# rough idle/lagging occasionally 96 maxima



## tonywithmaxima (Apr 6, 2004)

Hello all i'm new at this. Hope i do this right and get some help. I have a 1996 maxima that I've had some recent problems with. Most notably is the occasional rough idle and running of the car when its warm. This happens after about 20 minutes of easy driving/idling. It also happens when i restart the car when is warm. It idles really rough, runs rich and will lag until about 3500 rpms then shoots forward. I can sometimes get it to stop if I drive it hard for a bit. I've hard my base idle checked, throttle body cleaned, injectors cleaned, fuel filter changed, knock sensor changed, egr selenoid valve changed, O2 sensor changed (most by a nissan dealer). These have not helped and I think the mechanic is clueless. He now thinks it maybe an ignition coil problem (1,3 & 5) as these are mis-firing. Has anyone seen this before? Please help.


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## Jeff (Oct 17, 2002)

Are you not getting a check engine light? Very strange you're having this problem.
Do you get gas from the same place? 91 and up only octane, right?
How many miles...how many miles since your last spark plug change?


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## tonywithmaxima (Apr 6, 2004)

MrEous said:


> Are you not getting a check engine light? Very strange you're having this problem.
> Do you get gas from the same place? 91 and up only octane, right?
> How many miles...how many miles since your last spark plug change?


Check engine light has been cleared except for EVAP system. I use 91 octane. It has 110K miles on it and I dont know when the last time the plugs were changed. I've had the car for one year. I thought that a spark plug problem would always show with idle. Mine is intermittent. What do u think?


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## Jeff (Oct 17, 2002)

Your coils could definitely be suspect since this is an intermittent problem. Check them by doing a diagnostic...here are the directions from Maxima.org:


> To Test Ignition Coils:
> Resistance Test
> With the ignition off, disconnect the electrical connector from the ignition coil. Connect the positive (+) probe of an ohmmeter to terminal no. 1 and the negative (-) probe to terminal no. 2 of the coil connector - the meter should indicate infinite resistance. Reverse the meter leads ( negative probe to terminal no. 1 and positive probe to terminal no.2) - the continuity should be indicated, but not zero ohms. If the results are not as specified, replace the coil.
> Connect an ohmmeter between the secondary terminal ( the one that the spark plug connects to) and terminal no. 1 - the meter should indicate infinite resistance. If not, replace the coil.
> Note - Ohm meter to test coils is not the most reliable way. Some peoples’ coils tested perfectly, but they still misfired.


Try that out and let us know what you find.

...if you think it might be an injector going out then follow the following directions:


> To test fuel injectors
> Resistance test...
> This test is performed with the engine off. Use an ohmmeter to measure the
> resistance of each injector. This does not require removing the injectors.
> ...


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## tonywithmaxima (Apr 6, 2004)

Thanks I'll try to do it myself this weekend and I'll get back to you. Thanks again.


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## seximagtr (Feb 22, 2003)

tonywithmaxima said:


> Thanks I'll try to do it myself this weekend and I'll get back to you. Thanks again.


Clean your idle air control valve....

I think the culprit here is MAF related... it seems like your voltage is off....

Have you recently cleaned your air filter or done any work in that area?

Get some carb/ tb cleaner that is cat safe,a nd spraay down the sensor a few times, plug it back in, and reset the ecu...


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## tonywithmaxima (Apr 6, 2004)

seximagtr said:


> Clean your idle air control valve....
> 
> I think the culprit here is MAF related... it seems like your voltage is off....
> 
> ...


I've never had a code for this. Shouldn't this have shown up. I don't know where the mass air flow sensor is? Is this something that I should do anyway?


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