- This topic has 16 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 10 months ago by
.
-
Topic
-
2000 Nissan Altima GXE 2.4L engine, 2 wheel drive automatic, USA made. Repairs made are intake gasket replaced two years ago, 110,000 miles. Here is what the car did: We were driving and the car developed a dead miss in #3 cylinder. The next day we cranked the car and it ran smooth until it started to warm up and check engine light would flicker and go off. While it was missing, we carried it and had the code read, it said “missing #3 cylinder” and no other code. The car started missing and jerking more and the check engine light came on and stayed on, hasn’t gone out again.
We drove to Auto Zone that day, because it was running very rough, by then. Their machine read the same thing, missing in #3. Since it was missing I decided to buy new plugs. Came back out, car would crank but not start at all. Auto Zone came back out and put the code reader on again and it would not read anything, no codes or miss #3 or anything. The only thing showing up on the code reader was the temps which showed -43 degrees. It was 65 degrees that day. Had the car towed home.
Next day, tried to crank car, battery was very low so put booster pack on the battery and cranked the car, fire right up, ran smooth as silk until it started to get warm then started missing again. I did put another plug in #3, didn’t do any good. I did tap the air flow sensor and the injector on #3, no change. Battery has stayed up great so far, haven’t had to boost again. I really do appreciate any help I can get.
Jim
-
Replies
-
Try doing a power balance test by unplugging # 3 injector. with a noid light
or a screw driver listen to the injector to see if its clicking. Have you checked
for spark on that cylinder?http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues
The Engine control section of the FSM should help you out. You can find it here.
I think the procedure for misfire codes starts on page 246. Also, are you sure your battery is OK? A weak battery can show all sorts of strange things. There is a scannerdanner video on fuel pressure that may also be related (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyEPOeQB0Zg)
[quote=”college man” post=132181]Try doing a power balance test by unplugging # 3 injector. with a noid light
or a screw driver listen to the injector to see if its clicking. Have you checked
for spark on that cylinder?http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-performance-issues%5B/quote%5D
I did check the spark, but the stupid thing is I didn’t check the spark when it was missing, I will tomorrow and let you know how it does. I will also check the injector when it starts to miss. Thank you for the link, that is very helpful, I really appreciate your help.
[quote=”dtidman” post=132184]The Engine control section of the FSM should help you out. You can find it here.
I think the procedure for misfire codes starts on page 246. Also, are you sure your battery is OK? A weak battery can show all sorts of strange things. There is a scannerdanner video on fuel pressure that may also be related (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyEPOeQB0Zg)[/quote]
Thank you so much for the links, I have the code analysis saved, that is so helpful. I didn’t think about the battery but I will check it to see what it is reading then do a full charge on it if necessary, if the battery is bad I will replace it. I will check page 246 and follow the suggestions there. I am an old mechanic from back in the 60s so all of this new stuff is tough on me, give me an ole 327 or 427 and I am at home. Thanks ever so much again, I will let you know what I find out.
Jim
I went out today and before I did anything, I checked the voltage of the battery, it read 12.5 somewhere in that neighborhood but was over 12 volts. I had planned to check the spark on that cylinder and listen to the injector but it never misfired at all. I let it warm up to operating tempature, put it in drive with the emergency brake on, turned the AC on and still no miss or stumble at all.
I turned the engine off, and hooked up the code reader and it still showed one code P0303. I reset the code and the Service Engine light went off. I decided to go ahead and change the spark plugs, gapped at .043. Cranked the engine up and let it idle for 15 minutes. We decided to drive around close to home just in case. Car ran like a dream, believe it or not it seemed to have more pep. After about 30 minutes driving and accelerating, the engine fluttered a little then smoothed out. The flutter was on acceleration, but the flutter was just noticeable not a stumble.
The “service engine” light never did come back on. I know it isn’t fixed and I plan to follow the instructions in the links you gave me. I will report back as soon as I do something else. Once again, thank you both so much, I really didn’t expect so much help.
