Ask the Car People.SM


Nissan Altima Maintenance and Repair

2702 messages,  Last post on May 06, 2013 at 12:49 PM

You are in the Nissan Altima Forum.

What is this discussion about? Nissan Altima, Sedan

    
Go to NHTSA to file a safety complaint.
Or call Monday-Friday (8 am to 8 pm ET) (888) 327-4236 TTY: (800)424-9153

Messages Page 184 of 271

#1827 of 2702 Re: 2004 Altima issues [ccat1] by electricdesign

Nov 27, 2006 (3:10 pm)

Replying to: ccat1 (Nov 27, 2006 8:51 am)
Wow, this does not sound good. How did the spark plug look, smashed up? Your first descriptions were that they were dark and gaps closed up, I took that as being that the gaps were bridged with carbon. But if the gaps are BENT closed and you have metal particles in the combustion chambers, it sounds VERY serious, it could go back to what I said about the piston ring problems. You may need to Check with Nissan about that piston ring Recall problem.
The codes I'm not sure about:
P0420 is Catalyst System Efficiency below Threshold, which is likely caused by oil contamination caused by the engine in the catalytic converter.
P0735 is something about an incorrect gear ratio, not sure about that one.
You big problem is OIL CONTROL in your engine. You should have the mechanic do a cylinder compression test on each clyinder of your engine, and report the compression of each clyinder here. They should all be within 20% of each other and not very low overall. If you have low compression in one or more clyinders, it could be Rings, or valves, or head gaskets or the valve timing or cam timing could be messed up.
Good Luck
E.D.

#1828 of 2702 Re: 94 Altima GLE battery keeps getting drained [electricdesign] by amao

Nov 27, 2006 (3:56 pm)

Replying to: electricdesign (Nov 27, 2006 2:49 pm)
E.D, thank you very much for the detailed message! Let me input more for my story. At one time, I called AAA for the jump start service. A guy came and before he jumped my car, he measured the voltage of my drained battery and it read only 5.x volts. Then he said I got a bad battery and tried to sell me one for more than $100. I knew he was trying to rip me off and was thinking:"how can you get a proper reading if my battery is completely drained?" But after reading your reply, I am now not so sure about my thought. Was he right on my battery or I was right?

#1829 of 2702 Manual 93 GXE shifting problem by bosshog1

Nov 27, 2006 (5:07 pm)

My 93 GXE has 150K and is extremely difficult to shift. If I were to guess, I would say that it takes anywhere from one to 15 pounds of applied arm strength to shift (to the point where I almost stop pushing, for fear of bending the shifter).
 
Eventually it will always shift, but I need to get the car inspected so this needs to be fixed (as inexpensively as possible as the car isn't worth putting too much $ into).
 
What might be causing this to happen? (Bushings/transmission oil/clutch/other?)

#1830 of 2702 Re: 94 Altima GLE battery keeps getting drained [amao] by electricdesign

Nov 27, 2006 (8:43 pm)

Replying to: amao (Nov 27, 2006 3:56 pm)
YOU were Right! Just because the volts are low does not mean the battery is bad, it just means that it does not have much electricity in it. Think of a Battery, any battery, as being like a glass of water, it is a CONTAINER, and you fill it up full of water. Once full it is supposed to stay full. Now you drink some out of it, and the water level goes down, then you put more water back in it and it's full again to the normal fill line, or you can keep filling it up to the brim. You cars alternator charges your battery and will fill it to the 'brim'. If the alternator does not charge properly, the level goes down. If the alternator does not charge at all, the battery will eventually be 'empty'. If you have a full glass of water, and your leave it out at night, and someone comes and slowly drinks water out of it, it may be 'empty' in the morning. Or if you have a full glass of water and it has a small crack in the side or bottom, the water can slowly leak out overnight. A bad battery is like a glass with a hole in it. If you pour water in, it won't hold the water for long. A good battery may be empty, but if you fill it up, it will stay full and work properly. The only way to properly test ANY battery is to charge it FULLY FIRST, then "LOAD TEST" it to see how much power it holds. The measure of POWER is VOLTS times AMPS over a period of time.
They measure and rate batteries in 'AMP-HOURS' The battery should produce a certain amount of amps output at a certain voltage over a certain period of time.
So bottom line, always charge the battery fully before you test it, or it will test bad.
In your case, I think someone is coming by and sipping your glass at night.
Good Luck,
E.D. ISF

#1831 of 2702 Bulbs in Climate Control/ Shifter 05-06 by mnoghost

Nov 27, 2006 (9:11 pm)

what size bulbs are in there, and how do you change them?

