Hey everyone, long time no see.

Anyway, all of a suddent my car is hesitating quite a bit. When I hit the gas, there is a lag as if I am pulling a freeking house and then I get power. The spark plugs are recently changed, oil changes on time every time, high grade gas all the time, air filter changed recently.

What could this be and how could I fix it. It's got me concerned that my babies time is limited and I may have to put her down soon......

 

I'd recheck the plugs if I were you and if that it isn't take a close look at your plug wires. Don't know if the 1st gen has a coil pack, but if it does check that as well.

 

Not sure on 1996, but usual suspects are: plugs, coils, o2 sensors, mass air flow sensor

 

Pulled any codes? No CEL?

 

Could be your MAF.

 

Yes, I do have coil packs, so no plug wires to check. I guess to pull codes I need to buy one of the readers huh?

Can anyone tell me how to check the o2 sensors, mass air flow sensor? As you may have noticed by now, I am not very good under the hood. I am better a customizing. lol

Anyone know how much the o2 sensors would run and how many of them we have on a 96? Also, how much are the MAF sensors?

Thanks again everyone for all of your help.

 

If your I30 ECU is same as my 96 Maxima, you don't need to buy a code reader to pull a code-All you need is a small flathead screw driver. There is a sticky in 4th Gen. Forum about how to pull a code. Also if you don't feel like pulling a code yourself, I think Autozone can do it for free.

 

you're gonna have to buy a multimeter and a chiltons if plan on checking these. So get those first after you check the codes. The vehicle must be 100% code free bofre any diagnosis can be done.

 

It Could Be A Clogged Cat. Unbolt Your Cat And Run It With Out. If The Cats Clogged You Will Know Cuz It Be Running Normal Again.

 

When is the hesitation? From a dead start? Downshifting to pass? All of the above?

My car used to do that, and after I ran a two tankfuls with fuel injector cleaner added, it stopped.

You can also try spraying Deep Creep into your manifold (look for my video on how to do it).

 

It is happening anytime I step on the gas. There is this lag in power and then I will suddently have power and the car will speed up. It seems to have just started recently. I have never had this problem before and am pretty go about maintenance on this car.

Just out of curiosity, IF it is my O2 Sensors, would these work and how hard would it be to take out the old ones and put in replacements?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/O2-OX...spagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/96-99...spagenameZWD1V

 

DUDE!!! hold on a sec. before you start checking the complicated things, start with the simple and REALLY common stuff first. actually no, start with the fuel filter first, (I know you said you're good with maintenance but something tells me it has 20k+ on it) not because I think it's your problem, but it could be, plus you should do it if it's not recent.

First two things that pop into my mind.... knock sensor, this will give what is called a "ghost code" meaning it doesn't trip the check-engine light, but if you check the codes (screwdriver or autozone) it will be there. the other thing it could be is a plugged egr inlet on the back of the upper intake, these usually cause running issues before it trips the check-engine light with a "high/low flow egr" code. More than likely it is one of those things, nothing else really goes wrong with the VQ. Start with the fuel filter and check the codes at the same time (don't forget to disconnect the battery when doing the fuel filter!!!! this is VERY important!) then move on to the other possible causes (clogged cat, coil, etc)

 

ps.... the more I think about it, it really sounds like the all to common knock-sensor, if it fails the computer will retard the ignition timing, which will cause the car to do exactly what your's is doing.

 

Could it be becuase your car takes a second to downshift? My car was hesitant with 91 and lower octane pump gas. Once i went to 93 it would downshift at the blink of an eye. On multiple times i would floor it and it would take a good three seconds for it to downshift. But sometimes, those three seconds might be life or death. Such as needing to pass a slow car or what not. Just putting my two cents in.

 

I am not thinking it is the downshifting thing because this just started. I have run the highest octain gas in her since the beginning, so it is not the gas.

I will check the fuel filter this weekend and probably drop some fuel injector cleaner in her this week just in case.

I really appreciate everyones help with this and thank you for your time to read my post and help me out.

I will let you know what happens with the fuel filter and injector cleaner....

 

Check the codes first!

 

Check all of your electrical connections first.

 

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????????? What??????

 

I actually have the same problem. So far I’ve changed my fuel filter, MAF, and cleaned TB, not counting regular maintenance with all the filters ect. No codes ether. So if you find a solution to your problem please let us know.

 

Used to have this same problem on my 92 Maxima. Never did find the cure either! It seems there are lots of possible problems, and there are no one cure that work for all.

 

Don't listen to this.

 

With regards to removing cat as suggested above, will removing cat permanently have long-term effect to the health of the engine overall? Will the ECU got confused or anything? How likely is it that the cat's been clogged at this age? (mine's 1997, and fuel is notoriously bad over here!)

 

Removing the cat will not hurt the engine... but good luck getting off and then putting it back on. If you plan on removing the cat you better have a new one to put on or a test pipe along with new bolts, nuts, and gaskets.

I don't know what the hell a cat has to do with this thread anyways.

 

My father has both a Maxima and an I35.

I have a 300zx.

When I had hesitation in my Z, I checked all of the electrical connections such as wires, or coilpacks in my Z's case, injectors, etc.

I also tried to clean the engine coolant temp sensor connection and my MAF sensor connections.

That may help settle out your idle and stop the hesitation.

That was my point.

 

Well, if it's clogged... might be the cause of hesitation as someone suggested in one of the post above.

Anyway, if I take it out, I have no intention of ever putting it back in. I'll simply bypass it. The long arm of the U.S. Federal Government, specifically the EPA, long as it is, do not reach all the way across the world to Jakarta, Indonesia. Yet some cars here do have cats in them, mostly the 'niche' ones that's imported whole from Japan or other places, and in such low volumes that any customization to suit the conditions of a specific country isn't worth it.

 

But the VERY first thing you do is check for the KS code.

 

Some how, I doubt his cat is clogged... you would have to have one sh!tty running engine to produce enough soot to actually clog a cat up. I can't imagine a cat getting clogged on one of these cars.