I actually have an i35. But I'm sure it's the same as the 5.5gen...


I'm almost done getting my ignition and overall engine problems fixed.

The only code remaining is my knock sensor.

I know it's in the valley, below the intake. And I can get my upper intake off, no problem. Do I have to remove the entire manifold (the bottom part too?) to get to the knock sensor?

If so, how do I get the lower intake off? I can't seem to find any info except for the upper part.

Theres some info saying that the 5th gen can be done without touching the intake. And the 5.5 is easier than that, but no pics or vids....

 

Before you remove the uim you'll need to release fuel pressure from the rail and proceed to remove uim, fuel rail and injectors from the lim and the bolts for the lim will be visible once uim is removed,

Btw 4gen is the only one i know you can remove without taking off the intake.

So the 5 gen stuff is horse spit lim must be removed...unless I'm wrong


I think is best if you download the fsm and go over the E.C. Sec to read on how to troubleshoot the codes....

 

I have the fsm for my i35. this is what I found for releasing the fuel pressure:
1. Remove fuel pump fuse located in fuse box.
2. Start engine.
3. After engine stalls, crank it two or three times to release all fuel
pressure.
4. Turn ignition switch “OFF”.
5. Reinstall fuel pump fuse after servicing fuel system.

 

Yesir! Or if its been down for a long while you should be ok too...

 

This YouTube vid helped me to located the knock sensor and replace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7BGVwFD8AI

It was pretty easy to get the old one off, but an absolute Biotch to get the new one held in place and tightened down.

Depending on your hand size, this may not be an option for you. I don't have tiny hands so i had to contort a lot to get it to work.

I ended up removing the entire air cleaner box, snorkle, and resonator to access the valley. If you go this route (easier imho than removing the UIM), try to do when the engine is cool... bc if it's still at temp or cooling down it can get pretty hot for your hands.

 

It's just occurred to me that my problem might be bigger...

The knock sensor just senses the knock, and then tells the ECU to adjust the timing, right? Well the knock has to be coming from somewhere, right?

This all started with a tuneup gone horribly horribly wrong. The dumbass mechanic epoxied the connectors onto the coilpacks (because he broke the connectors. common problem, I got a pigtail for $30 for this reason!).

So I had a misfire for a while, kept trying to fix it, the mechanic got fired from his shop, they still couldnt fix it (or didnt want to) - so I'm doing it myself.

I replaced all the plugs and coils this weekend. The harness for the front coils has been replaced. I don't have a misfire anymore - but the idle is still really rough and I have a knock sensor code.

Anything else to look at for causing the knock? The car keeps going into limp mode, and I'm getting a flashing ses light under heavy acceleration

 

I'm thinking it could be your catalytic converter... however, you'd probably be getting a flashing SES light if it were. But...

Have you done the following:

https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...a-02-03-a.html

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...10-w-pics.html

Here's a link to the misfire nightmare I experienced when I picked up my most recent Maxima back in April.

https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...ion-coils.html

Hope this helps in some way.

 

Thanks a lot for that link. I'm an i35 , but I bet it's the same.

I've just been disonnecting the battery to reset the ecu. But I'll try the first method on that page.

Resetting the idle learning sounds like a pain in the ***. I don't know if I'll be able to do that, but I'll try!

 

Yeah, it's a pain. But you'll get the hang of it after a few tries. I just cleaned my MAF again this weekend and will probably need to clean my ThrottleBody again.

Are you the original owner? How many miles on your I35?

 

Did your mechanic try to clean the tb during his attempt at the tune up?if he did i'm afraid he moved the valve open an effed it up.... Just speculation at this point but that will cause a some of the issues you're having... Nissan~ScanTool~ll is your friend on this one, or perhaps another one similar to see whats really going on

 

I might as well be te original owner. I got her at 38k, and now she has 198k...

I just got done doing the reset and the idle air adjustment. The idle still SUUUUUCKS. and the SES light came back after doing the final "rev-in" procedure.

I should also point out that my front cat has ben drilled open. It was a cheaper alternative to a new one. But I'm not getting a CEL code for cat ineffeciency. I initially missed your comment about the cat. Perhaps that's it. I do indeed have a flashing ses....

Im getting a random misfire (p0300) and knock sensor (p0328) which I am thinking are related....

I'll try cleaning the MAF and TB.

Is there anyway to check for the stuck valve? I know they did not take the proper care of this car, and maybe they did bust the TB

I guess the nissan scan tool you mentioned is a diag tool, and not just a reader? It will tell me where the ineffeciency in idle is?

