Hi all!

[Sv399]

Hi all,

I am not sure if I ever introduced myself yet. My name is Dante. I've had my Spec V for a few years now. Its a yellow 2004 with the brembo brakes. She's at about 107K right now with everything original (even header) except the intake. I'll be searching the forum and posting some questions for the following thoughts but here's whats new with my car for now:

Just got a high idle and miss fire issues. Idle seems high after i installed the NISMO CAI. I had one coil pack replaced by a mechanic and installed a coil repair pack on the remaining three.

See you later,
Dante

[i68k]

welcome aboard!

have you done all 3 relearns? did you ever check your vin with a dealer for recalls? hopefully your header didnt fall apart yet, shouldve gone catless. assuming youve connected all the hoses and stuff correctly, and theres no leaks. did you disconnect the negative battery before disconnecting the maf?

make sure you do these:
1. accel pedal released learning
2. throttle plate closed position learning
---warm up motor to operating temp
3. idle air volume relearn



EDIT: do you have any ses codes?

[Sv399]

Originally Posted by i68k

welcome aboard!

have you done all 3 relearns? did you ever check your vin with a dealer for recalls? hopefully your header didnt fall apart yet, shouldve gone catless. assuming youve connected all the hoses and stuff correctly, and theres no leaks. did you disconnect the negative battery before disconnecting the maf?

make sure you do these:
1. accel pedal released learning
2. throttle plate closed position learning
---warm up motor to operating temp
3. idle air volume relearn



EDIT: do you have any ses codes?

Hey!

Thanks for the feed back! I had the ECM flashed by the dealer because it was Idling high when I first got the car back in 2009. The dealer also said that the throttle body sensor maybe...not sure which part. Something with the throttle body was out of alignment. That made it run like new. I'm not sure about the other recalls. I mentioned the butterfly screws and the precat issue and they said they weren't recalls and that they are called something else and not to worry about it because I would have to pay for all that work.

If it was my precat causing this problem I would have no power. I don't think it would be this inconsistent. I would like to remove my precat but I don't want to do the spark plug anti-fouler. Is there an alternative like a fuel management system?

I was not aware of all of the resets. I am assuming I can find them on this site? I will do those tonight! Also, feel free to redirect me to posts already made. I will be doing searches when I get a second.

I did unplug the battery and I believe it is all setup correct. This is the second one I put on and I am very meticulous with these things. There are only a few hoses...is there a common one people mess up?

I just installed the coil pack repair kit on the cylinders 2-4 as my mechanic just installed a brand new coil pack on cylinder 1.

Lastly, I cannot remember the codes that are being thrown off. I can search for them or figure out how to pull it myself. Basically, Autozone said that I either have a vacuum leak or an internal engine problem. Basically, the engine light comes on and stays on...Then sometimes it comes on flashing and running on two cylinders and missfiring and such. No power and violent shakes. Also, I have a dead spot it seems at about 2750 RPMS. You can feel a power serge around 3K RPMS.

Thanks for the help and welcome. I will be enjoying the site!

~Dante

[Sv399]

OK, So I tried the relearns...

the accel pedal relearn...I think that worked...easy enough IDK. I'm not sure if it made a difference

The second one... I have no idea if that worked or if I did it right it seems just like the second one. How do I know if the TB moved. Am I supposed to press in the pedal during that 10secs?

I tried the Third one and now I have an old idle problem back. When I push in the clutch and let off the gas the RPMs drop immediately, then rev up to about 2K on their own... This made it run worse. Maybe its because I missed the 2nd return?

The code that came up is P0507 (Large vacuum leak or engine mechanical condition or electric throttle control actuator fault)


Thanks,
Dante

[Sv399]

AND THANK YOU! I cleaned out the throttle plate and had to warm up the car before I could do the relearns. It was idling really high and fluxuating. Got it back to my house to do the relearns. It has NEVER run so well. Not since I bought it. It was always having a high idle that had a mind of its own. It is now tame. when I push in the clutch it immediately drops to idle and stays! Thank you! Now, I am assuming that is the P0507 code that is taken care of but I wonder if that will solve my miss-fires.

