# vapor lock? '90 maxima



## Jubar (May 27, 2005)

Does this sound like vapor lock, and if so, what is the remedy? If sounds like something else - what?

Hot day. Drove /90 maxima about 50 freeway miles. Parked in sun while visiting for Mother's Day. 4 hrs later go to start it up, and it sounds and feels rough; like's it's missing (that's what I've heard it called); like a spark plug or cylinder isn't working right. Drove 3 miles and pulled over. Felt like it was losing power; perhaps gonna stall out; didn't trust it to get up to and keep at 55mph.

Parked in a tiny shaded, but hot spot for an hour. Took the gas cap off for a moment. When I started it back up, still running rough, drove it around town for about 30 minutes before getting back on the freeway. Drove it home - it ran rough the whole way, but not as bad as the very beginning. I was able to get it up to 55 and 60, but lacked oomph and felt like I had to give it more gas pedal to get it there. Ran rough enough that it sounded like a sick muscle car, sort of. 

When I pulled over for gas, fuel gauge said a little over 1/2 tank, but it would only take on 3 gallons, so it wouldn't fill up all the way. 

Any suggestions? Thank you!


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## MyGreenMax94 (Dec 17, 2005)

How long has it been since you had a tune up??[i.e. plugs/plug wires/distributor cap/rotor button..]


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## Jubar (May 27, 2005)

*not a vapor lock*

Mechanic said a fuel injector is dead. And the wiring harness to the injectors is has corrosion everywhere. Suggests replacing all fuel injectors - $1400. If I just replace the 1 and wiring harness - $900. 

With 285,000 miles on the Maxima, I'm beginning to think about upgrading.


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

buy an injector and harness from a salvage yard and do it yourself if you know how to turn a wrench. not terribly difficult and should cost you under $100.

no point in replacing all 6 injectors, BUT be warned that when one goes, others usually aren't far behind.


FYI, a Maxima should never have issues with vapor lock. That was a problem on older carboureted cars on really hot days where the gas would vaporize in the lines so the carb would stop spraying liquid gas into the engine and it would die. fuel pressure back in those days was only 2-5psi.
with more modern cars that use fuel injectors, they have a recirculating system so you always have fresh gas at the injectors. this prevents any chance of air getting stuck in the systme and preventing an injector from spraying. Also note that fuel pressure on an injected system is about 35-50psi. the heat required to create an air bubble in the lines at those pressures would be bad enough to destory the entire car before the fuel vaporized in the lines.


Back to your problem, that sounds like the proper diagnosis. injectors are faily common to fail on these cars- hell 285,000 miles is a LONG time for anything to run, let alone an injector that's opening and closing dozens of times per second throughout its entire lifetime!

you might try a bottle of good injector cleaner, but at this point I figure you've already made a decision on the repairs and have gone through with it...


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## Jubar (May 27, 2005)

*fuel inj - yes - thank you!*

Thank you sooo much for your reply. I really appreciate this description and your advice. 

You are right, this car with 285,000 miles has been pretty good to me. I am actually considering moving on to another vehicle, since I'm not a mechanic. But, I think I will get the 1 injector taken care of anyway - but probably at a shop that could do it for a bit less than $900; or with parts I could get from a salvage yard. 

I am driving it for now, as is. The bottle of fuel injector "linament" is a good idea - I'll get some tomorrow!

Thank you again for responding to my question.


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