# Heavy miss when first starting off



## nucferr (May 16, 2004)

Hi
My 94 Altima (122k miles) left us two weeks ago and needed to be towed. Mechanic found the egr vlv stuck open. We replaced that but the mechnaic said he still had a hard Knock Sensor code. He also recommended a fuel inj flush and cap and wires (spark plugs were just replaced 5k ago with very expensive plugs (above platiun) and look new). The car appeared to run well so I said no and drove it home.

The only issue now is that about 50% of the time when you first start it up (doesn't matter weither it is hot or cold) the car idles find but when you try to accelarate (first time after starting) feels like it is firing on 3 cylinders. If you put it in neutral and rev it a little it clears up and NO PROBLEMS. The car will not do this while you are driving - just about 50% of the time after you start it.

I would think that the cap and wires would cause this all the time. The Knock sensor should not be causing this....

any ideas? I just want to be sure the car is dependable and won't leave me sitting somewhere.


thanks


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

nucferr said:


> Hi
> My 94 Altima (122k miles) left us two weeks ago and needed to be towed. Mechanic found the egr vlv stuck open. We replaced that but the mechnaic said he still had a hard Knock Sensor code. He also recommended a fuel inj flush and cap and wires (spark plugs were just replaced 5k ago with very expensive plugs (above platiun) and look new). The car appeared to run well so I said no and drove it home.
> 
> The only issue now is that about 50% of the time when you first start it up (doesn't matter weither it is hot or cold) the car idles find but when you try to accelarate (first time after starting) feels like it is firing on 3 cylinders. If you put it in neutral and rev it a little it clears up and NO PROBLEMS. The car will not do this while you are driving - just about 50% of the time after you start it.
> ...


That was a smart move in taking you car out of the shop. I hate when they reccommend you replace a bunch of components that probably don't need to be replaced. What there doing is trying to stumble across the problem at your cost. Did the shop clear the codes out of the computer and reset it?
On the other hand, our Altima's only use NGK plugs. If you want to replace the parts you outlined make sure they are Nissan parts. Aftermarket parts don't work so well esp. the spark plug.


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## nucferr (May 16, 2004)

Yep-They cleared the codes but the Knock Sensor came back. I did pull the plugs and they did look brand new-checked the gap and put them back. I pulled the dist cap and-could not believe-just how good that looked (considering I had never had the cap off) so again I put it back on.

I poured some fuel Injector cleaner into a full tank on Friday. WIfe said the car has not had that "hard miss" all week so I guess we will see. Considering she drives about 8 miles a day (4 miles to work) all in city driving i can see the inj needing cleaning

PS: You are right about a shop "easter egging" the problem. Hell If that is how they are going to fix it I might as well do it. Lets face it a 12 year old car w/122k miles probably has all of the "sensors" going bad to some extent...and the shop was talking over $1000 for a car w/a book value of $2000. Then I would stilll have a 12 yr old car.......w/12 yr old exhaust and structs etc.......


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

nucferr said:


> Yep-They cleared the codes but the Knock Sensor came back. I did pull the plugs and they did look brand new-checked the gap and put them back. I pulled the dist cap and-could not believe-just how good that looked (considering I had never had the cap off) so again I put it back on.
> 
> I poured some fuel Injector cleaner into a full tank on Friday. WIfe said the car has not had that "hard miss" all week so I guess we will see. Considering she drives about 8 miles a day (4 miles to work) all in city driving i can see the inj needing cleaning
> 
> PS: You are right about a shop "easter egging" the problem. Hell If that is how they are going to fix it I might as well do it. Lets face it a 12 year old car w/122k miles probably has all of the "sensors" going bad to some extent...and the shop was talking over $1000 for a car w/a book value of $2000. Then I would stilll have a 12 yr old car.......w/12 yr old exhaust and structs etc.......


