Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

OK I'll do my best to describe the current situation, along with a short video so you guys can help identify whats going on. I drive an 03 automatic a week ago I started to get some random engine stumbling when at a traffic light, on this past Friday the car actually stalled but was quick to restart. This past Saturday while driving I started to get random pinging and pre-detonation which only progressed and got worse massive miss fires and back firing from the exhaust all of this and still no SES light ... well that was short lived just as I am asking myself why no SES off it went flashing off/on. I turned off the car and then restarted and the SES light had gone out and the car ran fine for fee miles and then it started all over again.

Now I am guilty of running very low on fuel a couple of time over this same time period, I have had a fellow .org'er over and run his consult 2 software and confirmed the mutliple miss fire codes. We unplugged just about every sensor and coil and fuel injector and could not determine any fault with them. We came to the engine seems to be starved for fuel which would cause all the pre-detonation and pinging but the misfiring still is a concern.
I have since put about a quarter of a can of Seafoam into the gas and it has greatly reduces the ping and pre-detonation.

My question is would a fuel pump show these signs if it was on its way out or is there only working and then dead, would a clogged fuel stainer give these current results? As I have said the ping is greatly reduced at the moment and the SES light has gone out again can seem to idle normally but the car does not pull as it used to could the noise be from the torque converter I am only guessing as the heaviest amount of engine noise is coming from the lower middle section of the engine closest to the firewall.

here's my video any help and suggestion sure would be helpful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfpslK8zUI

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

by the way, it isn't the MAF, we swapped sensors and the car ran no different. We confirmed all the coils are firing by unplugging one at a time, all the injectors seem to be firing as we pulled those one at a time as well.
I'm leaning toward either fuel pump is dying or possible the CPS.

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

Just an added notation, just came back home from taking the car for a little run, The rattling/pinging is still there. Driving the car at normal limits it appears to run okay, but when you push down hard on the pedal the engine roars the RPMs rise quickly but there is no notable pull/torque due to the change in applied gas pedal.

2slow

iTrader: (6)

My guess would be CPS.

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

So do you think that a failing CPS 1. would be causing that horrible metal rattling noise and 2. cause the lack of torque when you apply more pedal pressure?

2slow

iTrader: (6)

If the crank position signal is fubar's, then the ignition timing also fubar'd, and could cause pre-ignition/detonation. Since this would affect all cylinders, it would produce the multiple misfire code rather than a cylinder specific code; not that the ECU coulde really resolve a misfire to a single cylinder if it's reference is off.

Although, I would somewhat expect the tachometer to behave funny, but I admittedly don't know how the Maxima's dash instruments function.

EDIT: the FSM likely has diagnostic procedures to test the likely candidates starting on page EC-316...

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

Well that makes perfect sense as when I had a mechanic take a look at the car this morning his comment was ... wow your timing is really messed up and he was getting a multiple missfire when he hooked up the car to his reader. And yes to your other statement about the tach being messed-up as it jumps when I apply more gas and the engines pitch changes but little in the way of any torque is being generated

BronxSleeperMax187

Coils....swap coils and check...unplugging is not enough....bad gas or watered down

LongIslandMax

iTrader: (3)

FWIW, my car sounded as if it was knocking when I had a multiple misfire problem. I actually had to drive 20 miles home with about 60% power, and my car sounding like a broken down v8. Needless to say, my cats were destoyed after driving through that.

Gemner

iTrader: (4)

what solved your problem?? could be pertinent information here

LongIslandMax

iTrader: (3)

Well two of my rear coils were soaked with oil, so I opted to replace all three in the rear bank, and my vc as well. My car gave me both a multiple misfire and two cylinder specific codes which pointed right to both of the coils where oil had leaked. With all three replaced the horrible knocking sound was gone, power was returned, and I was broke.

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

You should definitely check your oil level as well. Could be low, and you could be burning oil and running dry. Mine made that sound with my old stock block and that was cause it was burning oil and I had to fill up once every month or so.

boondoxmax

iTrader: (1)

It's your coils. They are probably soaked with oil. I had the same problem on my 03 about3-4 months ago. Took to dealer and #5 plug was full of oil and the coil was swollen. Replaced all spark plugs and the #5 coil and all is right again. The valve covers are also gonna need to be replaced cause that's is the cause of the oil getting into the plugs and messing up the coils.............

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

I've had 2 coils go on me in the last 2 years, and each time the symptoms where very similar to what you're describing. They didn't go all at once. Rather, I would experience occasional misfires. Car would run like crap, then suddenly run fine and continue to run fine for days. It was only when the coil totally failed that the shop was able to identify the problem. I got lucky on the second coil, because the code was still in the ECU identifying the errant coil. Ever more lucky still, it was a front coil. Rear coils are a PITA.

My point is: swapping coil packs will only help your diagnosis while the problem is occurring.

jasonmax

iTrader: (2)

oil plus dirt inside the sparkplug tubes isnt helping the sparkplugs making enough sparks
time for new valve covers.

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

Well hear it is day four, I started the car this morning as I was going to the Nissan Dealership to have them attempt to diagnose the problems I was having. The engine sounded and seemed to be running without the heavy engine ping although on the performance side it still had very little torque and my exhaust tone still sounded strange and seem to be coming from the engine bay, like a hole in a pipe. I decided to take a bit of a drive to a local NAPA car parts store and pickup another can of seafoam as what I had already put into my tank was less than a quarter of a can on a quarter tank of gas and I had noticed some improvement from doing this the day before. Once I had arrived at the NAPA store my engine had warmed up and the ping and rattling was back but still diminished from what it was on Sat. I picked up a fresh can and put half of the can into my quarter tank of gas to increase the concentration and then proceeded to drive back into town to the Dealership.

This additional driving on the HWY along with the addition of more seafoam proofed to be of a great benefit as the exhaust tone had now changed back to normal and was now coming from the rear of the car instead of sounding like inside the engine bay. Performance had been restored as now the car was shifting correctly and the rpm's I was used to noting and I had full torque once again. Once at the dealership the car was purring like a kitten, I still went in to ask if my car was part of the recall back in 03 for the CPS (recall id #03v455000 issued on Nov. 17, 2003) The young lady check my vin. # and I was not part of the recall. as the car was now performing like a top I decided to forgo the diagnostic at this moment.

I have attached the link to my video 2 after seafoam running through the system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnaOHSdaZPg

So to summarize my engine noise knight_yyz nailed the problem when he was over and we were trying to find the source of all the engine ping and engine misfiring, once we had been through all the connection and he had the engine hooked up to his laptop software he had concluded the engine seemed to be starving for fuel be it a bad fuel pump, really dirty injectors or even a clogged fuel straining. After running seafoam in a heavy concentration to fuel mix the engine is no longer starving for fuel and performance has been restored. So don't do what I had done allowing the fuel level to get way to low to often as I truly thought my engine was toast and I had already starting trying to locate its replacement ... Seafoam for the win in this case along with some great .org members help and replies.

Thank you

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Could it really be as simple as restricted fuel delivery?

You're going to be on pins & needles for the next few weeks, I bet.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

How was the fuel issue confirmed?

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

I know what your saying, and yes I will remain optimistic probably for several weeks, but what I was thinking was needed such as an engine replacement was just devastating. Ray went over every inch of the engine and reviewed his consult2 software a number of times and kept coming back to the same conclusion of the engine being starved for fuel and knowing I had run the tank way to low over this past two weeks really made the most sense that I had allowed the gas tank slug to have been introduced into the fuel lines.

I can only attest to confirming the fuel/injectors being clogged because I know I had run down to the fuel lamp being lite and beyond what one should consider safe. Most folks probably wouldn't admit they had run the fuel tank down to an unsafe level I just want my information to be as honest as one can

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

We should mention that 2 weeks prior to all this happening the spark plugs were replaced and the rear valve cover was replaced with the 04 version. So there is no oil in the plug sockets. There was no oil in the intake manifold. NWP spacers were installed as well. All done by me. There was oil in the plug socket before swapping covers. The car was running fine for the last two or three weeks when this horrible sound started to happen. I'm not a motor guru but to me everything pointed to just not enough fuel. Lean as hell and knocking like an SOB. There was no reason for the car to be as lean as it sounded. Hooking up the autoenginuity scanner found no problems except for p0300 multiple misfire. I thought for sure it was the MAF but as I said we swapped my known good one for his and no difference. Then pulled the front 3 coils and it barely made a difference. It honestly sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders. Reminded me of when my grand am lost a coil pack way back when. Only ran on 2 cylinders. Jim had also been to an auto mechanic earlier in the day and mentioned the timing seemed uckfayed. Retarding the timing seemed to make little improvement. So I'm thinking now that maybe the CKPS is on it's way out or even one of the cam position sensors. I unplugged on cam sensor and there was no change in the sound of engine.
SO although I don't know what was really wrong, in hindsight I would have to say something was gunked up in the fuel or electrical system and the seafoam cleaned it up.

BronxSleeperMax187

Gas coulda been bad or watered down

maxima dude

i heard from a nissan tech random misfire is cause by a maf that is going bad or one of the primary 02 sensors going

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Come back to this thread in a few weeks. If things are still good, then this sure would feel like the right diagnosis. Good to know for the rest of us, too, and not just for closure.

sontakke

Were you able to look at the fuel trim via Consult? If it was being starved for fuel, the lean condition would have been picked up by the ECM and LTFT/STFT would be pegged. Was that the case? Do you have the freeze frame data?

If Seafoam really fixed your problem, we will all have to make a run on the store :-) I have unnatural attraction to fuel system cleaners and horde bunch of them (Techron, Regane, 3M, Toyota etc) but Seafoam has not caught my fancy. Your experience, if it holds true for next couple of weeks, will change that!

- Vikas

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

I agree John, I will stay close to this thread as I like alot of the others are questioning "was it really that simple" as clogged fuel lines or injectors? I for one sure to hope so.

Could have been really bad gas? - perhaps, but I am leaning more to my lack of attention to the fuel gauge and pushing slug up from the bottom of the gas tank.

The Car is performing very well today, as being stuck in a traffic mishap (not mine) on the HWY 403 for over 3.5 hours of stop and go just trying to get past the accident area and today is quite hot at 29 Celsius and muggy ( and we all know how these engine get heat soaked). The car is idling just fine in all this stop and go and once clearing the accident area I was able to jump back to cruising speeds with no issues.

The6spdMax

iTrader: (23)

Ghost, glad you fixed the problem. My question is, is this your first time seaforming your maxima? If not, when was the last time you did it. Just curious.

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

I had used seafoam before about a year ago (last summer), but I have only ever added it the gas tank and that was when I did a full tank of gas with just less than a half can of seafom.

This time around as I have mentioned I put in a much strong concentration into the gas tank 1/2 can to just over a quarter tank of gas, which I ran for approx. 50km before increasing my gas in the tank to 1/2 a tank to delute the consentration down a little.

knight_yyz

iTrader: (40)

If it was bad gas I am sure that it would have run tlike crap for the whole tank of gas, not just the last quarter of it.

In regards to the autoengenuity question, the freeze frame data was not accurate from what I could tell. The engine rpm's were not right so the info was there for a while. I should have cleared the code and retried it but it was freakin hot and I was running out of ideas.

I don't think putting seafoam in the gas counts as "seafoaming" the maxima. Putting it in the oil and cleaning the engine internals does

Ghost_54

iTrader: (13)

Agreed, I was always under the impression that to seafoam a Maxima should be done as so,

1. 1/3 of the can into the gas tank
2. 1/3 of the can into the engines oil case
3. 1/3 of the can slowly to be sucked up through the master brake hose
4. turn off the engine and allow the seafoam to break down the contaminants for 5-10 mins.
5. restart the car (which may be a bit sluggish to restart) and hold the rpm's up reviving the engine into the mid 2k range until all the smoke currently blowing out the exhaust is gone.
6. either head to your favorite oil change location. or do it yourself right there in the driveway (most important to do the full oil change right away after this seafoam treatment).

Some one correct me if I have left out any important details ... as for the just putting seafoam into the gas tank at the very best I have cleaned just my fuel injectors and maybe some slug in the fuel pump its self in either case my car now sounds healthy and is back to its full performance level before all this noise crap started up.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

You got it right on the Seafoam procedures. However, the oil change is only recommended when you add Seafoam to the oil (in the crankcase). With the other 2 applications, it just burns through.