# 97 Maxima Service Engine and Jerking Accelleration



## eonblue (May 19, 2004)

I just bought a 97 Maxima (GXE 3.0L V6) and the car ran smooth on the test drives (i test drove it on three seperate occasions each time the gas tank was on E (empty)). I bought the car and then filled up the gas with low grade 87 octane gas not knowing that i had to put medium or high grade gas into it. I topped it off and then when i drove it for the next day or so the service engine soon light came up and i noticed that the accelleration is a little jerky and it wasnt like that in the test drives. should i be worried about this? my friend who says he "knows a lot about nissans" said that the low octain gas can cause a miss-fire in one of the pistons causing the light to go on and also causing it to go a little jerky. should i go to a nissan certified dealer or should i trust him and just put in good gas next time?

-eon

p.s. i have also stumbled upon the notion that the 97 maxima is notorious for electrical problems...is there any merit to this?


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## Jeff (Oct 17, 2002)

#1 - Do NOT by any means take it in to the stealership. Go to an Autozone or other auto parts store and have them run the codes for free.

#2 - You can run the codes yourself...
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecu.html <--How?
http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecudecoder.html <--Meaning of the code?
http://www.skippynet.com/maxima/ecucodes.doc <--ECU Code Word File with EVERY known ECU Code.

#3 - You should definitely be running 91+ gas. Maximas do NOT like anything lower. This _may_ be the cause of the stumbling, cross your fingers this is your only problem. Read on...

4th gen Maximas are prone to Ignition coil failures. If you notice, your car does not use a distributor like most cars. Each cylinder has its own 'box' that distributes the charge itself...these 'boxes' have a reputation for going out and replacements are around $60 online or more from your dealership. If you go to the dealership, they will tell you that ALL 6 coils are bad...even if only one of them are bad. This is why you will need to run the codes yourself or by going to Autozone and have them run the codes for free.

Post back here after you get your codes if you are needing any further help.

-Jeff


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## eonblue (May 19, 2004)

Hmmm. I just broke rule number one. I went to the dealership and when I got home I read the post. Just my luck. The dealer said (I'm not sure who to trust anymore) that the car needs a whole new wiring harness because the one right know could short. The wiring harness costs $2,500. He said that the car will run fine as long as "the grounds go out." He also said that if the car starts having "hots go out" that it could just flat out fail on me, not the electrical stuff but the whole car! I don't know if he was trying to scare me or what. When I got into the car the check engine thing was gone, so I'm not sure how to get those codes again. He gave me a print out and said all the error codes were there, but I have no idea how to read the thing. It just seems like mindless data. Although I did see that one test had a "cylinder 5 mis-fire" checked with a "1" while all the other tests did not have any miss fires. I'm not sure how to interpret this stupid thing and since i can't get the error code anymore I'm not sure what to do. The car was definitely jerking as i accelerated in first gear and seemed to shake a little more than usual in idle (which seemed a bit low at 600-700 RPM), but ran fine otherwise. I'm not sure what to do...would it help if I posted what that printout said? I'm lost at this point and any help is appreciated.

-eon

P.S. it still had a full tank of that 87 octane gas in it...and the mechanic said that that while 87 octane gas is not good for a '97 V6 3.0L engine it still should not cause it to slightly jerk during acceleration, have a piston mis-fire, or cause the check engine light go on.


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## Jeff (Oct 17, 2002)

If you want my opinion I think one of your coils may be going out.

Rundown of why I think that...
I was getting a check engine light that would come and go. I checked it once while it was still lit and found that my same cylinder (Cylinder #5) was misfiring. Turns out it was my ignition coil that was out. I replaced it and everything has been just fine.


My advice...run the 87 out and immediately run 91+ Octane and maybe even some injector cleaner (just in case...). If the check engine light does happen to come back on then go ahead and do #2 as I wrote above.



Out of curiosity, what did the report say? Were there any codes printed out?
(I've never seen one of these reports...can you scan it?)

-Jeff

*P.S. The dealer probably reset your ecu...the codes will most likely come back within a week.*


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## Green200sxChick (Jul 22, 2002)

Hey, I'm just wondering if this procedure will work for my 1998 Nissan 200sx SER. I'm trying to sell the car, and I had a guy take a look at it, and after he left, my engine light was on... A little ironic... Anyways, I need to know what he did to make it do that. If anyone knows what the procedure is if this is not the same, please let me know! Thanks!!


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## Terran (May 7, 2004)

Give it a shot, or go to autozone and either have them check the codes with their reader or pick up a hayne's manual which will have the instructions for your car.


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## kiev95 (Jul 28, 2004)

MrEous said:


> If you want my opinion I think one of your coils may be going out.
> 
> Rundown of why I think that...
> I was getting a check engine light that would come and go. I checked it once while it was still lit and found that my same cylinder (Cylinder #5) was misfiring. Turns out it was my ignition coil that was out. I replaced it and everything has been just fine.
> ...


Is there a way to test the ignition coil or you just have to replace it? I have the same problem as eonblue, only on 96 maxima.


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## Nismo167 (Sep 6, 2004)

might be ur spark plugs, and dont do the self diagnoisic test casue wehn u check the codes online tehre wrong.


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## jetsam (Feb 7, 2004)

kiev95 said:


> Is there a way to test the ignition coil or you just have to replace it? I have the same problem as eonblue, only on 96 maxima.


probe for continuity.


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## BOOBIEBKNY (Sep 22, 2004)

I HAVE A 99 MAXIMA GLE AND HAD THE SAME MIS-FIRE.I HAD CYLINDER #6
MIS-FIRE AND MY COIL WAS BAD .SO I HAD A TUNE-UP AND NEW COIL INSTALLED ALSO A NEW CAM-POSITION SENSOR.THAT SHOULD FIX IT.
ALSO I USE 93 OCTANE GAS .


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