Depending if you live in the snow belt area, it would be a good idea to take the car out to the highway every now and then. It bee hard press to find a problems with a car if you drive only 8 miles a day city driving. Try not get to frustrated, very few 12 year old car have any problems with them, keeping up with the maintance is 1/2 the battle. My 96 Altima has 186K miles on it and there are some minor issues with it. But both car should get about 200-225K miles before there not worth fixing.


Frank


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## 92stanza (Sep 4, 2005)

My car has been doing the same thing for some time now, i was told that it might be a bad Distributor since the seal on mine is worn out oil has went into it, but this might be the problem


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

92stanza said:


> My car has been doing the same thing for some time now, i was told that it might be a bad Distributor since the seal on mine is worn out oil has went into it, but this might be the problem


Try replacing the oring first and then see how it runs. I beats paying for a new distributor at $500.00


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## nucferr (May 16, 2004)

Update: Poured a can of inj cleaner into the tank on Saturday. Today I noticed that the car is definitely idling better (before I noticed the idle appeared to be lower then it should be at approx 600. Today appears to be approx 800.) Wife has only driven approx 80 miles so still early. She says that when she first starts it she "revs" it a couple times before putting into gear and the car does great.

I will continue to monitor....I am considering one of those "power flushes" (approx cost $125) as I now believe the problem is in the fuel system


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## ALSET (Aug 18, 2005)

nucferr said:


> Update: Poured a can of inj cleaner into the tank on Saturday. Today I noticed that the car is definitely idling better (before I noticed the idle appeared to be lower then it should be at approx 600. Today appears to be approx 800.) Wife has only driven approx 80 miles so still early. She says that when she first starts it she "revs" it a couple times before putting into gear and the car does great.
> 
> I will continue to monitor....I am considering one of those "power flushes" (approx cost $125) as I now believe the problem is in the fuel system


What kind of cleaner ?? 
Try a bottle of Chevrons' TECHRON-Amazing stuff! And thats saying alot comming from some one who thinks that "fix-in-a-bottle" shit are nothing but gimmicks.But you cant argue with first hand experiance.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

This products is reccommends from some Nissan Enthusiast's on thie forum. I haven't tried it yet.
http://www.bgprod.com/products/fuelair.html


Frank


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## nucferr (May 16, 2004)

I used a Gumout product but would need to go back to the auto store to tell you exactly which one. I remember it stated "complete system cleaner" and ran approx $7.50. I remember seeing that Chevron cleaner. Maybe I will give that a try (if I think it still needs sone cleaning.)

I too had also heard that the BG 44 products worked well. It appears that most "power flushes" uses BG products. I attempted to internet search to see where I could buy BG 44 (I did not want to order via web and wait) but all I kept finding (on the web) was the shops that do the power flushes.

I guess the Altima is OK (for a 12 yr old car). Its probably more "me"-you see I drive 79 miles (round trip) to work daily and just purchased a 2005 truck. My wife drive the Altima (as I stated before less the 8 miles a day round trip) and jus want to be sure she has a dependable car (she cannot drive a stick -the truck-and no I cannot teach her. Divorce lawyers are too expensive.)


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## ALSET (Aug 18, 2005)

nucferr said:


> I used a Gumout product but would need to go back to the auto store to tell you exactly which one. I remember it stated "complete system cleaner" and ran approx $7.50. I remember seeing that Chevron cleaner. Maybe I will give that a try (if I think it still needs sone cleaning.)
> 
> I too had also heard that the BG 44 products worked well. It appears that most "power flushes" uses BG products. I attempted to internet search to see where I could buy BG 44 (I did not want to order via web and wait) but all I kept finding (on the web) was the shops that do the power flushes.
> 
> I guess the Altima is OK (for a 12 yr old car). Its probably more "me"-you see I drive 79 miles (round trip) to work daily and just purchased a 2005 truck. My wife drive the Altima (as I stated before less the 8 miles a day round trip) and jus want to be sure she has a dependable car (she cannot drive a stick -the truck-and no I cannot teach her. Divorce lawyers are too expensive.)


