Hi,

I bought a used 97 Maxima SE recently. Was working fine until
i put a regular unleaded gas recently. After putting regular
gas at Costco it starting having trouble starting in mornings.


Any ideas what is happening to car or how to over this
problem.

Regards
Sri.

 

First thing, run some fuel cleaner with some real gas. Never put that regular crap in there again.. Second, clean your throttle body. You can get throttle body cleaner at any auto supply store for like $5.. Basically, you disconnect your intake tube and spray some TB cleaner into the part where it hooks in (the throttle body).. Wipe away what you can, but make sure not to get any debris in there.. Turn the car on and pull the throttle cable a few times to rev it.. You might get some smoke as the stuff is passed through. It's been a long time since I did it, someone else may be able to give you a better idea.

You might also want to clean/replace EGR/PCV valve stuff if that doesn't help.

 

I can't imagine the car having "starting" problem just because you put in regular unleaded regardless of where the gas came from. If you're now having a starting problem there has to be a underline reason why it's happening. Unfortunately I don't have a answer because there could be so many reason why you're having a starting problem. Speaking of which, can you give detail info exactly what your starting problem consist off. Does it crank, but no start? Does it start then stumbles and die? Does it start and you have to give it gas for it to keep running? You see there's a lot of examples of what a "starting" problem could be. Exactly what is your problem.

EDIT
After re-reading your subject line and realizing you're in Detroit where it's probably below 20* degrees your problem could be a battery going dead. Sometimes folks will have a halfass battery during the summer months and never notice any problems but once the cold weather cometh so does the starting problems.

 

Just use the 91+ octane fuel like the manual advises.

 

The grade of fuel has nothing to do with his starting issue. Octane only makes gas burn slower, resisting pinging under load, mostly when your engine is hot.

Onto the starting issue...

1) Do clean your throttle body. Instructions can be found here. www.motorvate.ca

2)Make sure your engine is tuned up correctly. Spark Plugs, Flue Filter should be changed every 50K miles.

3) Check or just replace the engine coolant temperature sensor. It's a cheap part and could very well be your problem if it's out of spec.

A Haynes shop manual is a good investment. It will help you troubleshoot problems with your car.

Good luck and enjoy the holidays.

 

Thanks very much for advise.