Help diagnose a misfire
08-19-2006, 01:00 PM
#1
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Help diagnose a misfire
I'm making this thread for a newbie, and nobody seems to be of any help in the 5th gen forums.
Originally Posted by StreetzINC
I have a 2000 Maxima 5 spd. The car is misfiring between 1k and 2k rpms and i am getting the knocking and or pinging also I look under the car and the front cat right under the engine is fire red inside. The scan tool is giving me DTC codes 1320 and 0300. I have replaced all coils and spark plugs, EGR valve, and tested all the cam and crank sensors, and the MAF is also good, and i still have the same problem. Can anyone help me or has anyone seen a problem like this before???????
08-19-2006, 02:13 PM
#2
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I Cranked up the car today I smell alot of fuel under the hood and the car is puting r coughing @ the exhaust, and i can hear my cai like it sounds when the car first warms up when the engine is completely warm. Inside the front cat is still fire red once the car warms up. The engine seems to warm up faster than normal. Anyone who can help me please help this problem has been nagging me now 4 about a month!!!!!! I miss Driving my max
08-20-2006, 05:28 PM
#8
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All the coils are good. I jacked the car up today and put it on jackstands. I cranked the car up and let it run and looked under the car after it warmed up, and the pipes from the back exhaust manifold not the front cat the pipes with the loop right after the front cat turned fire red i thought that was the front cat but its not. What could cause these pipes to become fire red. Help Me Please!!
08-20-2006, 05:58 PM
#11
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Originally Posted by StreetzINC
Please Explain this to me goldtooth so i understand. Why would the precats cause other pipes to turn fire red why isnt the cat fire red? What are precats????
08-20-2006, 06:31 PM
#13
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Originally Posted by StreetzINC
Hey LA02MAX tell me this what would cause me to run rich??? I got these misfires on my drive back from Atlanta, GA to Columbia, SC which is about a 300 to 400 mile trip!
08-20-2006, 07:53 PM
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Originally Posted by StreetzINC
How do i check the MAF voltage????
And again, I'm not saying that anything besides the precats is wrong with your car, but my uneducated opinion is that the car would have to be running rich in order for the precats to become clogged like that. What kind of gas mileage are you seeing?
08-20-2006, 08:08 PM
#17
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Where can i find a diagram of this motor showing me where the knock sensors and throttle position sensors are and how i test them to see if they are good??? And i know that i had bad o2 sensors but the car never started misfiring until now. I definitely had bad o2 sensors before this misfiring problem.
08-20-2006, 09:30 PM
#18
Well, let me just say this from experience. My max did not want to go over 5 mph. First we thought the tranny gave out, but that couldnt be it, cuz Reverse did the same thing. The car bogged in all gears. Then one mechanic told me its the MAF sensor. I bought a used one from a fellow CMC(ChicagoMaximaClub.net) member, and nothing. Still bogged like crazy. We went back and *****ed at him cuz he was 100% sure. Then we took it to a different mechanic. They told us, that after disconnecting the exhaust system from the engine, the car ran fine. He told me either the precats are clogged or the main cat. So, I took off the y-pipe. Drove the car around the block, and viola! power is back. Then me and my dad banged the **** outta the pipe for stuff to come out of the ypipe and cat.(I wanted to get aftermarket pipes, but my dad wouldn't let me cuz he was too paraniod about emissions and the fact that "police" or someone will look under my car to check if I'm not running stock equipment, LMFAO) Reassembled everything with new gaskets and car ran like a dream. I'm just speaking from experience with what happened to mine. I dunno if that is infact wrong with yours. But you can use this experience to help you with whatever you need.
08-21-2006, 04:29 AM
#20
Originally Posted by StreetzINC
Can anyone tell me how to unclog the precats???? My car will still run up to 80 mph at least thats as far as i had it up to. Will clogged pre cats cause me to have misfires??? Someone help me PLEASE!!
08-21-2006, 07:34 AM
#21
Originally Posted by SDot82
Just buy a y-pipe without precats.
That's wat I've been thinking all along, heheh.Also StreetzINC, a cat will get clogged for either of 3 reasons.
One, OVER THE LONG RUN OF YEARS, carbon deposits from combustion will slowly clog it over time.
Two, running rich for some reason will significantly increase the amounts of carbon leaving the combustion chambers, thus clogging up the pre-cats.
Three, you have oil going into the combustion chamber. Either through means of alot of blow by, or leaky vavle seals.
Put an aftermarket y-pipe, but do check what in the world might be going on with that engine to have created the problem to begin with.