#1832 of 2702 Is there something wrong w/ the transmission or engine? by flygo1

Nov 28, 2006 (10:44 am)

Hi,
 
I own an 03 Altima 2.5S, auto trans, w/ 70K miles on it. Lately, when I drive my car to work, the first time the speed hits 75 mi/hr, the car will lose power, or at least feels like losing power for one or two sec, yesterday, it got more severe, the speed was oscillating back and forth from 60 mile to 80 mile no matter how hard I hit the gas. I was scared a lot.
I would appreciate any headsup, something must be wrong, I just don't know it's w/ transmission or w/ engine.
 
Thank you very much!

#1833 of 2702 Re: Is there something wrong w/ the transmission or engine? [flygo1] by electricdesign

Nov 28, 2006 (7:48 pm)

Replying to: flygo1 (Nov 28, 2006 10:44 am)
Does it speed up and slow down while you have the gas pedal pushed all the way down? Does it do that if you try to hold the gas pedal steady? It could be a fuel or electrical ignition problem. Is all maintenance kept up? The fuel filter should be changed if it has not been recently changed(normally change it every 30,000 miles). Inspect and drain the old fuel filter out on a clean white paper towel to see if it has much dirt or trash in it. It is possible that there could be bad gas or contamination in the gas tank and fuel system. If the old fuel filter has dirt that pours out of it, you may have to drain and pull the gas tank and clean it out. You might pour some fuel system cleaner in the gas tank first and see if that helps. Remove and check the spark plugs, and see how they look. Do they look like they are burning clean? It would be a very good time to do a cylinder compression check on the engine while the plugs are out. This will tell you a lot about the general health of the engine. If spark plugs are dirty replace them and further check the fuel and ignition system for further problems. Do you have a check engine light on? If so, get the engine computer scanned, and post back the DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code) numbers here, or look them up on the Internet at:
 
http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/index.php
 
Other things could also cause this, but these are some of the most likely places to look first.
 
Good Luck,
E.D. ISF

#1834 of 2702 Re: Is there something wrong w/ the transmission or engine? [flygo1] by kwk1

Nov 29, 2006 (2:35 am)

Replying to: flygo1 (Nov 28, 2006 10:44 am)
My first guess would be a plugged catalytic converter.
My second guess would be the ignition.
It's unlikely to me that it would be the trans.
 
Good luck.
 
Let us know how you make out.

#1835 of 2702 Re: 94 Altima GLE battery keeps getting drained [electricdesign] by amao

Nov 29, 2006 (4:54 pm)

Replying to: electricdesign (Nov 27, 2006 8:43 pm)
E.D., thank you very much for the funny but very educational post! I also come to believe that there is a short circuit somewhere that is draining the battery. I heard it would be really hard to find out that leaking spot. Is that right? If, for example, it turns out the electric cable within the engine compartment is bad, probably how much to have it replaced?

#1836 of 2702 Re: 94 Altima GLE battery keeps getting drained [amao] by electricdesign

Nov 29, 2006 (8:35 pm)

Replying to: amao (Nov 29, 2006 4:54 pm)
You need to find what is draining your battery by checking "PARASITIC CURRENT DRAW" from your battery. Your car has ELECTRONIC MODULES that draw current when they are first connected. After they "settle down", usually in about 2 to 5 minutes, the parasitic current drain on you battery should be down to about 25 ma (milliamps) (.025 Amp). Do the following test procedure, and if you find your draw is too high, pull fuses one at a time to see if you can isolate the source of the excessive current draw. If your Parasitic Current Draw is still high after pulling all fuses, try disconnecting the Alternator, and other electrical equipment until the source of the excessive current draw is found.
PARASITIC CURRENT DRAW TEST:
Start with a fully charged Battery. Turn everything in the car OFF, close the door, remove the light bulb from under the hood so that NOTHING you know of is on. Remove the negative cable. Place a 5 amp fuse & a 1 ohm/10watt resistor in series with the negative cable and the negative battery terminal, then wait a few minutes to allow the modules to settle down, then proceed. Connect a Digital Volt/Ohm Meter across the resistor and do a simple voltage drop test. Results = for example, a .022v draw = a 22mA draw. When you have minimal computers/radios/etc a maximum of 25mA is optimal. If you have multiple computers/cell phones/alarms/etc expect a higher number to be normal, though the cell phones/alarms should be OFF for this test. Over 30ma should be investigated and over 50ma should be corrected. Check manufacturers specs to be sure of what it should be for your particular vehicle.
Good Luck,
E.D. ISF

Messages Page 184 of 271

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement