2005 Maxima starts, revs & dies
 

Hey guys. Yet more problems with this 05 SE my wife bought in August. Two weeks ago she was driving home from work and had trouble with the car revving and shaking. By the time she got back home the engine was shaking violently. Code showed P0305. Over the next couple of days I tried clearing the code and driving it around the block but it kept doing the same thing (shaking & P0305) within minutes along with a blinking CEL.

I tried following one of those YT videos about accessing the coils & plugs and it was an absolute nightmare. Partly because it's next to impossible for anyone with anything more than tiny hands to get to some of those bolts and partly because it seems I've got at least two stripped bolts on the plenum. So that was a no go and I had to reconnect everything I'd removed.

I finally got coil #5 out and changed the plug (the old one was dark & worn but no sign of oil or anything on it). I also swapped some coils around, but when I put everything back together the car would start, rev high then splutter to a stop. I retraced all my steps and don't appear to have missed anything. Over the last week or two I've tried the same thing and on one occasion kept hitting the gas to keep the revs going just to see whether something needed to be cleared. All that happened was that the cat glowed orange and I kept hearing the engine misfiring. Since then I've cleaned the throttle & MAF sensor & intake (starting the car without the MAF sensor in place does exactly the same but gives me MAF problem codes - I don't recall the numbers right now - but it didn't make any difference to how the car runs... or doesn't).

189 views and not one thought or comment on this yet? Is this problem that uncommon? :confused:

And there was me thinking on a forum with however many thousands of members someone could have been helpful than you and said "It's actually pretty easy - you just need to do this" or "I've seen this before. It's this and you'll need a professional to help". Not much to ask really, is it?

I said I'm no mechanic but have tools. That tells most people (obviously except you) that I can and will have a go at things as opposed to just raising the hood and topping up oil, but serious stuff is beyond me. If I have tools and a scanner but tell you I'm no mechanic that should reasonably suggest that I'm comfortable doing DIY stuff but not the technical things. What do you want, a list of what I can and can't do? I had a go at removing the plenum (that was in my post. You obviously missed it) which tells you I'll have a go at non-major stuff.

f this were a computer forum and someone said "My computer is doing x. Any suggestions? I know a bit but I'm no computer builder" then I'm not going to give them a hard time for not being able to replace a motherboard when it would be more helpful to say "Go into Start, Type cmd then Run followed by this command and tell me what comes back". THAT would be the helpful thing to do rather than post a smart arse comment about why they're still asking for help a month later.

And at what point did I give enough information to seem upset? My reply post was surprise. But thanks for posting something that didn't address my issue, as well as for the patronizing reply rather than something that's actually helpful. I may only have a few posts here but that doesn't mean I'm new to life or to how to interact with people who are genuinely asking for help. It just means I've done very little with a new-to-me Nissan that's giving problem after problem

It's funny how you said
yet your reply had none of that. Gotta love a bit of irony :thumbsdow

Thanks for taking the time to post a helpful reply :) No, I haven't done those tests, but will Google what I can with each thing you've mentioned and see whether it's something I can figure out. Spark plugs (that I could get to, i.e 2, 4, 5 & 6 are new. Coils aren't but I swapped them around with each other and don't know how to test them though again I'm sure I could search for that since you mention it's an option. Do the plugs have to be torqued (I don't have a torque wrench, just hand tightened then went a little further with a socket wrench).

Even if it gets me nowhere, I appreciate someone posting something that actually has suggestions as a useful starting point

:thewizard:

I'll get on this tomorrow and let you know what happens and what I can do myself. (I read the 'listed' as listened anyway, so it's all good!)

Thanks again for this. Even if it leads nowhere, I really appreciate the help and your patience :redbull:

if the cat glows id say firing order is wrong however our engine is coil over plug not spark plug wires try the cat or fuel pump or injectors