08-21-2006, 10:18 AM
#22
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as mentioned above, i think the best thing for you to do is to get an aftermarket y-pipe to eliminate the precats, and replace the blown o2 sensors. How long have you been running on the o2 sensors? Sometimes running on bad o2 sensors causes cat failure, but hopefully it's just that your precats are clogged, and your main cat is fine. You can get a y-pipe from cattman for $350 or warpspeed for $200. Both are fine, but I've heard of more installation problems with the warpspeed than the cattman. Buy your o2 sensors from Dave B. (1-888-254-6060 ) He works at an authorized nissan dealer and he gives maxima.org people excellent deals.
08-21-2006, 10:20 AM
#23
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I have had bad 02 sensors for over a year the car wasnt missing but i guess it finally caught up with me???? So i want to understand clearly the pre cats are right behind the front cat and right below the second exhaust manifold??? Why doesnt the front cat heat up and just the area with the pre cats are?????
08-21-2006, 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by StreetzINC
I have had bad 02 sensors for over a year the car wasnt missing but i guess it finally caught up with me???? So i want to understand clearly the pre cats are right behind the front cat and right below the second exhaust manifold??? Why doesnt the front cat heat up and just the area with the pre cats are?????
08-21-2006, 10:30 AM
#25
Originally Posted by StreetzINC
I have had bad 02 sensors for over a year the car wasnt missing but i guess it finally caught up with me???? So i want to understand clearly the pre cats are right behind the front cat and right below the second exhaust manifold??? Why doesnt the front cat heat up and just the area with the pre cats are?????
08-21-2006, 10:42 AM
#26
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Originally Posted by goldtooth
isn't it the exhaust manifold--->y-pipe(with precats on it) --> main cat--> rest of exhaust to the back of the car
10 char.
08-21-2006, 03:17 PM
#27
A few things...
1.) running with a clogged exhaust system CAN QUICKLY cause you to blow a headgasket. I've never heard of this problem on a max, but have seen this happen numerious times on many other cars.
2.)IIRC P1320 is primary ignition system problem and P0300 is a random cylinder misfire.
I'm going to go against the grain of what everyone else says on this one.
Since you said when you disables the injector for each cylinder the fire got worse on all of them expect 3 and maybe 1, I'm going to guess you have a problem with either cylinder # 3 misfiring.
Also you said "and the pipes from the back exhaust manifold not the front cat the pipes with the loop right after the front cat turned fire red i thought that was the front cat but its not."
I'm not sure what you mean about the loop, but by reading the first 1/2 of that sentence I'm assumming you are talking about the exhasut manifold (it bolts directly to the engine). If this is the case, this is typically caused by a rich fuel condition..
I can't remember the firing order or cylinder configuration of our engines, but I'm guessing cylinder three is where the manifold is glowing red. I'll bet something is wrong in your primary ignition system. I'm leaning towards a defective coil, but it could also be a wire to/from your pcm, bad connection, etc.
I could be WAY off here, but if it where me I would swap coils 3 with the one next to it and see it the misfire changes locations. If it does you have a defective coil, if not pull # 3 coil and plug grab an insulated screw driver, put one end of the screw driver on a ground (a bolt attached to your engine or part of the body) and touch the other end of your screw driver to the bottom of the plug electrode.. Have someone crank or start the motor. Watch the spark as it jumps the gap to make sure it is hot and continues to stay hot as the engines runs.
1.) running with a clogged exhaust system CAN QUICKLY cause you to blow a headgasket. I've never heard of this problem on a max, but have seen this happen numerious times on many other cars.
2.)IIRC P1320 is primary ignition system problem and P0300 is a random cylinder misfire.
I'm going to go against the grain of what everyone else says on this one.
Since you said when you disables the injector for each cylinder the fire got worse on all of them expect 3 and maybe 1, I'm going to guess you have a problem with either cylinder # 3 misfiring.
Also you said "and the pipes from the back exhaust manifold not the front cat the pipes with the loop right after the front cat turned fire red i thought that was the front cat but its not."
I'm not sure what you mean about the loop, but by reading the first 1/2 of that sentence I'm assumming you are talking about the exhasut manifold (it bolts directly to the engine). If this is the case, this is typically caused by a rich fuel condition..
I can't remember the firing order or cylinder configuration of our engines, but I'm guessing cylinder three is where the manifold is glowing red. I'll bet something is wrong in your primary ignition system. I'm leaning towards a defective coil, but it could also be a wire to/from your pcm, bad connection, etc.
I could be WAY off here, but if it where me I would swap coils 3 with the one next to it and see it the misfire changes locations. If it does you have a defective coil, if not pull # 3 coil and plug grab an insulated screw driver, put one end of the screw driver on a ground (a bolt attached to your engine or part of the body) and touch the other end of your screw driver to the bottom of the plug electrode.. Have someone crank or start the motor. Watch the spark as it jumps the gap to make sure it is hot and continues to stay hot as the engines runs.