Someone might have said this in this thread but dont have time to read all but you might try cleaning your throttle body and see if that helps


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## nucferr (May 16, 2004)

END OF MYSTERY: Well it left my wife this evening about 1 mile from the house. She was in a good location so I had enough. Armed w/ a screwdriver and electronic cleaner I removed the dist cap. PREVIOUSLY I had NOT removed the rotor or the interior cover (I know I am a dumb ass). Well -you guessed it- I removed the rotor and when I pulled the interior cover off a pint of oil came out. Sprayed everything down jamed the interior cover back on (of course that O ring is out of shape so it isn't in very good installed the rotor and cap and she fired right up.

Tomorrow I will do a good job of cleaning everything up and then its being sold-Cannot see putting $500 more dollars into it. I have somebody that said he would give me 1800 so i am going to tell him about the dist and ask 1500.

WHAT Really pisses me off is I asked the mechanic (that told me I need wires/dist cap/knock sensor/O2 sensor) if he saw any oil in the dist and he said no -so he did not know where to look either

THANKS FOR THE REPLIES


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## rgb03 (Jan 18, 2005)

can you find a car that is good as yours for 1500 if not even if you had to put 500 into it it would be worth it. i replaced the dist. in mine about three or four years ago and it was form abc a shitty autoparts store, cost me around 200$ car runs great eversince [knocks on wood] i have a 93 with 139000 on it and would def spend 500 to keep it on the road. just my 2 cents. good luck in whatever you decide to do


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

nucferr said:


> END OF MYSTERY: Well it left my wife this evening about 1 mile from the house. She was in a good location so I had enough. Armed w/ a screwdriver and electronic cleaner I removed the dist cap. PREVIOUSLY I had NOT removed the rotor or the interior cover (I know I am a dumb ass). Well -you guessed it- I removed the rotor and when I pulled the interior cover off a pint of oil came out. Sprayed everything down jamed the interior cover back on (of course that O ring is out of shape so it isn't in very good installed the rotor and cap and she fired right up.
> 
> Tomorrow I will do a good job of cleaning everything up and then its being sold-Cannot see putting $500 more dollars into it. I have somebody that said he would give me 1800 so i am going to tell him about the dist and ask 1500.
> 
> ...


dont sell it just yet. get yourself an auto parts store distributor and run with it. the distributor is a common problem item on the altimas. at least, when you get it from an auto parts store such as auto zone or checkers, you get a lifetime guarantee.


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## 92stanza (Sep 4, 2005)

it might not need replacing if there is oil inside then the seal inside of the distributor is worn out, remove the distributor replace the seal and spray some electronic cleaner


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

92stanza said:


> it might not need replacing if there is oil inside then the seal inside of the distributor is worn out, remove the distributor replace the seal and spray some electronic cleaner


thats a good suggestion but all too often, they start to leak again very soon after they are fixed.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

AsleepAltima said:


> dont sell it just yet. get yourself an auto parts store distributor and run with it. the distributor is a common problem item on the altimas. at least, when you get it from an auto parts store such as auto zone or checkers, you get a lifetime guarantee.



I agree with him^^
The distributors are a common problem with our Altima's, they start to fail out around 100-120 miles, a lousy engineering design in my opinion. The distributor on my 96 Altima went bad last year, I had it replaced and the car runs great. I suggest not puchasing a rebuilt one, unless it has a good warranty on it. I went through two rebuilts before I switched over to a new one. If this is the only problem with you car, I wouldn't sell it yet.

Frank


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## L J Walker (Aug 3, 2005)

LONDONDERRY said:


> Try replacing the oring first and then see how it runs. I beats paying for a new distributor at $500.00


I sure wish you would tell me which o-ring you are suggesting be replaced to cure oil leakage into the inside of the distributor. Where can said o-ring be obtained?


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## L J Walker (Aug 3, 2005)

92stanza said:


> it might not need replacing if there is oil inside then the seal inside of the distributor is worn out, remove the distributor replace the seal and spray some electronic cleaner


Just where can this seal be purchased?


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