Archive for the 'Nissan' Category
Roger’s question:
I have a nissan altima 1994 gxe four door .This car gives me only 13-14 miles /gallon. I changed plugs and no good sign came out.there is no check engine light comes.it has 105000 miles on it so what you suggest to me. thanks roger”
Answer:
The mass air flow sensors go bad all the time on those Altimas. They measure the air coming into the engine and tell the computer how much fuel to spray out of the injectors. This is the Number One problem with those cars. You can get a rebuilt mass air flow sensor just about anywhere these days, as they break down so often in those Altimas that practically everyone stocks them. And for some strange reason, a bad mass air flow sensor in Altimas often doesn’t set off the check engine light (bad software if you ask me.)
Sam Aldin’s question:
Hello, I have 2002 infinity ,I have P1130 code which is swirl actuator, who can I test it or any advice will be appreciated .Thank you in advance”
Answer:
OK, P1130 in your car is a code for intake manifold air control solenoid malfunction. The possible causes are : bad wiring, bad control solenoid, intake system leak, a hose leak or blockage, the control vaccum check switch, OR the main computer (ECM.) Needless to say, this isn’t easy to pinpoint. Outside of an Infiniti dealership, I doubt if you’ll find anyone who can analyze it correctly due to the special Infiniti analysis computers and testing information required. Even my data system doesn’t have information on how to test this system out. BUT, I had a customer a couple years ago with the same problem, and he didn’t want to take a chance spending a small fortune at the dealer, so we guessed and replaced the air control solenoid itself and reset the computer. The code never came back. It is a guess, but it worked for him.
Kep’s question:
Finding your web site is like stumbling on an old friend again. Glad to see you back! I was talking with my girl friend while she was driving her 1994 Nissan Pickup. She said that her speedometer quit working and the check engine light came on. Then, before she stopped driving, the speedometer came back on and the CEL went off. How should I start to trouble shoot this? Any particular ideas?
Answer:
Start with the sending unit on the transmission. All vehicles today have computer driven speedometer systems, no more speed cables and simple gear driven odometers these days. Often the sending unit on the transmission breaks down, and this will set the check engine light on because the computer knows this. It can also set other lights a flashing, because they are all interrelated in computer systems. You could of course have a wiring problem or a dash unit problem in the speedo system, BUT the sending units going out is the Number One problem in Nissans.
Michelle Davis’s question:
nissan primera 1994 2.0 sgx hi love the videos i saw on youtube, very helpful. i have a problem with my car, as above. the dashboard has a major squeak. both side, and is intermittent. sometimes it’s worse than others and then just disapears for no reason? not sure what is causing it, but sounds like an old iron frame bed that need the springs oiling. lol. hope you can help. thx michelle”
Answer:
Ok, the dash unit is basically a bunch of plastic stuck on a really cheaply made small metal braced frame. Of course there’s nothing in there to oil, generally the plastic just gets old and creaks (plastic is called plastic because of the plasticizers in the plastic, which age over time and are not longer elastic so they make creaking noises.) About the only thing you can do is to attempt to place rubber shims between the plastic dash and the metal of the car at edges and corners. I use cut off pieces of old inner tubes and wedge them in different places on my own old cars. It’s pretty much hit and miss, but if you hit the right spots, the creaking will go away.
Laura’s question:
I’ve got a 99 240SX which is making a noise in the back when I hit bumps. I went to a suspension garage and they said everything back there was fine. The car rides perfect, but that clunk noise is driving me crazy. Can you help find the source?”
Answer:
Well, since you’ve already had the suspension checked out, it should be fine. Now I fixed a 240 SX last year with the same problem, thanks to the History Channel. I was watching a program on shipping, and they showed how the Nissans coming into Los Angeles were naked cars. At the port, they added cosmetic extras to the cars, such as spoilers and fancy trim. And believe it or not, they just glued these parts on with double sticky tape. I thought they would have been better made, but it was just tape that held the parts on. The Nissan I fixed with a clunk turned out to have a loose spoiler on the trunk. The tape had worn out, and the spoiler clunked when you hit big bumps. So check that spoiler out and have it reglued back on if it’s come loose.
