# 1993 Sentra XE Hesitation/Misfire



## 94GA16DE (Apr 29, 2005)

Ill give you the rundown of my recent issues and fixes with the car. I picked up my faded blue 2dr 1993 Nissan Sentra XE about 4 months ago with 109k miles on it. It now has 112500 miles on it. So far I have replaced all the brakes, rotors/pads hardware in front, drums/shoes hardware in rear. These were necessary because the fronts were siezed and while I was doing brakes I figured I would do the rears as well. About 2 months ago I noticed a hesitation that felt like a misfire. My first idea was a simple ignition tune-up. I got new OEM Nissan plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, and new NGK's. Problem is still there. This is how it develops, after you start the car, intermittenly it will have an irratic idle, almost like a vaccuum leak, however I have been through the vaccuum lines extensively and tested each one, none showing any damage or unusual wear. Being a service technitian at a Honda dealer, I have run into situations like this before, and usually it has something to do with the emissons or engine control systems. While driving my car, at lower speeds say below 30mph in first and second gear, the car will sometimes buck or hesitate like it is misfiring. I know this is not the case however because I have tested the ignition system under load and at idle and it is operating fine. In Honda's usually its the O2 sensor, IACV being dirty, tps not working, MAF, PCV, EGR, or a general vaccuum leak somewhere. I have searched the forums for several days looking over dozens of threads dealing with similar issues but most stray from the original topic, or the original posters never display results from anything they have tried to fix their problem. I am unaware of my car having a IAC as it shows the later versions of the GA16DE in the 95+ sentras, all I can see is the AAC/PCID on the passenger side of the intake manifold. On the right side attatched to the throttle body is the tps, but in pictures showing the IAC it is directly above the EGR/BPT vavles and to the left of the TPS sensor. I have ordered an EGR valve, as this seems to be where the problem would be coming from using my history of honda's as a basis. Recently problems with Honda Odyssey EGR valves have been causing a very similar situation. What happens is the EGR valve becomes stuck open and instead of feeding exhaust back into the intake during high load, or wide open throttle only, it is open at all times and feeding dirty hot air into the intake at all times causing a lean condition inside the cylinder and basically a misfire. Recently at times of idle, my car has been sounding like it has a very light knocking which had me a bit scared that the motor was going to grenade itself, however it runs strong on the highway and I have only noticed a slight decrease in gas milage since this problem has arisen. I will continue replacing parts w/ brand new OEM nissan pieces until this problem is taken care of and will update this post w/ progress, hopefully helping others along the way.


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## ALSET (Aug 18, 2005)

WHEN TESTING THE IGNITION SYSTEM DID YOU GET IT TO ACT UP?
HAVE YOU CHECKED FOR EXCESSIVE PLAY IN THE DIST.?


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## AKADriver (Aug 18, 2005)

I had a very similar problem in a Nissan 240SX. The car was running very rich also, check to see if you've got soot in your exhaust. Cleaning the MAF, throttle body, and the AIV (which the Sentra doesn't have IIRC) fixed it.

You might also consider checking your MAF's ground connection. Search for "MAF reground".


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## B13boy (Dec 16, 2004)

94GA16DE said:


> I am unaware of my car having a IAC as it shows the later versions of the GA16DE in the 95+ sentras, all I can see is the AAC/PCID on the passenger side of the intake manifold.


The 91-94 Sentra's have IAC-Valve and IACV Air Regulator. The Valve is on the passenger side like you described. Usually affects idle speed, not driveability. The Air Regulator rarely goes bad, it is located between the upper intake plenum and the lower plenum directly in the middle. Don't know if you need these parts or not but the number for the IACV is 23781-57Y10, the gasket is 23785-57Y00. If you need the Air Regulator the number is 22660-57Y10, nissanparts2u.com has low prices in case you need to order the parts.


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