Thanks,
Dante

[i68k]

the precat issue is a tsb at the dealer, not a recall. i dont think you understand very well the idea behind using anti-foulers, or spacers. you dont need a fuel management system just for an intake and exhaust, but you can use a simple afr tuner. the idea of the antifouler is to space out the lower o2, so it reads less bad emission than the upper o2. the upper o2 does most/all of the work to control the afr, so as long as your upper o2 is good, the lower is mostly just reading cat efficieny. not to mention the anti-foulers bolt in as opposed to rewiring for a fuel system, antifoulers are also very cheap, the only downside is that they rust. the opposite side, when your precat fails, it will release ceramic back into the motor, grinding down the internals, usually ruining the rings and headgasket.

im not saying you installed the cai incorrectly, but if you miss a hose or have a leak or something, this will very much affect the idle, and the overall throttle response.

glad your mechanic recommended the coil repair kit, most mechanics would just charge for the full coilpacks, and bolt them in.

you can pull your codes using the pedal dance, its very similar to the idle relearn. youll just need to count the light flashes.

Originally Posted by Sv399

Basically, the engine light comes on and stays on...Then sometimes it comes on flashing and running on two cylinders and missfiring and such. No power and violent shakes. Also, I have a dead spot it seems at about 2750 RPMS. You can feel a power serge around 3K RPMS.

im not sure exactly what you mean by this quote? when there is a detected problem that is bad, your ses light will flash. have you changed the crank and cam sensors recently? what codes are you getting? autozone should tell you all the codes you have. you can do the pedal dance to delete them.

it sounds like you messed with the throttle while it was idle relearning. you can so accel learn and pedal learn multiple times if you need to, just do pedal before throttle relearn, these are the keyon/keyoff relearns. you have to have your ear on the tb when you turn the key to hear it move, or visually see it.

when you do the idle relearn, you car has to be at operating temp, or it will not idle correctly. normally you do an idle relearn when your idle is bouncing, or too high. once you start the motor after doing the idle relearn, the ecu begins adjusting idle, so let the motor bounce, stall, whatever in the 30 seconds after the idle relearn. it is trying to idle itself, if done successfully, you will get a good idle. as for your p0507-high idle, you can just delete it, it may have been from before. this relearn stuff is unlikely going to fix your misfires, but let us know how it stands after these relearns.


EDIT: also for next time, dont move the throttle plate when your cleaning, and make sure you use a certified cnc throttle cleaner, or maf cleaner. the plate has small weighted springs, that you can ruin very easily when touching the throttle plate.

[Sv399]

Originally Posted by i68k

the precat issue is a tsb at the dealer, not a recall. i dont think you understand very well the idea behind using anti-foulers, or spacers. you dont need a fuel management system just for an intake and exhaust, but you can use a simple afr tuner. the idea of the antifouler is to space out the lower o2, so it reads less bad emission than the upper o2. the upper o2 does most/all of the work to control the afr, so as long as your upper o2 is good, the lower is mostly just reading cat efficieny. not to mention the anti-foulers bolt in as opposed to rewiring for a fuel system, antifoulers are also very cheap, the only downside is that they rust. the opposite side, when your precat fails, it will release ceramic back into the motor, grinding down the internals, usually ruining the rings and headgasket.

im not saying you installed the cai incorrectly, but if you miss a hose or have a leak or something, this will very much affect the idle, and the overall throttle response.

glad your mechanic recommended the coil repair kit, most mechanics would just charge for the full coilpacks, and bolt them in.

you can pull your codes using the pedal dance, its very similar to the idle relearn. youll just need to count the light flashes.



im not sure exactly what you mean by this quote? when there is a detected problem that is bad, your ses light will flash. have you changed the crank and cam sensors recently? what codes are you getting? autozone should tell you all the codes you have. you can do the pedal dance to delete them.

it sounds like you messed with the throttle while it was idle relearning. you can so accel learn and pedal learn multiple times if you need to, just do pedal before throttle relearn, these are the keyon/keyoff relearns. you have to have your ear on the tb when you turn the key to hear it move, or visually see it.

when you do the idle relearn, you car has to be at operating temp, or it will not idle correctly. normally you do an idle relearn when your idle is bouncing, or too high. once you start the motor after doing the idle relearn, the ecu begins adjusting idle, so let the motor bounce, stall, whatever in the 30 seconds after the idle relearn. it is trying to idle itself, if done successfully, you will get a good idle. as for your p0507-high idle, you can just delete it, it may have been from before. this relearn stuff is unlikely going to fix your misfires, but let us know how it stands after these relearns.


EDIT: also for next time, dont move the throttle plate when your cleaning, and make sure you use a certified cnc throttle cleaner, or maf cleaner. the plate has small weighted springs, that you can ruin very easily when touching the throttle plate.