 

Ah damn... yeah try cleaning both. In terms of the TB, when cleaning, it is highly recommended that the butterfly not be moved since its all electronically controlled.

When you clear out the air intake box components to clean the TB (recommend you remove all of it), youll see the butterfly. If its never been cleaned or if it was cleaned an the mechanic moved the butterfly, as mentioned, it could be causing the issue. You could also remove TB from the UIM and clean the other side too if you want to really be sure its clean.

However, after cleaning the TB, the idle relearn procedure should do the trick.

I bought my OBDII scanner on ebay amd I use the Torque Pro android app... there is an additional Nissan specific plugin for the app... but I dont have have it (its like $15 more)

If you really want to do deep diagnostics, you'll need the Nissan Consult II OBD2 tool. You can probably pick one up on ebay... not sure the benefits would justify the costs.

 

I am heavily suspecting the cat. I know it's been drilled out to avoid being replaced, and knowing how the vq is picky about air - I'm beginning to think thats the likely cause. I hate to just replace it and hope for the best, because it's so expensive. ButI know it needs to be replaced, so maybe I'll just do it...

Aren't there 2 front cats on these cars? One for each bank?

Looking at the costs of some of the tools - $700-$2500 - probably not going to buy one just to chase this problem. Maybe a trip to the dealer might be a good idea?

 

Ugh, Stealerships... hate em. Yeah, our cars have two precats, bank 1 (rear) bank 2 (front). There are theads explaining how to gut the cats and add anti-foulers to the O2 sensors... not sure if thats the way you want to go.

Again, everything comes down to cost/benefit. I think you said you have 198k on the car, so you'll need to decide if putting more money into a 12+ yr old car is the way to go. It still maybe cheaper than buying another car... im in the same boat.

Theres alot of things id like to do to my 02 Max... ugh, just weighing the pros and cons. You could always try to find one on CL from a parts car or from the classifieds on this forum.

 

The vq is better off without cats....if by drilled out you mean all the insides were removed then it's a good thing

 

Well at the oment, my e60 bimmer is dealing with coolant issues also.

So between the 2 cars, I have a bunch of expensive **** to fix.

The TB is remarkably clean. I think he probably cleaned it, and adjusted the butterfly. wouldnt That, with a hollowed out precat - easily contribute to a rough idle? I wonder if replacing the TB for $100 is worth it? Is there a way I can be absolutely certain the TB is bad? Also, if the cats were bad, wouldnt I be getting o2 codes? Or cat ineffeciencies?

I'm like you were - I just need it to get back to square one. I can barely drive it as it is, but it's better than dumping coolant everyday into my bimmer (bimmer needs a new rad, new waterpump, and probably has the coolant transfer pipe leak also)

So right now - the money is gonna get spent on the easiest problem. I still think it's the i35

Thanks SO much for all your help so far. I've got some taction on it, and I'm going to hold off on buying a new knock sensor until I can figure out the idle problem

 

Yeah thats what they did. They removed the insides in lieu of replacing them.

 

This will not cause a bad idle...for under$100 you can buy the NST2 and a VAG COM OBD2 409.1 usb adaptor ,if you have a laptop with windows7 or older you can know for certain whats ailing the vq instead of blindly throwing parts in hopes of a fix...heck you can even reprogram your keys if you lost the original,swap ecu and a bunch of other crap

 

Hmmm... hallowed out cat, sounds fun, maybe I should try thst.

When you start her up, whats rpm is it at?
Definitively, im not certain how to tell if the TB is absolutely shot. I would imagine you would get codes before it goes for sure.

 

I agree. But the scannin tools I found originally were much more expensive that what you said.

the VAG COM OBD2 409.1 usb adaptor I can find. But what is the nst2?

I googled it and couldnt find anything. Most of the tools I see are several hundred dollars. www.nissandatascan.com sells software, and they just have a list of supported cables.

the blazt2 isnt available anymore

 

It's pretty high.About 1000rpm...

These are my symptoms:

-Engine codes (P0300 & P0328)
-Rough idle (violently shakes the car)
-Exhaust Smell from tailpipe
-Surging/loss of power/limp mode (SES light flashes)
-1000rpm at idle, but will jump to 1700 and back down to 1000

 

maf or I'd think you'd have more codes

 

I'll try cleaning it and the TB (properly) tomorrow. Maybe it will help things.

 

I found this thread:
https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...-phone-10.html

And I think that I'll try it out.

