Anyone know anything about cars?

General The Pub
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So, I know this is waaay far away from the point of this forum, but I was hoping one of you lovely people knew a little bit about cars. I know next to nothing. Sorry for the novel…skip to the end for the most recent issue; read the whole thing if you need backstory. LoL.

I have an 02 Nissan Altima, about 188k miles, that’s been giving me fits. It started about six months ago with a cylinder 3 misfire code and some loss of power/trouble accelerating issues. I replaced the spark plugs and the #3 ignition coil. It still had some power issues, but the code went away. A couple weeks later I got another P0303. I took it in, they switched the 1 & 3 coils and cleared the code. Another couple weeks and it came back, still #3. I replaced all four coils. About a month-ish later I wound up with a multiple misfire code. After checking it at Autozone, it went away and I started putting Lucas Oil in once a month. Light came back on. I was taking the car in to get the strut mounts replaced anyway (a whole different and frustrating story and I’m still having steering issues), they checked the codes (mult misfire again), maybe switched the coils around again and maybe not, but the light went away. Engine light came on again the next day, but went off after I was halfway back to the mechanic. I’ve continued with the Lucas stuff once a month and didn’t get another light, but have had some problems with it not accelerating well and not having a whole lot of power.

Other than the steering (feels like I’m driving on ice, the wheel is gonna jerk out of my hands every time I hit even the slightest bump, and it pulls to the right despite being aligned when I had the mounts replaced a couple months ago) it ran okay for the last couple of months. I took it back to the place that did the mounts when it started feeling like it was pulling and still felt like it wasn’t getting enough power, but the guy said it was fine.

About two weeks or so ago it wound up getting pretty hot on my way home from school when I had the heater on. Not sure if the heater was related or just coincidental. I turned off the heater and drove really slowly and it was fine. It was fine for a few more days, and then it happened again. I added some 50/50 coolant to the overflow tank, which was dry, and haven’t had that happen again. A couple days ago it started stuttering (and struggling) when I was accelerating and had a semi-rhythmic stutter while idle…sort of felt like it was going to stall out. On the way home today I tried to pass someone (only going about 40) and when I got it over 2000 rpm it stuttered a LOT and the engine light started flashing. After I slowed down and the rpms dropped below 2000, the light went off.

I am planning on taking it in tomorrow after school unless someone thinks this is something I can fix with a can of something. Unfortunately I don’t have anyone who can really help me or go with me when I take it in so I’m on my own trying to figure this out. Not even sure it’s worth it at this point to try fixing it again. I’ve probably put more into the car in the last couple of years than I paid for it. Front and rear struts, alternator, brakes, tires, strut mounts and sway bar, battery, some sort of wheel bearing or something…I’m so frustrated. If it weren’t for the fact that it’d leave me stranded, I drive the thing off a bridge. LoL. How bad of an idea is it to drive it to school and back (about 10 miles total in a 40mph zone) tomorrow? And any idea what I should tell them to check/look for or what I should listen for them to say so I know they’re not trying to hustle me? Thanks to anyone who can even begin to suggest something. :wink:

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Yea DONT buy a Nissan!! Kidding aside go to a auto parts store and they will run a diagnostic on your car and tell you whats going on for free.
I did it last week at Orielys and found out I had a bad O2 senser.

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LOL thanks…you’re about five years too late. :wink: Can they still run a diagnostic if the engine light isn’t on?

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When you pull the dipstick out of the oil pan, is there any discoloration/milkiness on it or is it clear or black?

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I dont know if that is possible.

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No milkiness that I can see…pretty dark though. It’s about 250 (or so, maybe?) miles away from needing an oil change.

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Good, that will likely rule out head gasket or cracked head. That would have been a problem that could have been more costly than the car was worth.

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Ha, yeah…I was concerned about that when I first started reading on the power loss issues. I already decided that needing a head or head gasket will get the car towed to the scrap yard. LoL. From what I can tell, it’s not leaking. I haven’t seen any oil or anything in the driveway and it’s not blowing smoke or making any terrible noises. A bit of a squeal that I was told was a belt.

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My best guess is the throttle body or the accelerator position sensor, both will cause a loss of power or lack of acceleration. The mid 2000’s Nissan’s are famous for them going out.

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jimmy budz any water coming out the muffler put your hand next to it and see if there is moisture in your hand.

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Just checked. I held my hand down there for about 30 seconds, no moisture.

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if you had to put water in the radiator it had to leak somewhere

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could be the water pump.

