[SOLVED] Maxima intermittently idling badly

harryhol · 11-22-2008, 05:55 PM

Hello, on my A33 Maxima the engine idles badly, like it is missing on one cylinder, but not all the time. This can be on starting, or it can just happen while driving. It then shudders when accelerating of from stop, but acceleration is reasonable once it gets moving. Likewise the problem can disappear just as quickly as it started, and then it runs smooth as s baby’s rear. Intermittent, but there every day irrespective of the weather. Really annoying. The air pressure sensor has been replaced on suggestion by a garage at a significant cost but the problem remains. Now I am being told it might be the fuel pressure sensor but given it feels like a cylinder missing, could it really be that ?

I am happy to test and try things myself if anyone can suggest a few things I can fiddle with ?

Thanks in advance.

olemiss74 · 12-10-2008, 07:57 PM

does your engine have coil packs (or coil over plugs)?

harryhol · 12-10-2008, 08:18 PM

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Actually I have discovered it was an Ignition Coil on one of the plugs. So you were on the mark :)

I went to a web site called JustAnswer and a tech there suggetsed I unplug each coil one at a time to see which one did not make the car run worse. That would indicate if a coil was faulty and sure enough one was.

thanks and again for the input.

11-22-2008, 05:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
harryhol Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP	[SOLVED] Maxima intermittently idling badly Hello, on my A33 Maxima the engine idles badly, like it is missing on one cylinder, but not all the time. This can be on starting, or it can just happen while driving. It then shudders when accelerating of from stop, but acceleration is reasonable once it gets moving. Likewise the problem can disappear just as quickly as it started, and then it runs smooth as s baby’s rear. Intermittent, but there every day irrespective of the weather. Really annoying. The air pressure sensor has been replaced on suggestion by a garage at a significant cost but the problem remains. Now I am being told it might be the fuel pressure sensor but given it feels like a cylinder missing, could it really be that ? I am happy to test and try things myself if anyone can suggest a few things I can fiddle with ? Thanks in advance.

12-10-2008, 07:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
olemiss74 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Oxford, Ms. Posts: 24 OS: windows vista	Re: Maxima intermittently idling badly does your engine have coil packs (or coil over plugs)? Last edited by olemiss74; 12-10-2008 at 07:59 PM.

12-10-2008, 08:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
harryhol Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Re: Maxima intermittently idling badly Thanks for taking the time to reply. Actually I have discovered it was an Ignition Coil on one of the plugs. So you were on the mark :) I went to a web site called JustAnswer and a tech there suggetsed I unplug each coil one at a time to see which one did not make the car run worse. That would indicate if a coil was faulty and sure enough one was. thanks and again for the input.