93 V-Shell

 

I initially put premium in my 2000 Max (purchased last summer) until about April this year--the price got to me. Ever since then I've been getting much better milage and no change in performance; i would get between 50 and 100 more miles per tank (city/highway) and it still had the pickup as on premium and I have never heard a knock from it. However, today I notice the Service Engine Light come on so I stopped in the local Auto Zone to check out the code. It came up P1320 and the dude's computer didn't have any more info. A quick search finds that this indicates the knock detector got tripped. So needless to say that at my next fill up I won't be cheapin' out. I still think that I could run regular and get by, but I love this car too much and I don't roll those kind of dice.

just my two cents...

 

Ever since I got my Maxima 3 weeks ago, I have been putting nothing but premium into her (Tesoro). In my old Honda Accord, I just bought regular, but I abused the **** out of it.

I love my Max, and I knew that I had to put premium into her and I bought it anyways... we have a high tech engine that is also in the 350Z and the G35... well worth it...

And remember, I live in the state that has the highest gas prices.

 

I love my Max too, and have almost consistently (with a few exceptions) put the cheapest branded gasoline in her. (I stay away from unbranded, but consider Sams and Safeway as branded gasoline). The owners' manual says that 87 octane is acceptable, and I use it. Here at my elevation the manual says that 85 octane is acceptable, and I use that, too. If I raced her, I would consistently burn premium -- I don't and so don't.

As a state, you are correct about the highest prices. But I was in Aspen, Colorado in April (before the recent price jumps) and regular gasoline was selling at Shell for $3.799 with 20 cents more for premium -- just short of $4. If you drove about 30 miles north of Aspen the price went to $2.999 for regular. Have not been back, so don't know what the recent price increases have done to these prices -- but at the time I'm certain that Aspen prices were higher than those in Hawaii. Prices in the mountains of Colorado are always higher than they are in the big cities to the east of the mountains -- but Aspen is even higher still.

 

I have the same problem that alanalan has with the pinging or knocking every time I turn off my car.This is my first car got it a little over a month ago(new 2006 Maxima w/8 miles).At first I used the most expensive gas from shell.Every thing was working good.But a couple weeks into it I started hearing the knocking sound.So I change to Chevron and used the most expensive gas and still the same. Im going to take it to the dealer on Sunday to see what is going on. I don't know if this might have cause the problem, the first weekend 4 of July.I was doing 120 mph to and from Vegas.I live in Riverside California..Well the slowest I was going is 90 cause of cars getting in my way....

 

I'd say about 95% of the time i use Chevron with Techron 92+ octane, If i am no where near a chevron ill alternatively use petro canada 91 octane, but i really perfer chevron. In 35 Celcius hot humid summer days i had no audible pinging in either of my 98's or 02.

 

What you are describing is commonly called "run-on" where the engine continues to "run" after the ignition has been turned off. It is also called Dieseling because (like a Diesel Engine) there is no spark to ignite the fuel.

Causes: There is something inside the engine that is hot enough to ignite the fuel without a spark. Normally engine deposits are the cause -- deposits on the spark plug or valves are the most frequent. Given that your ride is very low mileage, I suspect that deposits are not causing your problem. But something inside of the engine is not being cooled properly. Hope the dealer can locate what is causing your run-on problems.

 

Now that you mention it I saw the gas and the Temp sensor out of wack.Since I know that if I have a fuel tank I should not see the Gas light on.And the temp light is allways on, even on a cold morning.....

 

This may well have been the cause of your run-on problem. You should have read the owners' manual more carefully. (In the 04 manual they appear on page 5-14.) When breaking in our VQ engine in your Max, you are not to exceed 4 K RPM for the first 1,200 miles of the car's life. You are also not to accelerate at full throttle in any gear for until the car has gone the same distance. (There are other directions, but these two are the most important). "Failure to follow these recommendations may result in shortened engine life and reduced engine performance." I suspect that you had not fully broken in your engine when you took this high-speed trip to Vegas.

I don't know what trannie you have, but in my 6-speed, 82 MPH in top gear has the engine turning at exactly 4 K RPM. At 120 MPH, the engine would be turning at about 5,800 RPM -- substantially above the maximum of 4 K. Even 90 MPH gets the engine to about 4,400 RPM. I would not mention this to the dealer when you bring it in for repairs -- although I suspect they will be able to tell that the engine was over-reved before complete break-in.

 

Try the 90 octane (10% ethanol) gas from Husky or Mohawk. It is sold at 87 octane prices that all the other stations command. I swear you will not be able to tell the difference from Chevron 92 octane and certainly not Petro Canada 91 octane and you can save 11 cents a litre to boot or roughly Cdn$7 a tank.

I have been using this gas for well over a year and my 95SE and my wallet both love it.

Use a bottle of Chevron Techron before every 2nd oil change if you think you will suffer from Techron withdrawal.

 

Well I took it to the dealer and on the paper it sayed that they weren't able to duplicate the noise.But when I got home thats all I heard......Now I have to wait till next sunday to take it back again.

 

You should ask that you be present when the tech next tries to hear the problem. Suspect your car sat for a while and cooled down enough that the run-on did not occur. The engine needs to be quite hot, like having driven for 30 minutes or so. You should probably also have proof that the last few tanks of gasoline you bought were premium (bougs issue, but I'm certain they will raise it).

Another idea, drive into the dealer's shop area with a hot engine and then turn off the engine. The shop manager should hear the problem with the run-on your car exhibits.

 

In my opinion it's better to use the med grade gas (89) and every so often add a fuel injector cleaner into the tank which will clean the carbon out and make it so your engine wont knock... plus you save a little bit of $ with not getting the premium gas.

 

91 till gas price went up, now just 89.