-lbs

Intake manifold Torque spec.......

 

Ok. Thank you all! Im leaning towards plugs on this one! its still surging at redlights sometimes and such so im gonna throw some NGK's and hope for the best, thank everyone of you so so much for all the help!

 

Just to through this out there: I had a 3rd gen once. I was passing someone and it started to misfire. One of the plugs had fouled. It kept fouling that plug. I think the ring was fried on that cylinder. Plugs don't foul for no reason.

 

IMO, once he replaces that plug, if it indeed is the plug and not coil, then he can asses that assumption better.

 

i replaced the plug in that coil and it has not done it again but it does jump and surge sometimes when i come to a stop i notice a difference when i turn the ac off and on and i also have had it jump and the lights dim when rolling down a window, any thoughts on that? what it might be?

 

Bad Grounds, your electrical system needs to be looked at, clean&add grounds it should stop doing that.

 

Install the big three Grounding

(1) Battery negative to chassis
(2) Alternator to battery positive
(3) Engine Block to chassis

 

To be completely honest i would skip that ground, just clean the connector and alternators post, a little dielectrical grease and reinstall. If something goes wrong installing that ground the possibility of shorting out the entire car.

 

FWIW, this was the cause of my cyl. 6 misfire code P0306. I was able to fix it today.

 

Got the back 3 changed and everything put back on just fine but i did break a plastic clip that plugs to some of the vacuum stuff on top of the intake. I will install the other 3 front plugs later this week when i get the time. however i did look at the plugs up front and ALL 3 clips that plug into the coil's the thumb release broke on them, is this common? how can i get them replaced? other than that the only other thing i notice if i rev my mother up to around 3 grand and let off when it comes back down it makes a weird noise like air compressor motor but not quite as loud...any ideas on that one guys? I know the mother mount in the front center is bad and it is hydraulic i didn't know if that would make a weird noise sense there is no rubber left in it and its fluctuating with the hydraulic and making an air pumping noise...any ideas at all guys? thanks again!

also the coils that keep going out are all good, the boots on them, the hard plastic, keeps cracking all the way down causing them to break...?