Maxima misfiring....

[lark265]

I have a 1998 Maxima with 57K miles on it. I just bought it about a month ago. Anyway, a week ago I noticed It felt very "choppy" when I shifted into Drive or Reverse. It felt like it was going to stall but it never did. The Service Engine Soon light has been on for about 3 weeks but now, when I go up hills especially, that light blinks. I can still drive it but I shift into Neutral at stoplights to avoid hearing the rough idle while in Drive. Went to Pep Boys yesterday - they had the car for about an hour and then informed me that they would need to keep the car for a full day because of the "complex issues involved" - especially concerning the codes. The codes they read were:

p0300 random misfire
p0325 knock sensor
p0440 evap emission

My car passed smog test abut 3 months ago. I can drive it OK it just is very choppy and so there's not a lot of power, especially going up hills.

 

[LTC8K6]

Blinking light = bad misfire = stop driving.

 

[Noo]

you probably got scammed. There are no 98 Maximas with that legitimately low miles.

 

[edi sucks]

^^ not necessarily true. I bought a '02 Maxima SE w/57k miles back in 2010 (or 2011, don't remember) from Manheim's auto auction. I just hit 97k and the thing still drives like new.

I also just bought a showroom condition '11 Murano SL w/25k miles (more believable I guess). Both cars were clearly owned by older folks - we found bifocals in the Murano.

 

[slag]

hook up a scan tool to find out which coil pack is out and replace it. That will probably get rid of the other codes also.

 

[Mandres]

every 4th gen maxima has the code for the knock sensor, I wouldn't worry too much about that one. Does sound like you need a coil pack replaced.

 

[Noo]

^^ not necessarily true. I bought a '02 Maxima SE w/57k miles back in 2010 (or 2011, don't remember) from Manheim's auto auction. I just hit 97k and the thing still drives like new.

I also just bought a showroom condition '11 Murano SL w/25k miles (more believable I guess). Both cars were clearly owned by older folks - we found bifocals in the Murano.

In your example, it's an 8 year old car with 57k miles which is believable. In his case, it's a freaking 16 years old car.

 

[LTC8K6]

I sold my 1995 Taurus last year with 60K on it.

We have a 1996 Lumina with 50K on it.

Those are the true miles.

And, we got the Taurus in 1995 with 12K already on it. So we had put only 48K on it.

 

[BUTCH1]

Take a look under the hood and see if it's still got the original plugs and wires, if so replace them, even at that low mileage robber and silicone will deteriorate over time.

 

[Wingznut]

Blinking light = bad misfire = stop driving.

This. Keep driving it with a misfire, and you are dumping unburned fuel into the catalytic converter. Feel free to add several hundred dollars to the list of repairs if you choose to keep driving it.

 

[njmodi]

Take a look under the hood and see if it's still got the original plugs and wires, if so replace them, even at that low mileage robber and silicone will deteriorate over time.

4th Gen Maximas have COP ignition - not wires - so it's not likely a wire in the traditional sense (of course it's possible a connector/harness is bad).

Based on my own experience with a 4th Gen, it's either a bad coil-pack, or could also be the MAF. They are notorious for MAF failures.

As far as the knock sensor is concerned, it's a common failure, the sensor housing cracks. The upside of replacing it is to get proper timing and full power back. In the OPs case, since he has misfires, I would suggest addressing those first, resetting the code and then checking for the knock sensor code again in a few weeks. Note the knock-sensor alone will NOT set the CEL - but you will see it when reading codes via an OBD-II scanner.

 

[BUTCH1]

4th Gen Maximas have COP ignition - not wires - so it's not likely a wire in the traditional sense (of course it's possible a connector/harness is bad).

Based on my own experience with a 4th Gen, it's either a bad coil-pack, or could also be the MAF. They are notorious for MAF failures.

As far as the knock sensor is concerned, it's a common failure, the sensor housing cracks. The upside of replacing it is to get proper timing and full power back. In the OPs case, since he has misfires, I would suggest addressing those first, resetting the code and then checking for the knock sensor code again in a few weeks. Note the knock-sensor alone will NOT set the CEL - but you will see it when reading codes via an OBD-II scanner.

Interesting, I thought ,modern cars do not need to be "timed" like in the olden days when one loosened the distributor cap bolt and timed it with a light, shouldn't (as long as it's mechanically in time, no belt slippage ect.) time itself?.

 

[LTC8K6]

Interesting, I thought ,modern cars do not need to be "timed" like in the olden days when one loosened the distributor cap bolt and timed it with a light, shouldn't (as long as it's mechanically in time, no belt slippage ect.) time itself?.

He is talking about the ECU reducing power due to knock, or due to no signal from the knock sensor.

 

[njmodi]

Interesting, I thought ,modern cars do not need to be "timed" like in the olden days when one loosened the distributor cap bolt and timed it with a light, shouldn't (as long as it's mechanically in time, no belt slippage ect.) time itself?.

Here is an explanation of what I was referring to:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090622054831AAt6mBe

 

[T2urtle]

you probably got scammed. There are no 98 Maximas with that legitimately low miles.

This is my logic as well,

I'm a former 98 GLE owner myself ( my brother is the owner now) with 150k. The clusters are so easy to swap with a low mileage one, i had a couple of chances to grab some 30k gauges. I actually wanted a SE model with a white face but never saw one with the similar miles.


Anyways... knock sensor is almost always a problem. $50 sensor, its a little tough to do if you have big hands. EVAP issue well, I had that problem before, i went to the junkyard and grabbed all evap related items. Charcoal canister, both evap pressure sensor and there was one i couldn't find. My shop did the work as i needed a shop to document stuff.

Lastly you need a coilpack, go OEM on these. If you dont go OEM, your Misfire will go out but you will now get P1320. These are almost always the case with autozone coils.

 

[tortillasoup]

Clean your grounds op if you haven't done so already. Not saying this will cure your problem but it will go a long way to making the car run better.

 

[RGN]

Lastly you need a coilpack, go OEM on these. If you dont go OEM, your Misfire will go out but you will now get P1320. These are almost always the case with autozone coils.

Back when I had my '92 (VE30), the Autozone coils were the same as OEM. This was probably because of the limited run that engine had, but it sure was nice when a couple of them cracked.

Speaking of which, to the OP, that is one way to know if they are bad. Takes 10 minutes to visually check each one for cracks. Just pull the bolts (10mm) and pop them out and inspect.

Also check the resistance between terminals 2 and 3 (the two on the right as you look at them). Should be greater than 0, if the resistance is 0, the coil is bad.

 

[RGN]

From a 2000 Maxima FSM on the P0300:


The misfire detection logic consists of the following two conditions.
1. One Trip Detection Logic (Three Way Catalyst Damage)
On the first trip that a misfire condition occurs that can damage the three way catalyst (TWC) due to
overheating, the MI will blink.
When a misfire condition occurs, the ECM monitors the CKP sensor (POS) signal every 200 engine revolutions
for a change.
When the misfire condition decreases to a level that will not damage the TWC, the MI will turn off.
If another misfire condition occurs that can damage the TWC on a second trip, the MI will blink.
When the misfire condition decreases to a level that will not damage the TWC, the MI will remain on.
If another misfire condition occurs that can damage the TWC, the MI will begin to blink again