rgachelin76

I have a 04' Maxima (SE) and I've been having a rough idle for some time. I had my mechanic take a look at it, and when he read it, it came up cylinder 6 misfire. I went and changed the coil and spark plug, and that seem to resolve it. A few months later however, it pops up again. This time it was a little worse. To make a long story short, I've tried cleaning out the Mass Airflo Sensor (which helped a little bit) but I figured I just have to change the coil again. Well on Friday, I'm heading to work, and the car dies on the highway. I managed to start it back up, but it was really really rough and there was white smoke coming out the exhaust. I went to a mechanic and read the car and it came up CamShaft Sensors. I went and brought 2, but when he replaced them, it almost seemed worst. It turns on, but when it's revved up, it dies. He thinks that the valve seals may have blew (which I'm praying it's not the case) because he says it was burning oil. But I have heard of the Cmashaft sensor doing that also when it goes down. I'm hoping that's the case, but it's still has a very rough idle. He says there's no more oil smell any more, just a heavy gas smell. The white smoke still comes out, but now he's saying it's no longer the oil and just gas. I'm just hoping maybe the when the camshaft sensor went and got oil in, maybe it messed up the other plugs/coils. I'm hoping someone out there can point me in the right direction. Any ideas?? Thanks.

02nismaxlegnd94

iTrader: (6)

The camshaft sensors get oil on them all the time, but when I had the same problem and couldn't solve it, I took it to the dealer . They told me when you replace these sensors the ECM has to be reflashed which only they can do.

The car ran better but the cam codes come up every once in awhile when the engine gets low on oil, which is about a thousand miles after refilling .

rgachelin76

Do you think they're just saying that? I've heard something like this before, but the answers varry from dealer to dealer. Also, was there any white smoke coming from the exhaust?

Terrentius

Coolant. Check your reservoir and radiator when the engine is cool. If yer low, then ya know.

po8pimp

White smoke from exhaust is more than likely a blown head gasket. Check your oil cap and dip stick for milky residue. Also check your coolant for oil and make sure you didn't loose any.

Costee

What was the specific code pulled? Did you install oem sensors? Would you remember the part numbers? We need to be sure that you've resolved the camshaft sensor angle to the issue.

bkcberry

I used to have a 2004 SL that would die at random times and take forever to start again. I ended up replacing both of the camshaft position sensors myself, no reflash needed. There was an error light that needed to be reset (check engine? could've been a different one.. this was 3-4 years ago), but there was some kind of ignition key dance on-off-on while you hold your nose that turned it off.

Hope that helps

rgachelin76

the code that was coming up after he replaced the camshaft sensor was cylinder 6 misfire (again) but the car sounded so rough and there was still white smoke coming out of the exhaust. The car was also still cutting off after revving it a lil' bit. The good thing is (I guess anyways) is that he said there's no more oil smell anymore and he doesn't think it's a head gasket issue (does not smell any antifreeze burning). He said that the sparkplugs were flooded w/ gas which is what he was smelling, so I brought new spark plugs and he'll be installing them tonight. Do you guys think that might resolve the issue? I'm hoping that's the case because he said he doesn't smell oil anymore and I've heard a bad camshaft sensors can do that, but it doesn't necessarily mean the valve seals are bad. What do you guys think?

Costee

Fingers crossed. Again, oem (NGK) spark plugs are recommended.

rgachelin76

The issue turned out to be a bad catalytic converter. I had it replaced and the engine was running much better, but it still had a slight rough idle and now was cutting off whenever I stop at a light or stop sign. My mechanic told me I have 2 bad O2 sensors. Also, there's still white smokes that comes out of the exhaust, but it only comes on when I'm startign the car for the first time or haven't started the car in a while. it seems to go away after a few moments, but I'm hoping that a bad O2 sensors are to blame and will go away once I get it fixed tonight. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Let me know. thnx.

smplyamzng

Hardly sounds like you resolved anything. You should seriously consider dropping the car off at the dealer to have it properly diagnosed before dumping anymore money into it...

Right now you and your mechanic are just guessing and hurting your pocket

rgachelin76

You're right. He changed the O2 sensors, and there's hardly any improvement, now it seems I have some type of low oil pressure because that light keeps coming up. it was making a loud rattling noise as if it didn't have any oil in it. I put some in , and the noise died down. I'm going to take it back to the guy one last time to see if he can diagnose the issue, but after that, I'm going to the dealer. Problem w/ the dealer, they're going to kill you in terms of their prices. One thing I'll ask, does anyone know if a bad catalytic converter can lead to oil issues? Anybody? Has anyone had this issue before? Please help, I'm running out of time and patients (and not to mention money. Already in $2,200) Please help!!

po8pimp

seriously sounds like a blown headgasket. Sorry to say it, but white smoke is a sign of coolant burning off through your exhaust. That being said will cause o2 sensors to read erroneous. Will also cause rough idle and a feeling of loss compression. Oil will also decrease due to burn off and mixing in with coolant and diluting. You have a mess on your hands and need a professional to look at your car. I recommend taking it to Nissan for a complete Diagnostic. You can always take the Diagnostic to your mechanic to have them do the repairs if you really trust them. 2200 in sounds to me like someone is making some good money. Pay the Diagnostic fee for piece of mind. They have the tools to do compression tests and electronic tests. That CSP sensor could have been a bad sensor as well. Not uncommon to receive a new part that is already bad.

rgachelin76

I just got back from the mechanic. Now there's a slight oil leak near the oil pressure sensor. He still swearing up and down that it's not a head gasket because I have no issues w/ my coolant, etc, and while it does burn white smoke (seems to have a blue-ish hue to me), it does appear to go away. he thinks that the oil maybe coming from a bad O-rings on the cylinder that was misfiring (he thinks). He says that because the cylinder was running hot for so long, it might have caused the O-rings to fail on that cylinder. He did also mention that cylinder 6 (the cause of this whole thing) had low pressure. All the other cylinders were reading @ 115+ while cylinder 6 had about 35-40. But he said that it appeared to come back to life after changing the ignition coil. I'm going to take it to this guy who's supposedly real reputable (like the current guy-lol), and I'll go from there. The car is still driving though outside of that. So what do you guys think? Oh, and i'm not spending anymore major money until I find out what's wrong with the car.

rgachelin76

The car ended up conking out on me again on my way home from work. Called in another mechanic, and he confirmed what everybody was originally thought: bad piston rings. At which point, he suggested getting a new engine, at which point I figured I might as well buy a new car. I ended up w/ a 2010 maxima (I know, crazy right?-lol). But it is certified up to 100k. It's nice to be back on the road w/ a little more peace of mind, but now I have a new car payment when I was only a few months away from paying the old one off. Oh well, anyways thanks for all the suggestions on this post. Hopefully you want have to hear from me for a LOOOOOOOOOONG WHILE. (fingers crossed).