08-21-2006, 08:14 PM
#28
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Originally Posted by 5thgenmaxima
A few things...
1.) running with a clogged exhaust system CAN QUICKLY cause you to blow a headgasket. I've never heard of this problem on a max, but have seen this happen numerious times on many other cars.
2.)IIRC P1320 is primary ignition system problem and P0300 is a random cylinder misfire.
I'm going to go against the grain of what everyone else says on this one.
Since you said when you disables the injector for each cylinder the fire got worse on all of them expect 3 and maybe 1, I'm going to guess you have a problem with either cylinder # 3 misfiring.
Also you said "and the pipes from the back exhaust manifold not the front cat the pipes with the loop right after the front cat turned fire red i thought that was the front cat but its not."
I'm not sure what you mean about the loop, but by reading the first 1/2 of that sentence I'm assumming you are talking about the exhasut manifold (it bolts directly to the engine). If this is the case, this is typically caused by a rich fuel condition..
I can't remember the firing order or cylinder configuration of our engines, but I'm guessing cylinder three is where the manifold is glowing red. I'll bet something is wrong in your primary ignition system. I'm leaning towards a defective coil, but it could also be a wire to/from your pcm, bad connection, etc.
I could be WAY off here, but if it where me I would swap coils 3 with the one next to it and see it the misfire changes locations. If it does you have a defective coil, if not pull # 3 coil and plug grab an insulated screw driver, put one end of the screw driver on a ground (a bolt attached to your engine or part of the body) and touch the other end of your screw driver to the bottom of the plug electrode.. Have someone crank or start the motor. Watch the spark as it jumps the gap to make sure it is hot and continues to stay hot as the engines runs.
1.) running with a clogged exhaust system CAN QUICKLY cause you to blow a headgasket. I've never heard of this problem on a max, but have seen this happen numerious times on many other cars.
2.)IIRC P1320 is primary ignition system problem and P0300 is a random cylinder misfire.
I'm going to go against the grain of what everyone else says on this one.
Since you said when you disables the injector for each cylinder the fire got worse on all of them expect 3 and maybe 1, I'm going to guess you have a problem with either cylinder # 3 misfiring.
Also you said "and the pipes from the back exhaust manifold not the front cat the pipes with the loop right after the front cat turned fire red i thought that was the front cat but its not."
I'm not sure what you mean about the loop, but by reading the first 1/2 of that sentence I'm assumming you are talking about the exhasut manifold (it bolts directly to the engine). If this is the case, this is typically caused by a rich fuel condition..
I can't remember the firing order or cylinder configuration of our engines, but I'm guessing cylinder three is where the manifold is glowing red. I'll bet something is wrong in your primary ignition system. I'm leaning towards a defective coil, but it could also be a wire to/from your pcm, bad connection, etc.
I could be WAY off here, but if it where me I would swap coils 3 with the one next to it and see it the misfire changes locations. If it does you have a defective coil, if not pull # 3 coil and plug grab an insulated screw driver, put one end of the screw driver on a ground (a bolt attached to your engine or part of the body) and touch the other end of your screw driver to the bottom of the plug electrode.. Have someone crank or start the motor. Watch the spark as it jumps the gap to make sure it is hot and continues to stay hot as the engines runs.
08-21-2006, 08:38 PM
#29
While "dropping the y pipe" is by no stretch a difficult task, I think you're in over your head if you think you're going to get it done tomorrow morning. Especially taking into account this is your DD and you could run into problems, hidden bolts, or frozen/seized bolts where you need penetrating oil. Exhaust bolts are the easiest to snap if you're not carefull. Simply swapping coils is a VERY VERY simple task and only takes minutes to do. Then all you have to do is unplug the coil you swapped it with to see if the misfire changed cylinders. If it changes then you know it's the coil, if it doesn't change, quickly checking your plug for proper spark only takes an additional 2-3 minutes.
Also you put "it is the pipes @ the bottom of the exhaust manifold".... Maybe I'm just having a duh moment but the pipe at the BOTTOM of the manifold?? Is it your manifold itself or by or at the precats???
EDIT: I just read your post in 5th gen forums. Are you pulling 02 codes as well??? You wrote "the idle is rough and it is puting @ the exhaust.......Does it sound like an exhaust leak?? If you have an exhaust leak, this could defiently cause ALL of the conditions you describe above... An exhaust leak will also cause you to run rich...The 02 detects air suckled in thru the leak and thinks your A/F mixture is lean, so it adds more fuel trying to compensate.....
Does the "puting" sound like a tick coming from the exhaust?? If so I'm willing to bet your problem is an exhaust leak.
Also you put "it is the pipes @ the bottom of the exhaust manifold".... Maybe I'm just having a duh moment but the pipe at the BOTTOM of the manifold?? Is it your manifold itself or by or at the precats???
