# 92 SE prob........



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

I am new to this forum and I have searched. I found one thread that is similar but not exact. My problem is once the car warms up to normal operating temps it starts to hesitate. Like it goes, then pauses while giving it gas. I keep my foot on the gas pedal, it goes, then pauses, then goes , then pauses, and my foot never leaves the pedal. Not sure if this is tha maf or maybe injectors? Any info would be appreciated. Sorry if this has been answered before..

This is the thread I found similar to my prob. But mine doesnt matter what load its under, pressing in the clutch doesnt help either, nor does it stall. Thanks........

Cuts out 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My 93 DOHC Maxima has a problem with the engine cutting out under load. If I get heavy on the throttle for more than a few seconds it cuts out like the key was switched off. If I then press in the clutch it drops to a smooth idle and then will run OK. Sometimes the engine will die completely, but will then restart and run perfectly. I've replaced plugs, fuel filter, air filter, TPS, checked electrical plugs and vacuum hoses. I checked the fuel rail pressure, and it's OK when the engine cuts out. When it cuts off it has no missing, just NO power like there is no spark or fuel. Recemtly the MAF went bad and it ran very rich. I replaced it with a used one and it seems to run fine with good driveability and mileage (except when it cuts out). If i drive it gently it always runs fine. My next step is to replace the ignition transistor. Any input would be appreciated


----------



## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

check the knock sensor to start with


----------



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

Would that throw a code? I will look into that though, thank you


----------



## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

first guess, MAF. seems to be the culprit with most of these problems.


----------



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

Ok, then testing these 2 items would be a good start! I will try it and then go from there. Thanks guys.........


----------



## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

dipskipity2506 said:


> Would that throw a code? I will look into that though, thank you


sadly very few things set a code on these cars


----------



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

I didnt think it did. Also, im new to this cold weather too. I moved from Az to MN and I was changing my maf yesterday and the TB boot cracked all the way down one side when I was trying to put it back on. Is this cause of the weather or was the boot bad already? It looked fine before I put it back on. I got 2 mafs for $9 at upull, so hopefully one is working well. But now I need to go back and get a boot. Thanks again for the input :cheers:


----------



## kbohip (Dec 14, 2005)

dipskipity2506 said:


> I am new to this forum and I have searched. I found one thread that is similar but not exact. My problem is once the car warms up to normal operating temps it starts to hesitate. Like it goes, then pauses while giving it gas. I keep my foot on the gas pedal, it goes, then pauses, then goes , then pauses, and my foot never leaves the pedal. Not sure if this is tha maf or maybe injectors? Any info would be appreciated. Sorry if this has been answered before..
> 
> This is the thread I found similar to my prob. But mine doesnt matter what load its under, pressing in the clutch doesnt help either, nor does it stall. Thanks........
> 
> ...


I had this exact same problem on my '92 SE. It drove me crazy for years before I finally figured out it was one of the ignition coils gone bad. The crappy thing is the VE30DE has 6 of them, one for each cylinder. What I did was just buy 2 ignition coils with the idea of swapping out the old for the new until I got to the bad one. I got lucky as the bad one was the first one I replaced. This fixed my stalling problem for the next year until my wife wrecked the car.

A mechanic told me that when even one ignition coil goes out, it will cause the whole system to short circuit and shut off all power to all the coils, thereby causing the car to lose all power. I had assumed before that when one coil would go out, the car would just run on 5 cylinders. This is why I never checked the coils in the first place.

BTW, this thread should be stickied. I see this question asked all the time in every Maxima forum I come across. It seems to be a pretty common problem in Maximas.


----------



## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

dang I didn't read the under load part :doh:
then I change my theory to coils.

:wall: I have a set of used ones for sale


----------



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

Ok, I will try the coils as well! Is there gonna be anything else that needs to be changed? How much for the coils? I will see if the MAF works first. I have to wait till it stops friggan snowing!!! Let me know on the coils though. Thanks for everyones input! :thumbup:


----------



## internetautomart (Mar 8, 2004)

dipskipity2506 said:


> Ok, I will try the coils as well! Is there gonna be anything else that needs to be changed? How much for the coils? I will see if the MAF works first. I have to wait till it stops friggan snowing!!! Let me know on the coils though. Thanks for everyones input! :thumbup:


PM me with an offer


----------



## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

If an ignition coil fails, it will usually just affect the given cylinder. However, there was an article in a Nissan Tech Tip magazine years ago describing a condition where if one or more of the coils failed, they could emit RF interferance into the harness which would, in layman's terms, screw up the ECM big time. Bad coils could sometimes be found (albeit, not always) by inspecting for cracks along the body of the coil. If no cracks were to be found and no other problems were encountered on the DOHC engines that would otherwise cause a drivability issues, Nissan recommeded replacing the set of ignition coils and installing a supplemental ground wire from the negative battery cable to the ignition transistor module ground circuit, which was a black wire near the center of the harness. This ground would cut down on the RF interferance issues.