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I’ve had a similar problem with a bad O2 sensor in mine. Took a while to isolate it to that. You might have a timing issue. Have the belt replaced yet? Sounds like you have a few issues with this that may be hard to isolate. I would take it to a parts store and have them slap a code reader on it. You’re light doesn’t have to be on for it to register and record a fault. Good luck.

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i just gave up on my grandsons volkswagon jetta bought it for him first car ipaid about a grand and put about 7000 in it in a year . its sittin in my back yard dead.good luck

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Thanks guys! I’m trying not to stress too much. It is what it is. Fingers crossed it is minor and this hunk o’ junk will last me until next semester. I have a feeling I’m gonna get really familiar with my city’s bus routes before the year is up. :stuck_out_tongue: Public transportation is better for the environment anyway, right? LoL.

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Somewhere in all that coil changing I hope they changed your plugs and wires. If so, I’d go out and make sure the wires are plugged in all the way. If they aren’t and you have a water spray bottle go out and spray lightly around the wires while running. You’ll get a light show if they are bad.

I am really scared that you drove it hot. . .please never do that unless you can afford a replacement motor. Pull over immediately and figure out the problem. Seriously, seen to many warped or cracked heads.

It sounds like multiple problems. The water pump is probably leaking. But, the misfire could be the forward O2, which can kill your power, as can a clogged catalytic converter. Even without a check engine light, the computer can read your codes. It should also be able to read the throttle position sensor even when not running as you move the pedal back and forth.

No milky oil, no water from tailpipe, now just beware of coolant on the ground or weird places in engine compartment. That will mean blown headgasket.

Oh yeah! One more thing, some cars have seals in the valve cover that protect the plugs from engine oil. Those seals go bad and you will misfire on the cylinder that is bad. They are cheap and easy to replace. If your plugs and wires are newish, this is my first bet. . .sometimes the oil will kill your new plug wires though.

Best of luck. Sorry you are having problems. Please, never drive a hot car again. Ever. Under any circumstances, you won’t get far. . .

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You unfortunately have a lot of different things going on at once. all not related. as far as the water/temp do u have a temperature guage on dash? Or light that comes on when hot? If its a guage it should be around 195• but keep in mind it reads the temperature of the water/antifreeze so if its low it can actually run hot and not show up on gauge or light. How much 50/50 did u add? If more than 1/2 gallon I would be concerned u have a water leak somewhere or a bad engine gasket. hope this helps. As far as the jitters that could be anything really hard to tell. as far as the pull I would have the front end but mainly he tires checked for knots. good luck

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JoJo, the thing about the oil seal on the spark plug. . .that is real. I had your exact symptoms, misfire on cylinder x no matter what changes I made. . .and that was the problem.

It doesn’t explain the missing water or running hot, but I’d bet you a shiny nickel on the hesitation. Happened any time I accelerated, even just coming out of the tolls. . .and sometimes it would happen while idling. Like u said, a shiny nickel. . .200 wire.

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@therabidweasel I promise I won’t drive it hot ever again. I had a sunbird that had a leak and overheated constantly so I guess I just didn’t think about it being a major issue. My brother in law changed the plugs but I didn’t get wires so those didn’t get changed. I don’t have the tools to get the cover off the engine so I can’t get to the wires. I’ll mention that to the mechanic when I go in and see if they can pull the codes. I watched a video on replacing the valve cover gasket, which was thought to have a problem at one point but wasn’t mentioned again by any other mechanic after that. I don’t feel quite confident enough to do that myself. In the video they said the valve seals are part of the valve cover, so if it is a seal I’ll have to replace the whole cover. Not sure what that runs in comparison. Stupid Nissans. Make it a shiny stainless steel or titanium and you’ve got a deal! :wink:

@C_Rock It doesn’t have numbers on the gauge. It typically runs at about 1/4 or right over the second line. When it got hot it got up to the third line before it dropped back down to normal. It was really weird. I didn’t add much to it, probably less than a quart, and I put it in the overflow not the actual radiator. It’s the first time I’ve added anything since summer, I believe. If there’s a leak it’s either slow or started recently. I try to check everything at least once a month. When I checked today, it had about as much as it did when I added some. Somewhere between min and max on the overflow. I’m guessing there’s a test they can do to check for leaks?

Thanks for the suggestions and the love. :blush: I really appreciate it and I feel a little more confident about taking it in and at least pretending that I know what is going on. Maybe I won’t be quite as intimidated this time around. LoL