Jim
Glad to help Jim. Keep us posted on your progress. What brand plug did you use?
Hopefully NGK. What did plug 3 look like?[quote=”college man” post=132328]Glad to help Jim. Keep us posted on your progress. What brand plug did you use?
Hopefully NGK. What did plug 3 look like?[/quote]college man, they are NKG plugs, I didn’t think to look at #3 but I know which one it is, I will check it in a little while and let you know. All the plugs had a light brownish build up on one side of all the plugs and the other side was clean as a pin.
I plan to change out all our vacuum hoses, change the fuel filter, clean the air intake, remove and clean EGR valve and replace the distributor cap and rotor. If and when it does it again, and I know it will, I will look at rebuilding all the injectors. We bought one of the Actron OBD II pocketscan Code Readers and a pretty good electric meter so at least I have a couple things I need. I will let you know what the #3 plug looks like soon. Thank you ever so much again, I really do appreciate your time and knowledge.
[quote=”college man” post=132328] What did plug 3 look like?[/quote]
I checked the #3 plug and it looked exactly like the other three, no difference at all.
We have driven the car a couple more times, the last time, yesterday, after the car was at operating temps it started skipping a little, no check engine light at that point. The car finally developed a dead miss, so I accelerated fairly heavy, the check engine light flickered until I let off the gas, then it went out. I didn’t get a chance to check the car yesterday. At this point I am going to drive the car so it will develop a dead miss, then I will check the spark, and if a spark, I will check to see if the injector is clicking, if it is what do I check next.
Today, drove car and it started stumbling right away, very very poor power, in about one block the car went to a dead miss again still very poor power, service engine light came back on. After car warmed up I checked the spark in the cylinder while it was missing, it was firing but the spark looked orange instead of blue. I bought and changed out the fuel filter, the gas that dumped out of the filter looked very dark and dirty almost looked like rust. it came out of both the inlet and outlet side looking like that.
I pulled the fuel rail because I couldn’t get the injector cap screws off. I check the continuity of all the injectors and starting from drivers side the reading was 8.2-8.3-8.4-8.4, That seems low to me but don’t know for sure. I plan to replace all of the vacuum hoses and while I have the injectors out maybe go ahead and rebuild them. By the way, I took the continuity with the injectors out of the fuel rail.
Today I cleaned the injectors and fuel rail. I swapped #3 injector with #2 injector, reinstalled, because I was getting a P0303 originally. I cranked the engine and it ran smooth for a few seconds then it started to misfire slightly. I turned off the engind and did another code reading and now I have a p0302 instead of a p0303 I also got a p302 pending.
I don’t understand because all of the injectors were clicking when I had them out of the car. I used a 9V battery to test the injectors. So it looks like one of the injectors is bad. I also did a resistance test, and all 4 injectors read 8.2-8.4 ohms. Would you replace all of the injectors or just that one?
Nissans in those years have a problem with injectors and also the injector drivers in the PCM. Since all of the injectors have been in the same length of time I would replace all of them if money permits.
To diagnose more accurately I use a stethoscope and listen to the injectors clicking and if the driver is failing the injector will not click. There are special testing lights called “Noid Lights” to check for injector pulse also but I like to use a 12 volt test light to load the driver.
The best way to check an injector fault is with an oscilloscope but you probably don’t have one. Injectors can still click and not supply fuel.
[quote=”jiju1943″ post=133607]My injectors just came in, is there a way to install them without damaging the O rings?[/quote]
I would call your local Nissan parts dept. and pick up new O rings. They can’t cost that much.
The O rings came with the new injectors. I found out good clean motor oil will work to lub the O rings, since the O rings aren’t 100% rubber, worked like a charm. I also picked up new wires, took care of all the vacuum hoses, installed the injectors, cleared the codes and fired er up, runs smooth as silk.
Thanks so much for all your help, I really do appreciate it.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.