Hey,

The car is running great and has no idle problems. It is probably idling at about 680-750 rpms.

I used MAF cleaner on the throttle plate and was careful. Thanks for the heads up though.

My mechanic didn't recommend it, I found that option from another site. He wanted to replace all the coil packs for about $125 a pop. When I took apart the coil packs they looked fine. Car is STILL misfiring. I thought if i fixed the P0507 code with the throttle issues and did the relearns that it would go away but last night it started to act up. The SES light did not come on yet. There is a new Bulletin out for my car as of April 2012 and its for the ECM btw.

I will clarify what my car is doing. Recently, the check engine light comes on and stays on but runs fine. Sometimes when I just fill her up with new gas it goes away. But then other times the car will start up and immediately start running like its a go-kart...it misfires and sounds as it is running on two cylinders. IT will have no power and shake violently. Then after it starts to show these symptoms the check engine light will flash. I can shut the car off and restart but it just goes away on its own. The majority of the time this problem will occur when I take a two hour trip somewhere. When I slow down and let it idle after being on the highway for an hour or so it will happen. I am just glad it doesn't happen when I'm cruising.

I think I will change out the cam and crank sensors this weekend however, my haynes manual won't help me with any model 2000 and above. I will search the site for instructions on this.

Also, the dead spot I mentioned...When accelerating, the around 2750 rpms, there will be a drop in power and as soon as it revs up to about 3K it will serge with power and pull throughout the power band. However, I think the 3 relearns fixed this issue and seems to be unrelated to the SES code.

Thanks,
D

[i68k]

didnt know there was a new tsb for april 2012, i will have to check that one out. the cam and crank sensors are relatively easy. the cam sensor is on the thremostat housing, just press the green tab and it pops off, with one 10mm bolt and electrical connector. the crank sensor is the same piece, however, its between the motor and firewall, below the intake manifold. its lower than the knock sensor, might be easier to get it from the bottom, just dont burn yourself on the exhaust. see how you make out after these sensors, its possible they are just missing signals, which could cause misfires.

as for the haynes/chilton manuals, they are ok, theyre just nice because they have pretty pictures. you can download the full fsm around here somewhere for free, which is much more vehicle specific, and this is what nissan dealerships use to diagnose vehicles, along with their specialty tools. the fsm (Factory Service Manual) is very similar to haynes manual, except the pictures are horrible, but it contains much more specific information about your vehicle. just remember, you have a qr25, not qg18. as each fsm covers all the models of sentra in that year (ie. xe, gxe, se-r, specv).

try these:
nicoclub.com/fsm
allsentra.com/fsm

[Sv399]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking I have a bad head gasket but I checked my co pression and it was the same figure per cylinder....sadly my compression was only 130 psi...it's supposed to be 180? I cranked it several times...only thing I didn't do was have the throttle wide open. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Dante

[i68k]

well if you got consistent figures, maybe your tester isnt calibrated or something, or youre looking at different units? and yes, as per fsm, 180psi on each cylinder, or above 175psi is just fine. all the exact specs are in the fsm, just make sure youre looking at qr25de pages. hoping you pulled the fuel fuse to do your test.

[Sv399]

Oops. Didn't pull that fuse the directions didn't say so. Well we were reading psi. Idk why that would be so low but the car seems to run fine when it isn't missing. I saw those figures that the min is 153psi. I'm going to take her to the dealer on Friday.

Thanks for your help!

[i68k]

that might be why your numbers were off, it was injecting fuel. it is unusual they are consistent between cylinders, unless during normal working lifetime, when all cylinders are the same compression its usually good. when the headgasket fails, usually the inner cylinders start losing compression the most. follow the fsm, it contains diagnostic procedures, specifications, and precautions. hopefully you make out well at the dealership.

[Sv399]

Thanx...the car had never been serviced by the dealer before...I feel like they should check all the bulletins and recalls

[i68k]

well, the recalls are free of charge, but the tsb you will need to pay for the service. be prepared to empty your wallet at a dealership

[Sv399]

I hear ya. I just made an appointment. They said they won't do a thing to it until I approve. I told them to check for recalls and look into my misfire. I gave them the background on the car and they seem OK. They helped me out once before. I want them to just check my VIN and give me a list of priorities then I will prob do what I can myself. Also, I know that once I put the new header on, they will probably blame that on any issue I may have later ya know?