bushnut Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 so as the title sais....happened suddenly the other day. I noticed it while at a stop light. idle RPM seems normal. but sounds rough. there is a rhythmic vibration as well. you can here it in the exhaust. no codes thrown. the question is were do I start? long term reproductions if I keep driving it like this? the bad part is it is -23C and I have no garage to work in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCWD21 Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 (edited) For a starting point have tried switching around coils to different cylinders to see if it follows? Does it do this at all rpms once you come up from idle? When was the last time you changed your spark plugs? It sounds like you're having a misfire under load from either a bad plug or bad coil. It could be an incredibly simple fix that you might not think would be the issue. **If you don't have coil on plug, check your cap, rotor, and wires. And still check your plugs if you haven't changed them recently. Sent from inside my potato Edited December 14, 2016 by RCWD21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 plug wires/ and rotor and cap about 18 months ago, plugs a few months more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Just a thought, but could you have water in your fuel. Colder climates seem to have issues with that during winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 legitimate question, but I'm about at a 1/4 tank. and I've only used premium gas (mostly shell) for the last 3 years. up here anything else has ethanol in it which I am apposed to. though there is a difference between summer and winter gas. I'll fill up tomorrow morning and see if that makes a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 When I lived in Alaska, a lot of people swore by the fuel additive Heet for water problems. I never used it because over use will dry out seals and gaskets, but a one time use wouldn't hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Sudden onset is interesting. Any codes? Any loss of coolant? Hopefully it's something simple, I hear you about not wanting to wrench when it's that cold out. It's nowhere near that cold here and I'm still putting things off until it warms up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 (edited) coolant good, oil was a little low. no codes on my Ultra Guage no CEL. On the drive home from work yesterday I kept an eye on my ultra guage. at 1/4 throttle RPM was about 1850 and speed was 40KM/H. engine was producing 200 ft of torque and running at 100% of output. when I got home I popped the hood and listen to a sound that I can describe as similar to a bit of plastic hitting a fan blade. if I opened the throttle the "ticking" sound got faster. it seems to be coming from under the throttle body. I have a feeling that it is a bad injector. looks like I'll be bringing it to a local shop. Edited December 15, 2016 by bushnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backpacker Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 coolant good, oil was a little low. no codes on my Ultra Guage no CEL. On the drive home from work yesterday I kept an eye on my ultra guage. at 1/4 throttle RPM was about 1850 and speed was 40KM/H. engine was producing 200 ft of torque and running at 100% of output. when I got home I popped the hood and listen to a sound that I can describe as similar to a bit of plastic hitting a fan blade. if I opened the throttle the "ticking" sound got faster. it seems to be coming from under the throttle body. I have a feeling that it is a bad injector. looks like I'll be bringing it to a local shop.I had a noise that sounds just like you described, my timing belt was loose as a goose. If you jumped time it could run like crap. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyeager Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I assume you meant "repercussions". Long term repercussions from a misfire? Probably nothing to worry about. Here's an idea for you. I changed plugs/wires/rotor/cap once and about a week later it began to misfire and stall and eventually didn't restart. I found that the rotor had worked loose under the cap. It's only retained by 1 screw. If that has happened to you, it would also explain the plastic clicking sound you hear. So just pop off your cap and inspect that rotor really quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCWD21 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 The water in the fuel could be an issue, I had a problem with water in my 95 hardbody and it was gutless until the water was removed from the fuel system, almost exactly as the OP's issue of stumbling and rough running. Also I don't know if you use it or know about it but there's a product called StarTron. It's made by the starbrite company and it works with ethanol fuels and keeps the fuel from corroding metals and keeps the ethanol from absorbing moisture. It also rejuvenates old (within reason) fuel and also stabilizes gas up to 2 years. It's a product that actually works and I've been using it since my dad started using at our shop where we repair watercraft and stuff that frequently have issues with water in their fuel or bad gas from a cheap marina. It's also a fuel system cleaner and you can't overdose your system which is a great thing to not have to worry about. You can find it at Walmart, and most places that sell fuel additives. So if anyone has problmes or concerns about ethanol fuels try it out. Sent from inside my potato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 So an update. ...after a couple of late nights looking into this online, I think I narrowed it down to a 3 potential things. 1. loose rotor 2. bad cam sensor in the distributor, 3. plugged air idle control valve. I waited till it warmed up this morning -19C and went out to have a look. (I'm working on the street BTW). the rotor seemed good. all plug wires attached. couldn't do much about the cam sensor or AIC. I decided to start it up an just have a good listen...the idle was up around 1600 and faster when I put it in gear and it still seemed to have a chug. then I had an AH! HA! moment. What is an engine? and air pump. I realized that it sounds like it isn't getting a full breath. l tuned off the truck and opened up the air filter box. checked the filter.(it was new in July) all seemed ok. I decided to start the truck with the air box open and see if that made any difference....a few seconds of chugging and then it started purring like a kitten!!! idles now at 1075 in Park and down to 750 in Drive. I've just come in to warm up. a few days ago we had 30cm (11.8inches) of snow the other day and I'm wondering if I've got some in the intake resonator below the air filter box? I'm gonna go for a drive now and see if things change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 16, 2016 Author Share Posted December 16, 2016 Ok, so I just got back from running around town. before I left I opened the Air box ( I tied the air filter to the intake so at least the engine would be breathing through a filter) and just left it open a crack. As it is -20C right now I wasn't to worried about the sucking up to much hot air from the engine compartment. The engine purred very smooth at idle 750 rpm. however according to my Ultra gauge while accelerating from 0-70km/h at 1/4 throttle the engine was running at 1800-2000 RPM and running at 100% of capacity. delivering 200ft of torques but only 98hp. I was keeping up with traffic but then engine sounded like it was working way harder than it should. I'm wondering if my torque converter is slipping? how would i tell? is there maybe something else I might look at? thanks 'yall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 17, 2016 Author Share Posted December 17, 2016 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Does the ticking noise go away when in gear, or under load? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 17, 2016 Author Share Posted December 17, 2016 the ticking noise seems to have gone away. just the usual lifter noise on start up for about 2-3 seconds. cold engine performance is still awful but as it warms up things get better. todays -30C temperatures don't help at all. next week things should warm up a little and I'll be able to investigate more. I'm thinking that there might be an issue with the AIC or throttle sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 The fact that it gets better with temp would rule out TPS in my opinion. There should also be an intake air temp sensor. This tells the ECU the temp of incoming air so it can adjust the afr. If it is not working, then you would have a lean condition at low air temps. Can the ultra gauge display real-time sensor data? If so, monitor some of the suspect sensors while changing load and rpm and see if they respond as they should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 17, 2016 Author Share Posted December 17, 2016 I can measure speed, RPM, HP, Torque, % of engine output, Temperature, battery output etc... It also tells me if the engine is in open or closed loop. it is also a code reader (no codes indicated). the loop indicator seems to go to closed as the temperature reaches around 60C normal operating temp is 84C. were is that temperature sensor located? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citron Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 (edited) Unfortunately, I am not that familiar with Nissans. Usually, they are located in the intake air ducting. Thinking about it, your vehicle has a MAF sensor, they usually also read air temp all in the same sensor. The FSM should help in figuring out if you it is included with MAF, separate our both. Edited December 18, 2016 by Citron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleFR Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 My truck ran like that with a bad MAF. I had to throttle it to keep it idling. I did MAF and fuel filter at d Same time, cured me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 well the weather changed by 20 degrees in the last 12 hours ! -26C @6pm yesterday -6C this morning at 6am. I've got a spare MAF from a JY . I'll plug that in on my lunch break and see if anything gets better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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