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

I've got four good used coils from a '92 Max SE with the VE30DE engine. Three are the longer rear coils and one short one for the front cylinders. Please PM me if you need any. 

Tip: If you want to diagnose which one is bad, unplug them one at a time while it is idling and listen for the idle speed to drop. If you unplug one and the idle doesn't change you found it.


----------



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

Ok, I tried unplugging one coil at a time while my car was idling. They all did the same thing, the idle dropped a little but that was it. Is this the way to check these? If so what else could it be? I changed the maf and now checked the coils. What else? Thanks again everybody. Oh yeah, the other day i was driving and it seemed like the car had no power at all. It was running still but it would do nothing when I gave it gas. I pulled off the road, put it in first and it went again. Usualy it pauses, but this time it took a while. Hense the reason I pulled to the side of the road. Take care


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

My "coil test" at idle was to find an altogether dead coil. I guess it's possible to have a weak coil where it is working at idle but misfires under load. Also, I know on the CA18DE's the power transistor pack used to be a common failure to cause the symptoms you are having. That's what triggers the coils. Maybe the Max has one too? Perhaps someone else can chime in.


----------



## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

dipskipity2506 said:


> Ok, I tried unplugging one coil at a time while my car was idling. They all did the same thing, the idle dropped a little but that was it. Is this the way to check these? If so what else could it be? I changed the maf and now checked the coils. What else? Thanks again everybody. Oh yeah, the other day i was driving and it seemed like the car had no power at all. It was running still but it would do nothing when I gave it gas. I pulled off the road, put it in first and it went again. Usualy it pauses, but this time it took a while. Hense the reason I pulled to the side of the road. Take care



It's very possible for a coil to fail under load, but be fine at idle. If the engine is misfiring at idle, then pulling the plug of the connectors one at a time can help isolate the coil, if it is a coil. A bad injector would also have the same affect. If the cylinder isn't misfiring at idle, it makes it much tougher to diagnose. While the early transistors in the Pulsar NX SE's were problematic, there weren't too many problems with those in the Maximas. Per Nissan, if everything checks out okay, they recommend replacing all six coil packs and installing a suplemental ground from the negative battery cable connection to the transistor ground wire to cut down on potential RF interferance from a bad coil, which I mentioned in an earlier post. The article was in a Tech Talk magazine, which used to be sent out monthly to Nissan technicians at the dealerships. The bad coils didn't really "short circuit" the system, they emited RF waves that penetrated and the EGI harness and confused the ECM. If you had a Nissan Consult scan tool, it would put it into a "wait" mode.


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

Great post smj999smj,

That is very good specific info. 

Thanks


----------



## dipskipity2506 (Dec 7, 2005)

Thanks smj999 and blownb! So what you are saying is get new coils and use a ground wire from the battery to the transistor? I appreciate all of the help you have given me......


----------



## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

dipskipity2506 said:


> Thanks smj999 and blownb! So what you are saying is get new coils and use a ground wire from the battery to the transistor? I appreciate all of the help you have given me......


Well, that's what Nissan has recommended in the past. The added ground wire needs to go to the transistor ground wire, which, if I remember correctly, is the black wire near the center of the group of wires at the transistor harness connector. 

$70/ coil times 6 is a lot of dough to lay out...I would try one bank of cylinders, first, and see what happens. If it works, you save yourself a couple of hundred dollars; if not, you can then try the other bank's coils. Better yet is if you can find someone that has a VE30DE that will let you borrow some of their coils for testing.


----------



## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

blownb310 said:


> I've got four good used coils from a '92 Max SE with the VE30DE engine. Three are the longer rear coils and one short one for the front cylinders. Please PM me if you need any.











I have three of the rear cylinder coils....









...and one of the shorter front cylinder coils.

You can have all four of these known good used ones for $35 shipped if you'd like.


----------

