# Major Backfiring/stalling



## chikinwing2 (Aug 22, 2005)

I have a major problem with my car. i started driving my car for about 20 minutes and then at about 3000 rpms it started to act like it was stalling then started to backfire, the check engine light came on. i checked the code and it said second cylander was mis-firing. so i replaced plug, wires, cap and rotor. it is still doing the problem ut now its worse. it seems to only do it once the car is fully heated. if i let it cool down for a while it runs like a champ but after about 20 minutes it goes to shit to where i can barely get it to idle without back firing and almost stalling. and this is an automatic. ive asked around, a few people think it my be the distributer and some say it is the injector. i have no idea on what to do please help:crazy:


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## ghost_ryder35 (Feb 28, 2006)

have you done anything to it latley such as a tune up or anything? How many miles on the car? When was the waterpump changed last? I only ask because what you are describing is notrious water pump failure symptoms. Get it fixed asap before you do damage to the motor.


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## chikinwing2 (Aug 22, 2005)

the only thing that i have done to the car was put a short ram intake on it about a month ago. just replaced the wires and plugs on the weekend. other than that i replaced the cap and rotor about 3 months ago. there is only 123,000 miles on the car that why i am wondering why its doing this. would the water pump really be causing the 2nd cylander to mis-fire?


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## Kennizmo (Oct 17, 2005)

ghost_ryder35 said:


> have you done anything to it latley such as a tune up or anything? How many miles on the car? When was the waterpump changed last? I only ask because what you are describing is notrious water pump failure symptoms. Get it fixed asap before you do damage to the motor.


For just one cylinder?

If its just misfiring, yeah, it could be the injector. You replaced all your wires and such so that pretty much eliminates ignition issues.

Im thinking valvetrain myself.


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## ghost_ryder35 (Feb 28, 2006)

disconnect the cylinder that is misfiring. if that smoothes out the idle then that is your problem. it wont make the car idle good or anything and it wont solve the problem. but if it makes it idle better then with it connected then that is the problem.


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## nova73guy (Mar 30, 2004)

Any water coming out of the tailpipe when this happens? Bubbles in the coolant overflow? If so you're looking at a head gasket, leaking between water jacket and cylinder.


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## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

ghost_ryder35 said:


> disconnect the cylinder that is misfiring. if that smoothes out the idle then that is your problem. it wont make the car idle good or anything and it wont solve the problem. but if it makes it idle better then with it connected then that is the problem.


Wait.. disconnect what? Im actually having a cyl missfire rarely around 2500-3000rpms at a steady speed. Already replace the injecter and still does it. Did a full tune up right when I bought the car before I knew it was missfiring.

Sorry for the slight Hi-jack, just want to know for myself. ^-^


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## ghost_ryder35 (Feb 28, 2006)

nova73guy said:


> Any water coming out of the tailpipe when this happens? Bubbles in the coolant overflow? If so you're looking at a head gasket, leaking between water jacket and cylinder.


^^^^^^^^^^^^ agree with him too. there is a few possibilities it could be. you just gotta eliminate certain ones and let us know. 

CHAR - dissconnect the spark plug wire going to the cylinder that is suspected of misfiring. if the car is misfiring once the car is heated up (when the misfiring begins). Then you can see if the idle changes. Since the spark plug wont be creating spark it wont combust any residue or fuel that is in the combustion chamber, so it should run a tad bit smoother. It wont run perfect by all means but if this is the problem it will tell you right away because there wont be any "misfiring"


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## Kennizmo (Oct 17, 2005)

The code says cylinder 2 is misfiring...so wouldnt that tell you pretty much that cylinder #2 *IS* misfiring? I think the issue is not if, but why.

If you decide to actually disconnect your plug for whatever reason, do not leave it like that for extened periods of time. You could burn your cat up, if you havnt already.

