Allthough I just joined the forum today, I've accessed the board many times over the years and have learned a lot here. Now I have a really weird problem.


I have a 1999 maxima with 145k miles, we've owned it since 2004 , it's been well maintained, dependable, and free of any major problems until now.


Here's the story. My stepdaughter, who inherited the car from my wife was driving in town when the car lost power and started running erraticly, with white smoke coming from the exaust. she pulled into a parking lot and when she turned the engine off it continued to run.


When I got there the car would not start, it would turn over then make a scary grinding noise, I had it towed to my house. I checked for codes, it was showing PO400 (egr) and PO325, PO325pd (knock sensor)


At first I suspected possibly a broken timing chain. I removed the oil fill cap and looked inside as my wife tuned the car over. I can see things moving around, so I assume the timing chain not broken.


I re-checked the codes, now the previous codes have disappeared, and PO1335, PO1335pd, and PO335 are showing (crankshaft position sensor) I can't see how a bad starter could have coused these symptoms, but since this code can indicate a starter problem, and the starter seems like it may be binding, I replaced the starter relay. (I put a new starter in about 1 year ago.)


Now the car started, I heard a spinning noise, that perhaps was the starter spinning but not engaging the flywheel, the car was idleing erraticly. I got out and looked at the tailpipe, puffs of white smoke were coming out, along with liquid gas pouring out! I turned off the ignition, but the car continued to run until I ran and got a wrench and disconnected the negative battery cable.


I checked codes again, it's still throwing the PO1335's.


I know the gas from the tailpipe can indicate a stuck injector, but why does the car not shut off? That makes me suspect a bad ECM, but from what I'm reading a bad ECM almost allways results in a no start situation.


So far I'm stumped, but I feel I made a little progress getting the car to start.


Thank you in advance for any ideas or help you can give me, o gurus of the maxima board.

 

First question. Did the car overheat, and did she continue to drive it after that?

Is there evidence of oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil?

Did you do a compression test, or a block test?

What I'm trying to learn..... is the engine it's self still ok, or has it been damaged.

 

It did not overheat, and she pulled over and stopped immediately. Oil and water look ok. You're thinking blown head gasket?


The condition of the car now, after replacing the starter relay seem to be the same as the problems she originally encountered.


Further thoughts ; the egr and knock sensor codes couild have been triggered by the stuck injector, but why did they clear on their own?
the 1335 code could have been caused by the faulty starter relay.
The no- stop problem could be a bad ignition relay, but why 2 bad relays all of a sudden? If not a bad ECM possibly an electrical short?

 

My money is on a bad injector.

 

Injectors or coils. But most likely injectors.. As you described it's gas related, injectors are part of that job. While coils only play in a roll of sparks. So I say it's injectors.. We've been experiencing that these cars orginal coils or injectors are going to go recently. I bet you its that.

 

100% agreement.

If you've got raw fuel dripping from your exhaust, I'd also lay money that you've got more than one gone bad.

... been there, done that ...

 

Welcome to the 4th gen injector replacement club. It doesn't sound like you'll continue driving it to destroy your cats. I spent a ton of money of replacing cooked cats and other issues that all started from two leaking injectors on a 99 model. After you get the injectors replaced, if the EGR still gives trouble, I've found that SMP Intermotor brand EGRs have the same Hitachi part numbers as OEM. the 99 models use an electric EGR that costs more than the vacuum type used on earlier models. You can save a lot of money on that part. When the EGR failed on my 99 model, it didn't throw a code in the beginning. The engine behaved like it had a vacuum leak at low speeds -- which it did.. If you have the tools and like like to DIY, you can save a lot of money.

Here's how troubled injectors look from a 99 model with roughly 165,000 miles.

 

Broken injector pintle caps plus carbon deposits in the combustion chambers causes "deiseling" or "run on".

 

It seems that bad injectors is the logical path to follow. should I replace all 6, or look for the bad ones? I'm thinking if I'm lucky, (not likely) it might be one of the front 3 that are not under the manifold.

 

It's your call and only you know your skill set and budget. Since the front injectors are so easy, replace one at a time until you find the bad one. With any luck, you'll find it and you'll be back on the road in 20 minutes. You may only need one, you may need more. If you get lucky, then replace the back ones as time/budget allows for maintenance. It's just a question of time of when one or more of those will fail next.

 

If you replace all, you will save a headache and won't see the problem again for many miles to come. But if you do one at a time and find the one, more an likely the others will fail in a short amount of time too. So it's your choice to choose what you choose to do.

 

You don't want to end up like me and suddenly be unable to start the car. The more troubleshooting I get done on "basic" no start issues, the more I'm leaning towards injector problems, especially since I've been blowing gas out the exhaust for almost 2 weeks now.

 

I posted "gas pouring out of tailpipe" on 10-4-16. Well I finally got around to working on the car, and I found it is indeed a broken fuel injector. The front bank, right side of car injector is missing the cap off the end.


My question is, since the cap obviously got sucked down inside the motor, is there any way to try and retrieve it at this point ? Or do I just put a new injector in and hope for the best?

 

Don't worry about it. Just get a new injector, and you'll be ok.

The piece of cap will be caught by the fuel filter, which will prevent it from hurting your engine. If it was in any way a danger to your engine, you would've already encountered a problem by now.

Get a brand new injector. Bosch, Beck/Arnley, or Hitachi. Remember, they do not include the gaskets, so you'll have to buy them separately. The Beck/Arnley package contains all the gaskets (but each package is for only one injector).

And be glad it's from the front bank and not the back!

 

the fuel filter will not catch what is down stream from it.

the plastic bit already burnt up in the cylinder. no harm done.

