being a maxima enthusiast i know that the 4th gen has most of it's power in lower rpm's. I have a 95 5 spd and for some odd reason all my power is above 3500 and below that my car doesn't really move. I was told this could be a clogged cat or an exhaust leak(maybe a gasket that need to be changed). If you guys coupld please help me i would really appreciate it. BTW my current mods: K and n cone, wsp y pipe, and a centerforce dual friction clutch + 6lb. flywheel.

Running on my friends G-tech i ran a 7.8 0-60 isn't that kinda slow for a 4th gen?

 

Check your codes. Knock sensors always seem to go and will take away power. They also won't set off the CEL.

The Max does have more power in the midrange as you are describing, but it should still go good in the lower rpm.

From what I've heard the G-tech really isn't any good for getting actual numbers...it's best for comparing before and after results of mods.

 

its slow cause its 95 lol

 

i replaced my knock sensor about 3 or 4 months ago, should i just forget checking or replacing my cat? Is there anything else that could be robbing me of power?

 

What do you expect at less than 3K rpms? Of course you power is after 3K rpm's

 

you sure that centerforce isnt slipping

 

well that centerforce is new, so i really doubt that it could be slipping and about power below 3k rpm's, my car barely moves on the freeway in 5th

 

if u check a dyno graph u get power above 3K as previously mentioned

 

i have the same problem, but i think its my KS cause i already changed my plugs, pcv, anf fuel filter only has 8K on it. Plus If i disconnect the KS, no code and it drives the same way. I have PR CAI, Y-pipe, UDP, Fidanza, and stage 1 exedy clutch. I remember my car had a really good low-end. Now.. it just sucks..

 

I checked mine with the computer. The CEL was on 24/7 but on the computer it says everything is alright. WTF?

The car is really jerky in first gear and starts to really pull after 3k-3.5k RPM. I don't have anything to compare it to since I bought the car not too long ago. Maybe I'm just used to the low power.

 

Did you break in the clutch properly or did you hammer it right away?

 

how often do these ks's go bad and re they prone to going bad in such short amouts of time? and can it be a ks even if he codes read nothing and my cel isn't on?

 

broke in the clutch for about 400miles shifting normally no higher than 4500

 

Knock sensors don't really go bad more than anything else on our cars. People just talk alot about it because they like to blame all power problems on a bad knock sensor. It is an easy guess, but seldom the case. Think of it as jumping on the knock sensor band wagon.

If you pull your codes and no 0304 code comes up then it's 99.9% certin that your knock sensor is fine. If you still don't believe it then get an ohm meter and check it yourself.

Org members thinking that the knock sensor is the cause of all of our problems is like thinking a clean throttle body is the solution.

 

I doubt 450 is enough.
Mike checking the KS with the ohmeter is almost pointless. It's only useful if you get a 0 reading. If you get 550ohms it's 50/50 whether it works or not.

 

well then do u think gettin my injectors flushed out would do the trick? could it be a clogged injector?

 

well let's say you knock sensor is working.....there is many many other reasons you could be missing low end....but honestly for a non variable valve timing, 3.0L V6....I think a lot of you expect huge amounts of low end....

there is a lot of people on these forums who find out that their mods are what is causing there subtraction of low end and putting it all in the top end....it all depends on where you want the power....! when my car was stock I felt I had better low end...but now I have a ton more top end and throttle response!

 

i understand your point michael and it is a very good one at that, but my car has had this problem even before any mod was done; and from driving a friend' s 96 GLE 5spd, when it was stock for stock, my car did not pull nearly as hard as far as low end and some mid- top end. I know something is wrong i just wanna know what it is...but then again i guess it could be anything so it's just gonna have to be trial and error. thanx for ur help so far guys, but if anyone can further help me then please post a reply.

 

I am going through some of the same problem right now....don't know if any of you remember the 4th gen 5spd vs. 3rd gen 5spd thread in the 1/4 racing forum on the boards here....I have pretty much replaced everything except my injectors and coil packs...no codes at all and it still is not performing anything like it should....I basically decided that enough is enough and it's impossible to diagnose like this...so I am just gonna go dyno and if my dyno turns out to be bad...I will go from there based on the results (ie.. compression test, etc.) cause after a while we all get immune to the speed of our cars and they seem like they are slow after a while...

 

Just get a CAI. It gives you more low-end.

 

micheal, u mentioned coil packs. A while back when i bought the car about 5 months ago i changed the plugs because the previous owner had never done so(i don't really get people), but i didn't bother changing the coil packs, because i was told that if they had needed to be changed that the CEL would have been on, is this true or can one or more of the coil packs be in need of replacing? I'm not sure how coil based ignition works so i don't know if i'd be getting a misfire if this was true.

 

go clean your throttle body first. you said it jerks in the very low rpms. you need to make sure your pcv valve is working fine, and that your throttle body is clean too. it's a bitttch to clean that cus you can't leave the engine on while you clean it. that means you cannot blow the dirt out right away.

 

when i got my clutch installed 2 weeks ago i had the throttle body cleaned and the PCV is functioning properly so we can forget about those. i read some more threads on the org and i am seriously thinking that it could a coil pack or more than one, but my CEL isn't on. Would my car be misfiring at all and would my CEL be on if this was the case?

 

Check ur TPS. It takes 5 minutes to know whether it needs to be adjusted or not. Mine was reading 596 ohms at idle. When I adjusted it down to about 500, I had much better response. I had no codes either.

http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/tps.html

 

so what would i need to check my TPS and what would it need to be set at to be at factory specs? and if it is possible would u happen to know the procedure?

 

you would need a multimeter....you can get a digital one at radio shack that would suit most of your needs for like $20....and you would have to know the factory specs using the FSM or chiltons/haynes....but I can save you that trip and tell you on the 4th gen's it's supposed to be 0.5 kohms with the throttle closed and 4 kohms WOT....you might need another person to help you (1 person to keep the leads of the multimeter on the TPS harness pins 1&2 and another person to slowly push the throttle cable open until it stops) it should slowly and linearly move from 0.5 to 4kohms on your multimeter display under the resistance mode (omega symbol on most multimeters) follow the FSM or chilton/haynes procedure for adjusting.....should be adjusted by loosening the actual TPS itself and rotating it slightly....recheck after adjusting it with your multimeter again....

mine goes from 0.5XX something to 4.XX something....so it isn't exactly to spec....but it's damn close!