Jimmy Alvarez’s question:
have a 1985 300zx and it only blows out hot air when i turn the a/c on what can be the problem!!”
Answer:
Well, obviously you have an AC problem. The first thing to check is the refrigerant level. Hook up a set of AC gauges and see what the pressure is. If it’s low or empty, then evacuate the system and fill it up with refrigerant. Then look for a leak and if you can’t find one, see how long it blows cool and live with it if it lasts for months at a time. On the other hand, if it’s full of refrigerant, then you probably have an electrical problem, or a blown AC compressor. Hot wire the power to the AC compressor to see if it comes on. If it does and then blows cold, then you’ve got to find the electrical short in the system. If the compressor won’t come on even if you hot wire it, then the compressor is shot and needs replacing. Now realize that even though that car is pretty old, it still has a rather complex Nissan computer controlled AC system that can be a Stinker to diagnose IF you have an electrical problem in the AC system.
Jimmy Alvarez’s question:
where can you find the reverse switch on a 85 nissan 300zx can you plz show me a link where i can find this info…thank you !!!! “
Answer:
It depends upon whether you have a standard transmission or an automatic. The standards have the switch near the back of the transmission, it’s a simple two wire connection switch with power in and power out. The automatics hide them further towards the middle of the transmission and are often up top where they are hard to get to. Unfortunately none of my information systems show pictures of such a simple device (they are for mechanics and they assume a good mechanic can find the back up light switch without any pictures or even descriptions—they just tell me how much the switch costs and the labor price of replacing the switch.) But, if you go to a dealer, they can show you on their computer exactly where the switch is located with a picture (I guess they assume their parts guys have less knowledge than mechanics so they offer pictures.)
Jimmy Alvarez’s question:
” I have a 85 Nissan 300zx and for some reason the reverse light wont turn on when i put the car in reverse and that’s the only thing that wont let me pass the emissions test i already changed the bulbs but no results…what can i do?!?!?”
Answer:
Well, 99 percent of the time it’s the back up light switch on your transmission that’s gone bad. Generally the only place that sells such a part is the dealer, so go there and they can sell you one and show you on their computer where the switch is on the transmission. If that doesn’t fix it, then either the wiring has a short in it or the piece inside the transmission that turns the switch on when you go into reverse would be broken (rather rare, but I’ve seen it happen.) Normally though, it’s just the switch on the transmission gone bad.
Owens’s question:
“I have a 2002 Nissan Maxima GLE. The power seat on the driver’s side will not mover forward or backwards, but it will move up and down. the seat back will move back and forth.”
Answer:
Since it does move in some directions, the power supply and fuse to the seat are fine. Either your switch is broken for the forwards and backwards motions, or something is blocking the seat from moving (so check under the seat for wires or kids toys or whatever may be under there jammed against the seat rack.) I have seen both stuff under the seat and bad switches cause such a problem. Let’s hope it’s just something simple jammed under the seat. So get a flashlight and look for a culprit.
Cesar’s question:
“I have a Nissan Quest 2004, after it drives through rough/bumpy roads surface it makes a rattling noise underneath the car.Nissan claims that’s the way it was design to handle bumpy roads.Please i would like to know your opinion.”
Answer:
Of course, nothing should rattle under the vehicle. Any good mechanic could drive the car, then put it on their lift and be able to figure out what’s making the rattling. Common rattles come from worn torsion bar bushings (VERY common), loose or broken exhaust system hangers, catalytic converters that have internally broken substrata (which means nothing as they work fine but will rattle), and loose or broken body parts like plastic inner fender moldings. AND, let’s be logical, I assume the vehicle now makes a rattling sound that it didn’t used to make. If that is the case, then it is not a “normal” sound.