 

I've you had one pintle cap crack up and leaking o-rings, you might as well go ahead and and plan for maintenance on the other five. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when the others will start leaking.

Some options include:

1) Refurbish by an injector service company,
2) Reburbish your own,
3) purchase new or refurbished with a warranty.

 

People, there comes a time to do preventative maintenance

Unfortunately, by this time the injectors should be replaced for the same reason that timing belts and water pumps are replaced on most cars.

These items are assumed to be reaching the end of their life. The likelihood of a possible major breakdown is both quite likely, and can take your car down for a while, or paying a mechanic several hundred bucks.

Just spend the money, and do all injectors at once.

Remember, the choice is to do a planned repair when you feel like it, or having the injector crap
out at a bad time, or in winter.

 

I called it. Glad you figured it out.

Threads merged so there's a happy ending people can follow and find years down the road.

 

 

I bought a set of 6 rebuilt injectors on e-bay for $80. They come with a 5 year warranty. They were advertised as A46-00, which should be the right ones for a 99 maxima. They look a little different than the originals, in the photo above the original is on top (if you look closely you can see the cracked cap) the rebuilt are below. Are these the right ones?


Looking online I see others for the 99 maxima that look like these, they are jecs


Also, if I'm just taking off the upper intake manifold to access the rear injectors, do I need a complete gasket set? I see I can just by the one separately.

 

Some of my injectors look like the top one, and others look like the bottom one. They work fine.

I couldn't get the uim gasket by itself at work so I just ordered the entire manifold gasket set. Just 3, and the thick rubber one is the uim one. Or you can go on courtesyparts.com and search gasket - intake manifold for your car. I'm sure there are also other sites you can find it by itself as well.

 

I had the same question a few years back. See post #6, here:
https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...injectors.html

 

just to update the post, replaced all 6 injectors a while back, car runs great. the knock sensor code didn't go away so I checked the sensor at the subharness with ohmmeter,o reading. replaced knock sensor, now no codes.

 

Thanks for updating us regarding how this repair worked out for you. Someone might search this thread one day, and the information might help them.

 

+1 JvG

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out. Many times, someone will post questions, site members provide answers, then we never hear from the poster again until months later when they have a new problem.

I am noting the following quotes.

I also ordered a set of new eBay injectors in October. They work great.

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ved-today.html

 

and i followed suit and tried out the cheap ebay injectors because i was on a budget, i didn't even realize you could get rebuilt injectors for not much more. Well, as long as these chinese injectors are good quality it would be an upgrade from rebuilt. Crossing fingers they hold out and I can get a good lifetime out of these

 

Over the past 3 years, we've seen many posts about problems from leaking injectors. On my last 4th gen purchase and mid-life refresh project, I decided to replace them as a preventative maintenance measure. I figured it would just be a matter of time before the old injector o-rings would start leaking like old coolant hoses. So after 18+ years of use, it was time for a refresh.

 

yeah i also just ordered new radiator hoses and had to replace the hose between the valve covers, the hoses on my car all actually seem to be in decent shape but that one was completely hard and split when i removed it. lady at autozone actually gave it to me for free bc the only 1/2 inch hose was in the scrap pile, literally the exact length i needed

Quick question, i have my injectors, i'll be putting them in sometime today or tomorrow but what about anything else? Should I be changing some other seal along with them? Because when i removed my fuel rail to put on nwp spacers i think it looked like there was another seal separate from the actual injectors

 

I replace the cushion rings as part of the job to hopefully keep from having to touch the rails again for many years. Though the last ones were fine.

On the last job, since the 98 model has the most miles of any of my 4th gens, I replaced the fuel lines between the rails and to the fuel filter. Though I did not replace fuel lines when I did the 99 model three years ago.

It would be a good time to replace the fuel filter if you haven't already done it.

Be sure to use some oil or lubricant on the o-rings so they will not get pinched on installation.



I spray a penetrating lubricant on the top of the injector and let it soak in to make removal easier.



Then I rotate the injector in the rail socket so the lubricant soaks in and coats the old o-rings to make removal easier.



After soaking, I turn the injector so the plug back is over a cap mount and use a screwdriver to pop the old injector out of the socket.



The Phillips looking screws that hold the caps on are a JIS type screw. If you get a 1/2 inch Phillips driver from Harbor Freight and file off the tip, you can make a JIS driver. If you have the rails out and have plenty of room to work, you might find using vice-grips on the screw head to break them loose will also work. I've done it both ways and found that making a JIS driver was the fastest way to remove the screws.




Then using a 1/2 drive ratchet with extension, I lean into the ratchet to apply weight to break the old screws loose from the rail without stripping out the heads.



I replace the JIS screws with Hillman stainless socket head cap screws that I get a hardware store. Mostly because I don't like the JIS screws. If your old screws aren't mangled or stripped, then they should still work ok though.



Sometimes I replace the cap cushions if I have some new ones handy. Though I didn't replace them on the 99 model three years ago. The old ones were fine.

 

Yupp the cushion rings were what i was talking about hopefully autozone has em. I did just order a k&n fuel filter when i noticed mine looked the same age as the car itself and i read something about a 5hp gain on the k&n high flow but i doubt that's accurate. i was able to break all of the screws loose besides one, which i still plan on trying to use vice grips on. what did you use to file down the phillips tip into a makeshift jis?

 

The file in the picture.

I get Hillman Stainless Socket Head Screws from Lowe's or Ace Hardware. M5 (size) 0.8 (pitch) and 20mm (length) with M5 lock washers.

 

Far be it from me to know more than CS_AR, BELIEVE it.

After examining the 20mm jobs myself: I think they are too long (half of them will maybe touch the rail when torqued down).

There are other references on the forum to 16mm versions (Hillman #4402) and those seem like they'd be perfect.