Hello to the ORG I am in need of advice again. I have owned an 83 (810 Maxima), 87, 95, 2000,2005 2010 and currently a 2016. Needless to say I love the Maxima.. My bonehead son bought a POS FOCUS ST which spent more time in the shop than on the road. He blew the motor and now it has been repossessed. I just purchased a 2003 Maxima SE for 1200$ to get him out of using my car. The good about the car it is not dogged out fairly clean interior is close to excellent for a 19 year old car no rips or tears or stains. The motor is not smooth but drivable. It stumbles a bit and the guy who sold it to me says he pulled a #2 cylinder code. Any ideas where to start with this car. the seller said the guy he purchased from said he did a tune up but I highly doubt it. For those with this model what would you suggest I besides the obvious coil packs and plug replacement front and back banks.
All thanks to fellow org members!

 

Check compression, b/c those cats are hungry for cylinders. If it's ****ed, then sell it. Otherwise, coil pack for that cylinder and cat delete.

 

pull the coil for that cylinder and see if the bottom of it was sitting in oil or has a grey mark where the spark is arching and not getting to the plug.

if it's oil.it's time for new valve cover. what has worked for me is getting cheap ones but using fel.pro gasket with them and OEM PCV valve. the cheap valve covers come with really cheap gaskets.

if its a bad coil wich you can tell by gray ashy rubber on the bottom seal. i usually change all the coils on the bank when one goes bad on that bank than keep the 2 old ones as extras for later.

I have actually had godos luck with ebay voils.that come from.New jersey in a Nissan/Infiniti box.
I also Recommend NGK Iridium plugs, MPG went up 4 when I switched to them when my car was stock with gutted cats...

 

Double-check the spark plugs, those engines don't like spark plugs other than NGK.

 

The shop did a diag on the car. Cyl #2 had a new coil pack and the plug was not seated completely. It was also ruined by oil. Second the Cyl# 6 along with#2 came back with low compression. The ECM is bad as well. So I am at a crossroad with this car. The car will crank and idle smoothly but give it some gas the stumble comes in. Should I just buy a motor with 93k miles out an Infiniti and get the ECM from that car? Or take a loss and sell it?
A old head said pour a little tranny fluid in the cylinders 2&6 and let sit for a couple of days. Then crank and let it run to burn off the carbon amd see if it will bring up the pressure in rhe cylinders? Thoughts??

 

You can get cheap 2nd gen VQ's on ebay. $40 for a new ECU on ebay too. If the car is nice enough and you're considering an engine swap that's the way I would go.

 

Be careful! I bought my Maxima for $3K and have put in another $13K in repairs. My motivation is different than yours, however. I want a car that is suitable for driving around Mexico. That means something that's very common down there, that any Mexican mechanic can repair, hence a manual transmission Nissan. Having said that I did lots preventative repairs that turned out to be necessary, but not immediately necessary such as a clutch restoration, the best Michelins for tires, hail damage repair and a color change to fire red (fuego). In spite of spending an obscene amount of money, parts are surprisingly easy to get. I get genuine Nissan parts when available and get the best from NAPA auto parts when not. I will not risk being stranded in the middle of Chihuahua, for example. I suspect that your tolerance for breaking down on the side of the road is greater than my tolerance for that.

If you're going to pay to remove the intake manifold, I recommend doing it all or nothing. That means all six ignition coils, all plugs, new valve covers because the plastic likes to warp. Don't cheap out! Use all Nissan/NGK parts. Get the plugs from a reliable store. Counterfeit NGK spark plugs are out there.