I think novaguy has it figured out anyways. Listen to him =)


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## oliverr87 (Sep 23, 2005)

If you say it's around 3000 RPM, it could be a bad MAF. You live in Riverside too? haha I am currently helping a person in Riverside..I live in West Covina. 

A bad water pump would not cause misfiring, although that is a good point because he says it only happens when the car is warmed up. What do I know though. 

Also, if there was a head leak, and coolant was leaking in with the oil/gas it would spew out white smoke.


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## ghost_ryder35 (Feb 28, 2006)

Kennizmo said:


> The code says cylinder 2 is misfiring...so wouldnt that tell you pretty much that cylinder #2 *IS* misfiring? I think the issue is not if, but why.
> 
> If you decide to actually disconnect your plug for whatever reason, do not leave it like that for extened periods of time. You could burn your cat up, if you havnt already.
> 
> I think novaguy has it figured out anyways. Listen to him =)


I hope the person reading the thread would not leave it dissconnected. It would simply justify the ecu. Either or. I have had many of bad ecu codes that werent the actuall problem but caused by other problems. Leaving it off and driving it around like that would be something my mother would do if I told her to test it like that. that would just be plain *STUPID*


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## Char (Jun 16, 2005)

ghost_ryder35 said:


> I hope the person reading the thread would not leave it dissconnected. It would simply justify the ecu. Either or. I have had many of bad ecu codes that werent the actuall problem but caused by other problems. Leaving it off and driving it around like that would be something my mother would do if I told her to test it like that. that would just be plain *STUPID*


Haha thats why I dont want to do it.. because it only happens like two times a week and only when Im actually driving. Dont feel like leaving it disconnected just to see. One of my mechanics thinks its a sticking valve or something.

Wouldnt the MAF cause the misfire to be in more then one cyl?


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## ghost_ryder35 (Feb 28, 2006)

check the resistance of the injector on that cylinder, see if it id opening and closing properly. 

"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a fuel injector go bad on my '97 Sentra GXE (175K miles) the other day, causing a misfire on cylinder 3. Concerned about the blinking Check Engine light, I took it to Firestone, who read the misfire trouble code and recommended replacing all 4 injectors. I told them only to replace one just so I could get it back on the road, but they still gouged me as much as they could ($640 for an engine diagnostic, one new injector and an in-rail fuel system cleaning). They replaced the OEM injector with a Standard Motor Products FJ148. It runs better now, but not great. Distributor/cap/rotor/wires/plugs were all replaced a month ago and not touched since then, so I think I've covered everything else.

It looks to me like replacing the injectors myself is pretty easy. Is there anything I should know that's not covered in the Haynes manual or the Nissan FSM? What injectors do you recommend? I'm not looking for blazing performance, just something that's enough for me to get at least another 30K miles out of this car. (I searched the forums but didn't see a thread with specific recommendations of injector brands, so that's why I'm asking.)

Thanks. 
" 

http://nissanforums.com/showthread.php?t=116850&highlight=injector+check


some guy had that problem. if its only misfiring on cylinder #2 just try replacing that injector


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## chikinwing2 (Aug 22, 2005)

i disconected the cylander like you said and it made the car ride even worse. another thing that i have noticed is that if i turn the car off and then turn it right back on it rides like shit even worse that right before i turned it off


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## ghost_ryder35 (Feb 28, 2006)

ghost_ryder35 said:


> check the resistance of the injector on that cylinder, see if it id opening and closing properly.
> 
> "--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> ...


now do this and check back with us


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## Kennizmo (Oct 17, 2005)

Char said:


> One of my mechanics thinks its a sticking valve or something.


Yes...I was right. Woot woot!


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## chikinwing2 (Aug 22, 2005)

well i finaly had to just take it into the shop because i was running out of time and patience for it. i got it back, the timing chains were severly bad, the water pump, the front catilytic conv. and one of the pulleys was off by 45* degress. so it wasn't the injector but it was bad


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## nova73guy (Mar 30, 2004)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Nissan! When it rains, it pours.


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