My wife's 96 maxima starting acting up yesterday. She called and said it was skipping badly and she didn't know if it would make it home. Well it did. I drove it a bit and at first it was fine. Then after a few miles and engine warms up, it starts skipping or missing. I cleaned the MAF sensor and took for another test drive. Seemed to drive fine until I turned back into the hood and floored it a couple of times. Started skipping wildly. Parked it and there it sits. The engine is not throwing a CEL and the Actron scanner at Advance did not pull a code. Seems to me anything causing the engine to run so badly would trigger a CEL. The car is fairly well maintained and has been pretty reliable. I have changed the MAF sensor once and had the EGR valve cleaned once. All O2 sensors have been replaced once. Anybody want to hazard a guess? I'm thinking a coil or the EGR valve again.
John Brown wrote:
Coils and plugs...
All coils? How do you test a coil?
Plugs I know and was already going to replace those.
I didn't use the platinums last change!
Remember to use the OE plug. Some universal platinums have a hard time in some cars.
Many coils can be tested with a digital Volt Ohm Meter (DVOM). Advance or Autozone usually can either test them or have the specs IF they have taken their electrical training courses and if they are worth a crap.
I've used NGK platinum plugs for the first two changes. That's what most folks are recommending on Maxima.org. The last time I went with the standard NGK copper plug (which is supposed to be fine too) because I figured the car was going bye bye.
vazbmw
New Reader
2/19/09 8:03 a.m.
I just went through something similar with my BMW. In my case it was the crank position sensor.
Car would run fine until it was warm then start missing at 5000rpms.
Took me a while to narrow it down to the CPS since its resistance was correct. I noticed when I tested the resistance when hot it was different. That seemed odd and matched the strange performance.
One thing I considered was how many systems relied on the CPS. That help me decide to purchase one. But I had spent lots of money on coils, fuel pump etc first.
From reading the title, I thought, "Well duh, why would the check engine light come on when there's no engine to check?!"
vazbmw
New Reader
2/19/09 8:21 a.m.
When I had my issue it didn't trigger a CEL either
But that is funny anyway
and wires if the car has them
Changing the plugs tonight and going back with Platinum. No wires on this bad boy. A coil per plug. Prices from $70-110 per coil. And there are right one and left ones??? Right side from which direction ?
xci_ed6
New Reader
2/19/09 4:04 p.m.
Cam timing components are always the front, which on the Maxima is the passenger side, so the left bank is in front, and the right bank is in the rear.
I've heard good things about the NGK G-power, which is their cheapest platinum. I have never run them myself though. The Accord hasn't needed plugs yet, and my Civic and bikes all use V-powers.
Well I must be living right. Put the new plugs in last night and car drove great on a 15 mile test run. Wife hasn't called today, so I guess all is well. I recalled other folks having crappy running Maxs and the plugs don't trigger a code. Coil should.
spitfirebill wrote:
Well I must be living right. Put the new plugs in last night and car drove great on a 15 mile test run. Wife hasn't called today, so I guess all is well. I recalled other folks having crappy running Maxs and the plugs don't trigger a code. Coil should.
Hhhhmmmmmmm. Car ran fine for a few days, then started missing a bit at idle at stop lights. No where near as bad as it was. Looks like I may be changing coils.
