Hi all. I have having some problems with my car and I have searched
countless threads here and learned very much. Great little area.

Here is my problem.

I have a 1994 Maxima, Automatic. About one month ago it began to have
problems accelerating. It would hesitate and hiccup. I could relieve
the problem by accelerating slowly, until up to speed and it worked ok.
No check ignition light has ever come on. However, this type of driving
did not sit well with me. I took it to my local mechanic who could not
find any problems. Ran computer tests and it checked out. Even when he
drove the car it worked fine. Very frustrating.

I took it to the dealership to see their opinion. They called and said
it was the ignition coils. About 900 dollars to replace. I searched the
forum here and found that the problems associated with poor ignition
coils were consistent with my problems.

I decided to get a second opinion from another dealership. They told me
the car needed about $2,500 worth of work, including new o2 sensor, new
coolant sensor and a lot of other work that would not be justified for
a 12 year old car.

The first dealership told me all that work was unnecessary and if the
other dealership would have just looked at the ignition coils then they
would see that is the culprit.

I had the coils replaced. The car drove fine for about 5 min, then it
would begin to hiccup when accelerating and hesitate. Once the car is
off the line it works great. Better than ever. However, now the car
idles very poorly. Worse than before. Around 500-750. It shakes at idle
and feels like it is about ready to stall at times. Then acceleration
off the line is still bad. Car shakes at first, then drives fine. At
high speeds though it still hiccups if I am not giving gas.

Here is the list:

- Idles rough 500-750 (When in D and R, in P and N it idles better, but
after time begins to idle rough)

- Almost stalls at idle

- Hiccups and hesitates off the line (works well once acceleration has
reached 5 - 10 mph)

- Hiccups at higher speeds if gas is not being pressed

- No check engine light

- All six ignition coils and spark plugs just replaced

- Fuel filter just replaced (did this myself, in fact the car at idle
feels just like it did after I pulled the fuel pump fuse out and waited
for the car to die)

- No other problems

Sorry for the novel, just trying to get all the facts out. It is going
back in tomorrow to the dealership who replaced the coils, but I wanted
to see what you all think. I have some suspicions, but I am far from a
mechanic. Thanks.

Cameron

...Sorry for the novel, just trying to get all the facts out. It is going
back in tomorrow to the dealership who replaced the coils, but I wanted
to see what you all think. I have some suspicions, but I am far from a
mechanic. Thanks.

Cameron
General (=you)
- your logic is better than most mechanics, keep on top and dont let them do costly stupidities. Demand beforehand every spare they change, then they have less chances to rob u.
- excellent Novel!
- if u give em free reign, youll end up paying, problem still there
- if u have the wallet to pay stealer$hip, why not buy new maxima?

Problem:
- if its like fuel cutting off, maybe its fuel cutting off: measure the pressure
... supply voltage to pump low, pump bad, hoses crimped, fuel pressure regulator bad

May be oxidation/electrical/groundings/connectors/electronics. Check out pages 6,9,10,14,15, see link below. Stealership will never find all of those possibilities, never. Start from charge voltage checks.


--
Wiikinki
www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/1
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Wiikinki:

Thanks for the reply. Well, I just got the car back from the dealership
and I am ready to start a battle. This morning they were telling me how
their head mechanic was one of the three best Nissan techs in the
country. "He can tell what is wrong the the car just by feeling it!"
Great, then feel my car and fix it.

Now they are telling me they do not know what is wrong with the car.
They can not pin point the problem. But their guess is the fuel
injectors and that I should have all six replaced, with parts alone
running $1,200. Yeah right! That is almost the worth of my car. Plus,
they guaranteed the ignition coils were the problem and all would be
fixed. Terrible day.

I do not know if it would help the diagnosis, but the car squeaks as
well. When the car is at idle, in neutral, or no gassed being pressed
there is a squeak. Once the gas is pressed the squeak is eliminated. So
you can add that to the list. In fact, the car performs worse now than
before the new coils were installed. Thus, begins the battle.

Thanks again for your help. I will check out the link you sent and see
what I can come up with. My gut feeling is that it is an easy fix;
something all the mechanics are missing. Thanks again.

Cameron

Cameron wrote:
connections thoroughly, like:

The alternator connections, especially its ground connection, or major
black wire connecting from it.

All the battery connections. On Nissans, there are usually 3: Positive,
Negative, and the 3rd being another connector that piggy backs off of
the positive.

Why I think the problem may be electrical is at low idle, your
alternator is pumping the weakest current, and any corroded connection
will have the greatest effect on stopping the flow of current around the
system. At higher RPM, the alternator is psuhing much more current and
can overcome the corroded connections better.


Give it a go. It can't hurt and costs nothing.

CD

It sounds as if you needed to clean the throttle body.

Somewhere I read a thread where someone had the same symptoms and after
checking many things, he cleaned the throttle body and his problems were
gone.

I have the same hesitation going on, but i do not have idle problems.
In my case, the hesitation feels as if the car missed a beat, every now
and then, under slight acceleration and with the engine about 1000 rpm.

I am glad you posted here, given that I found the 3 front ignition coils
cracked, and i was about to change them for 2nd hand, guaranteed good,
on ebay for $30 each; now i will just go for the throttle body cleaning.

Cameron wrote:

On 9 Mar 2006 10:43:12 -0800, "Cameron" <gillcam (AT) mscd (DOT) edu> wrote:

Check for vacuum pipe leaks, that is often a problem which causes
rough idle.

Al Moodie.

Cameron wrote:

Clean the throttle body and make sure it has new =NGK= plugs.

--

Steve

http://www.atlantaracing.com