So I have decided I bought the worst maxima on this forum.

Ok, so its been a week since my battery light and e brake light came on at the same time. w00t... But recently my stereo has sucked... and today

-----> Read Here----
If the car is in gear it shakes...... if its in neutral it seems ok. If I give gas you can hear the exhaust being all irregular. So, I gave her more gas to see if I could make it go away (nothings that easy) and it sounded better at higher rpms, but still not cool. THEN I noticed my CEL flash at me.. maybe for 20 secs, by then it was a red light and it went away, never came back.

I never tried to give it hella gas again.... because i just wanted to get home from work. Got home, shut it off, then turned it back on again, it started, but same effects as listed above. I also think I smell unburnt gas aswell.... im pretty sure i did a few times

NOTE: Its been REALLY cold last couple of days...

Help?

 

i wonder if i can sponsor a literacy class for this forum. posts get harder and harder to read.

look for a vacuum leak or an exhaust leak. i would think vacuum because of the unused petrol smell. not to mention that you said it sounded better at higher RPMs. a exhaust leak is usually the opposite. it sounds louder as you give it more gas. where to start looking? no idea, but you can try some good old Seafoam. Jst enough to get it to smoke and shut the motor off. Then look to see where the smoke is coming from underneath the hood. Your other alternative is to see if a shop can detect it.

 

did you pull the ecu codes

 

the CEL light never came back on

 

Ok, For the simple minded.

MY CAR SHAKES IN GEAR!!!!!!

 

ok, not fair, u edited your post, I take my other back.... mmmm

sounds like a crappy problem..... YAY just as I started to save my money again..... Maxima strikes again!

 

because the CEL is off doesn't mean you don't have a code...check anyway...

 

dont worry yet. may be something simple. have you done any work to the car? clean the TB or IAC Valve? perhaps your forgot to replace the gasket. Look at your plenum and see if there is moisture around the base. could be a bad gasket there. I cleaned my small EGR pipe and it took my car a month to realize that i didnt put the bolts back on the upper portion. (car must be as retarded as I). . 2 bolts later, smooth as butter.

 

It could be a bad coil pack that is not firing correctly. It could be an intermident Knock sensor setting the timing to advanced (this is why it would smooth out at higher rpms). The best thing is to have the codes pulled and if who ever pulls the codes can't tell you what the code is post it and the forum will take care of you.

 

Battery and alternator light coming on at the same time typically means a problem with your charging system.

With the engine idling, take a voltmeter and measure the voltage coming directly off the large terminal right on the alternator relative to the engine ground. Unplug your fans first to make sure you do not get caught up in them accidentally. If you are only reading battery voltage (~12V) at idle, you will need to replace the alternator.

A flashing CEL indicates a severe enough misfire condition to cause damage to your catalytic converter. If the ecu and the rest of the engine control circuit is deprived of power, the engine will misfire and shake.

I had a similar problem a few months ago and had to replace the alternator.

 

change your alternator

change your coil packs

blinking cel means multiple mis-fires.

 

No need to change the coil packs. A low voltage condition will cause the coil packs not to fire.

Change the alternator first and see if the misfiring goes away. Mine did.

 

Battery and e-brake light. sounds like low brake fluid to me. Time for a top up maybe? When was the last time you changed your brake fluid?
When was the fuel filter changed last? Maybe that's got something to do with the rough idle?
MAybe a loose alternator belt? I'm leading towards the coil pack also, but you should pull the codes to make sure. I've got a buddy that has access to the snap-on diagnostic tool if you don't want to take it to the dealership. Give me a shout and we should be able to find out what the **** is up.
jasen

 

You need to look at a wiring diagram of how the warning lamps in the instrument cluster are connected. The brake light in addition to being wired into the master cylinder fluid level sensor, is also tied into the charging lamp circuit through a diode. The diode stops the charging light coming on when the fluid level is low but when the alternator output drops too low, it provides a path to ground and both charging and brake lights come on.

 

really? That's kinda strange. I wonder why nissan would do something like that instead of just having an alternator light?

 

Why do people say this? You dont "top up" brake fluid. If the brake light comes on on its own, it does so for a reason. its not like topping up your gas tank or oil. If leveled properly, it is supposed to be an indication of a very needed brake change.

 

It is not strange at all. It is kind of slick actually.

It is part of the diagnostic system for the charging cicuit. The battery light will come on if the charging voltage is too high (faulty regulator) or too low. Both brake and alternator lights lights will come on only if the voltage is too low.

Several manufacturers do this. I had an 84 Supra that had the cluster wired in the same configuration. I have never had an alternator fail on another vehicle so I cannot comment other than that.

 

Its worth a shot to change the alternator first then check and see.

I had a situation where I was getting low voltage and I didnt mis fire. System was putting out 9.0 volts and dropping (drive belt fell off), and i was still making power.