 

So I had the code pulled @ autozone during lunch....


Random misfires are back. I guess they had gone away initially (I had the codes checked after I changed my plugs last weekend) - but have returned.

P0300 - which is a random misfire, and I dont have a cylinder to start with.

I know for a fact they didnt use OEM coils, and I'e bought 3 new ones (non-oem) since this all started. But since I didnt put them on, I dont know hich ones they are

I'm going to try the coil test tonight, and see if I can determine which might be bad. I really hope it's just a cheap ignition coil problem... I also got some MAF cleaner.

 

IVT solenoid can also cause this without throwing the code. Can try cleaning those. But, you're going to need a maf and set of coils it sounds like. Hit up the junkyard. You know what one cyl missing sounds and feels like, right? It's not that bad. It will run fine. This sounds a lot worse than a coil.

 

Yeah. Before I did my plugs, I was definately getting a hard misfire under acceleration. At about 2000 rpm. when I would give it throttle, it would bang really bad.

That's now gone. it actually goes all the way across the powerband with no miss. But the idle is still horribly violent.

Maybe cleaning the maf will put me in the right direction.

How do I clean the IVT solenoids? It looks like one of them is waaaaay back against the firewall?

I also would think if it was a coil, I would get a cylinder location on code. Thats not the case, its random with no P030x (x marking the cylindeR)

 

Clean crank sensor and definitely clean IVTs. I've seen crank cause terrible idle (weird I know) and IVT cause severe idling issues but drive and rev fine. Make sure to disassemble the IVT to clean it thoroughly and test it.

 

Is the IVT the same as the camshaft position sensor? I was getting codes on these at the very beginning of the issues, but had them replaced....

 

No, it's the solenoids for the variable intake. http://www.alldatadiy.com/alldatadiy...0182/153708157

 

Awesome, thanks for that link. Is the crank sensor accessible from the top, or do I need to go from underneath the car?

 

would take some skill from the top LOL

 

Thats what I thought. My bimmer is on my ramps, so I dont know exactly how Im going to get to it, but I'll figure it out.

thanks a TON for all the tips. I've got a bunch of cleaning to do tonight, lets hope it improves something....

 

I picked up a VAG COM OBD2 409.1 USB adapter and purchased a copy of NDS2. A neighbor brought by his 5th gen and it worked without issue. Actually NDS2 will let you reset NATS codes if your car ever gets accidentally immobilized.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get NDS2 to work on a 99 model 4th gen.

NDS2 is as close to Consult II that I can get without having to pay thousands of dollars.

 

I also think NDS2 would give me the output I need to know exactly where the problem is....but I just bought an OBD2 scanner that will be here tomorrow (amazon prime). I hope I dont have to spend the money for this setup and can determine a cause with some cleaning and troubleshooting. Thanks for the info though!

 

You only need it high enough to get your head under the bumper to see the bolt.

 

I ordered a jack and stands @ pepboys & will pick them up after work. I cant use the jack on my bimmer (too heavy) , but it will come in handy for the infinti...

The more and more I read, the more Im confused. Tonight on my list is:

-Clean IVTs
-Clean TB (carefully)
-Clean crank sesnor
-Disconnect/test/clean MAF

Question: if I disconnect the MAF and see no change - then it's safe to assume it's either dirty or needs to be replaced - right? I'm not looking forward to that replacement....it's a couple hundred bucks =\

 

Don't let your head spin and take it from the top ...
1.codes

2.troubleshoot according to fsm. One.question what were symptoms before they put their hands on it....

3.if you got 3 coils changed i bet it was the bank 2 coils and the other three could be the bad ones.who knows

4.Buy a can of maf cleaner and a t20 torx bit (security kind on mine so check yours)

5.both air filters and wash the inside of all the air snorkel at the car was once yiu remove the sensor...


6.remove the throttle body clean both sides and make sure you don't move the valve.

7.read till you drop then re read again it sucks but you'll end up with a better car....i did!

Someone will chime in I'm sure, I know how it is to have two car out of cimmissi good luck it can only get better...

 

Whats the best way to test it?

When I took it off, I opened it up and it was FULL of oil. I cleaned it all off, and I connected it to a 12v source (my battery) but cant get it to actuate. Dont I need to ground the other pin on the connector to get power to test?

I tried connecting the harness to it with the key in the 'on' position. But nothing on the solenoid.

 

Yeah, that's how I did it.
Take it apart and spray it out really well. See what happens.