EDIT: I just read your post in 5th gen forums. Are you pulling 02 codes as well??? You wrote "the idle is rough and it is puting @ the exhaust.......Does it sound like an exhaust leak?? If you have an exhaust leak, this could defiently cause ALL of the conditions you describe above... An exhaust leak will also cause you to run rich...The 02 detects air suckled in thru the leak and thinks your A/F mixture is lean, so it adds more fuel trying to compensate.....
Does the "puting" sound like a tick coming from the exhaust?? If so I'm willing to bet your problem is an exhaust leak.
08-21-2006, 08:45 PM
#30
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Originally Posted by 5thgenmaxima
While "dropping the y pipe" is by no stretch a difficult task, I think you're in over your head if you think you're going to get it done tomorrow morning. Especially taking into account this is your DD and you could run into problems, hidden bolts, or frozen/seized bolts where you need penetrating oil. Exhaust bolts are the easiest to snap if you're not carefull. Simply swapping coils is a VERY VERY simple task and only takes minutes to do. Then all you have to do is unplug the coil you swapped it with to see if the misfire changed cylinders. If it changes then you know it's the coil, if it doesn't change, quickly checking your plug for proper spark only takes an additional 2-3 minutes.
Also you put "it is the pipes @ the bottom of the exhaust manifold".... Maybe I'm just having a duh moment but the pipe at the BOTTOM of the manifold?? Is it your manifold itself or by or at the precats???
Also you put "it is the pipes @ the bottom of the exhaust manifold".... Maybe I'm just having a duh moment but the pipe at the BOTTOM of the manifold?? Is it your manifold itself or by or at the precats???
08-23-2006, 12:10 PM
#31
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Hey people i took my car to a nissan machanic today, and he hasnt figured out what is wrong with the car yet. He told me the back 3 cylinders are not firing @ idle speed but they are firing @ full throttle, I am very confused now. Its not the cats not the coils all the cylinders in the back have good compression. Has anyone ever had a problem like this??????? Help Me Please
08-23-2006, 02:08 PM
#34
A nissan specific scantool is required to pull non-emissions related codes, so discussing posibilities here is pretty much pointless........but for the sake of argument, IF this was an injector problem and the pcm is shutting down the spark to those cylinders, then injector pulse width would also be zero wouldn't it??? The problem with the glowing is he's running rich, so the pcm is for some reason still opening/closing the injectors @ idle?? Doesn't make sence to me that it would be an injector/FI problem...Maybe I'm missing something here.
EDIT: I just read your other post....Is it not firing right as stated here or is it just that the back 3 are misfiring as stated in the other thread......I.E. Is there no spark at all on the back 3 @ idle or is it just misfiring @ idle??
EDIT: I just read your other post....Is it not firing right as stated here or is it just that the back 3 are misfiring as stated in the other thread......I.E. Is there no spark at all on the back 3 @ idle or is it just misfiring @ idle??
08-25-2006, 02:15 PM
#35
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Update
I have more info. Cylinders 1,2,&3 are dead @ Idle. But when you mash the gas they are firing properly. The machanic said the back exhaust on the motor is letting gases in rather than out. He eleminated the EGR but the car did the same thing. The back exhaust is still turning fire red!!! Again Cylinders 12&3 are dead @ idle but 45&6 are fine! What in the world could this be! I am already about $600.00 in the hole and i have'nt found out what is causing my problem. All compression checks came out fine. He did a running compression check and a regular compression check and they dont show any signs of a problem. Has anyone ever experienced this with their maxima??????? And what was the problem????
I have more info. Cylinders 1,2,&3 are dead @ Idle. But when you mash the gas they are firing properly. The machanic said the back exhaust on the motor is letting gases in rather than out. He eleminated the EGR but the car did the same thing. The back exhaust is still turning fire red!!! Again Cylinders 12&3 are dead @ idle but 45&6 are fine! What in the world could this be! I am already about $600.00 in the hole and i have'nt found out what is causing my problem. All compression checks came out fine. He did a running compression check and a regular compression check and they dont show any signs of a problem. Has anyone ever experienced this with their maxima??????? And what was the problem????
08-29-2006, 02:06 PM
#38
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Another Update!!!!!!!!!!!
I have more info on my problem guys. The machanic told me today that the cylinders 1, 2, & 3 are dead at idle. He said that they are getting spark at idle but the cylinders are not responding until you give it gas or go full throttle. He also told me the #2 exhaust manifold pipe is turning fire red. Can anyone help me determine what is causing this???????? The compression checks on the cylinders were all @ 200lbs except for cylinder 2 it was @ 190lbs. Your input and advice would be greatly appreciated ASAP!!! Thank you all in advance! I know someone can help me solve this problem i have been fighting now for over a month.