Car Troubles In Palm Desert? Need Suggestions!g

[GolfVenture]

Sat 3 Aug took of from Vacaville Ca for Palm Desert Ca. Part way my 98 Nissan Quest was running 85 percent. Seemed a bit under powered, but was able to keep speed between 65 and 70 mph. Engine temp normal and no Check Engine Light nor any other warning lights.

 

About 20 minutes before Valencia Ca. the engine begins to loose power on any slight upgrade. Only able to do about 40 mph on a slight upgrade. Check Engine Light comes on.

 

So pulled into Valencia Ca and found a Nissan Dealer. Dealer pulled 2 codes, P0325 and P0171. Surprisingly no charge. Being it was now 4:30 pm the service dept is closed and not opened till Monday. We proceed to Palm Desert, luckily for the next 100 miles was mostly down hill or level.

 

Took car to Palm Springs Nissan Monday morning. 4 hours later the diagnotic was.

Cat converter for $2721.00

Knock sensor for $1311.00

MassAirFlowSensor for $767.00

Total for $4799.00

 

Left dealer, paid them their $115.00 for diagnotis and went to Midas.

 

Midas did the duel cat converter for $530.00. Cleared code but car still no improvement. Midas said the cats were in really bad condition and in need of replacement. The check engine codes were cleared and I drove off. Car first seemed to run better but by the time I got to my hotel the car was still running bad.

 

Next day drove the car around to for another check engine light to come on, but did not. However at a stop light I put the car in nutural and reved the engine. The engine slowly reved to 2000 rpms and no farther.

 

Thinking that it maybe a fuel filter, I had Midas install a new fuel filter. But still in nutural the engine would not rev. They also checked the MassAirFlowSensor and found it to be good.

 

Going back to Midas tomorrow morning at opening.

 

Meanwhile I can still drive the car but can only accept later very slowly to about 50mph. Too much gas pedel the car actually looses speed.

 

Oh the fuel filter was really bad also.

 

Been driving the last 600 miles with a special gas additive to clean fuel injectors on each fill up.

 

Valves sometimes pings on acceleration.

 

Any suggestions appreciated.

[Wade 2000]

Does it seem to run ok from a cold start then once warm it gets bad?

[GolfVenture]

Runs bad from cold or hot.

[bongobobny]

Very high price for MAF, but if it is bad it will give wrong information to the engine computer.

it should be only $200 plus or minus. The ping is probably the bad Knock sensor. Not sure of the cost of that but it should also only be a couple hundred dollars. The dealer cost probably included labor, but it also was to encourage you to buy a new vehicle...

[mraf]

Found this..by Chris F

Member since:August 25, 2007Total points:386 (Level 2)

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i know how you feel. this code is a very common code to set on many asian and american vehicles. one major thing that happens to these nissans that may or may not cause the vehicle to run poorly is the air intake boot. it is a tube about 2 1/2 inches in diameter that goes from you air filter box to your throttle body. this boot rubber can get torn and a tiny crack in it after the mass air flow sensor(MAF for short) will allow too much air into the engine and the computer will not compensate for it (after the mass air flow sensor it can't measure it. only air through the MAF sensor will be measured). The other common problem on this code in general is what is called a vacuum leak. there should be a vacuum diagram sticker on the bottom of your hood (it might be somewhere else but always in the engine compartment.) try to follow this diagram as best as possible and see if one of the small vacuum hoses have a leak or might be disconnected completely. the only other GOOD possibility i can come up with, and this is a last resort(price), is a faulty MAF sensor. this part however needs a quality repair shop to properly diagnose it using a digital multimeter, a scan tool, or a combination of the two.

 

Reading other things too, like rodent damage to wiring and hoses, plugged pickup sock on fuel pump. Hope this helps.

[GolfVenture]

Runs bad from cold or hot.

[spike13]

O2 sensor(s)?

[Huggy]

Plugged up air filter or air filter cover could be loose getting to much air. Faulty gas cap resulting in tank not being properly pressurized.

 

[Condor]

Fuel Pump....

[Yammer Dan]

Exhaust plugged. Feel exhaust coming out pipe. Is it what it should be and increase as you rev engine?? If not find pats store get exhaust connector same size as pipe cut into behind converter drive rod thru it put back togather and go. Just don't tell Uncle Sam.

[MikeWa]

Sorry to hear of your problems Brian. Think of the air flow through the engine. Intake and exhaust. Also any shop should be able to check the fuel pressure to the injectors and rule out pump or filter.

 

For diagnosis you can unplug the maf. If that is the problem the PCM will set a code and substitute values for this sensor. The car will then run much better. If it is not the problem it won't help. As mentioned earlier look for torn boots or blockage etc.

 

The default for your fuel injection is to run rich when it sees a problem. That is very hard on the catalytic converters. Do not run these cars very long with codes showing. Converters can overheat and become plugged quite quickly. I have seen new cats become plugged in as little as six blocks due to bad spark plugs. Think cause and effect.

 

If there is any fault after a while the rich running car may set an O2 sensor rich code. This does not mean the O2 sensor is bad. Only that the exhaust is very rich. Beyond the ability of the PCM to compensate. A bad O2 sensor will usually cycle slow or show lean.

 

The symptoms you are describing usually go along with a plugged fuel filter (easily checked). Or a plugged exhaust. Also easily checked with the proper tools. If it is the cat then you must find the cause. Running rich or dumping fuel, misfire.

 

Mike

[MikeWa]

Some things to look for.

 

No power and O2 sensor lean.

Fuel filter or pump, leak in intake, low fuel pressure, faulty O2 sensor

 

No power and O2 sensor rich

plugged exhaust, faulty fuel pressure regulator, faulty sensors, engine or ignition.

 

Egr plugged or fault will usually result in spark knock. But other things can also cause this symptom.

 

Knowing the codes can help.

 

Mike

 

 

NOTE: Do not use fuel injector cleaner in a Nissan. It can disolve the internal insulation on the injector windings. I have seen this more than a few times.

[naturbar]

Fuel Pump....

I second that.............