 

You must have been driving around without a belt for a while. If you are not running any extra accessories, the battery output alone is sufficient enough to power engine function for a while. I ran with the alternator removed from the vehcile for three days (didn't want to pay an upfront core charge) making short trips in the middle of winter and the engine always started.

I had a voltmeter wired up to the lighter socket to monitor battery voltage in real time. If it would have dropped below 10 volts, I would have thrown it on the charger. It never did.

There is a threshold voltage that must be maintained in the coilpack primary in order to produce a high enough secondary voltage to jump a spark at the plug. If you fall below that voltage, the plug will not fire and you will have a misfire condition. If your voltage was indeed 9V, then that would have had to still be above the threshold value (not by much though).

 

it was a couple of days.

 

status update: Washed car and let it warm up to room temperature. Got Oil change (way over do), engine flush, transmision fluid change, drive for about 10 secs, CEL light came on.

Going to have a shower then pull codes.
*plz be something cheap*

 

Cylinder 1 Misfire Code 6 long 8 short



AHHHHHHH!!!

 

prob a coil pack. easy fix. not cheap but not expensive.

 

Are your battery and brake lights still on?

 

Dude what is your problem. We put it in PLAIN ENGLISH. Brake + Battery = Alternator. Go to Autozone and get your free alternator check. The lack of charge is causing your coil packs to not get enough charge and misfire.

Pisses me off when people beat around the bush and ignore the veterans. I am far from veteran, but at least I don't ignore the valuable and repeated information posted.

Oh and too the person who said,
"Why do people say this? You dont "top up" brake fluid. If the brake light comes on on its own, it does so for a reason. its not like topping up your gas tank or oil. If leveled properly, it is supposed to be an indication of a very needed brake change."
... You are wrong ... very wrong.

 

Sorry "veteran" but if your brake fluid i going down for any other reason than the piston moving outwards......you have a problem. Just like ATF, Just like PS fluid you should never have to top off brake fluid. If you do, you have a leak, or your pads are gone. but keep topping up if you must "vet".

 

Battery + Brake light=alternator, not just nissan does it, toyota, gm and others as well

 

not exactly true, you brake fluid can go down if its old and need to be changed, when it reaches to certain temperatures you'll boil off some of the old fluid. You can top off, to add more, but in cetain cases a flush would be best. But you can go down on fluid and not have a major problem.

 

its a sealed system. if there is any chance of evaporation it will be at the resevoir although it shouldnt occur there either). boiling occurs at the calipers. If you boil your fluid and the level drops enough to light up the brake light, then you have hose expansion which again indicates the need for repair and not a simple topping up. not to mention boiling itself indicates the need for a repair (fluid change) and not a simple topping up.

 

agreed but if fluids are monitors, you can boil a littler here, a little there, then eventually you'll be low enough to trip the light. It doesnt have to happen just at one time.

 

Ok I had the same problem when I did a ECU reset with the screwdriver. I forgot the screw all the way to the right. Just turn it all the way to the left and lets hope that's the only problem lolol.

 

your car is a 99, your coilpacks are bad. the break light and battery light mean a shot ALT.

 

nope, they are not on anymore. I also have disconnected my subs/amp

 

I have two problems it appears... my alt is bad, which i know, but also i have a cyclinder 1 misfire. I provided information about my bad alt to help troubleshoot my problem. Sorry for any confusion.

 

Thanks for the insight fellas, I am getting 6 new coil packs put in at the nissan stealership.... they recommended I do all 6 at once. (maybe just upsaled) but it makes sense... I would try this by myself but its too cold out.

BIG QUESTION: Would you drive the car to the garage (15min drive , city ) away or get it towed??? knowing that u have a bad coil pack?? I dont want to wreak more.


ALSO, my "o-ring" type rubber seal that goes under the manifold (i hope this makes sense) is sweating a little. Do they need to remove my manifold to fix the coil packs?? Might aswell fix the gasket while im at it.......



SO WOULD U DRIVE THE CAR TO THE GARAGE WITH A "cyclinder 1 misfire"?



or tow it???????

 

i wouldnt do either. save yourself about $500 and do it yourself. it is dead easy to do. the coil packs are $280 from an orger on here. will take you about 45 min if even that. only tool you will need is a phillips screwdriver or 8mm (maybe 10mm) ratchet. the plenum gasket requires the removal of 4 studs and prob another 30 minutes.

 

Its really cold outside. And my garage is not heated... perhaps I should look at the Haynes manual...... I need my car ASAP though...

 

it takes 30-45 min. wear some gloves. you unplug the coil pack. take out 2 screws and lift it out. then put the new one in. screw in two screws and put the plug back. just that simple.

 

can u show me a pic where they are??? im not sure.. never done this before....

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=451830

although i dont believe in testing them since just like a knock sensor they are more prone to fail when they get hot so testing cold can give a bad result.