Hi all. I have having some problems with my car and I have searched countless threads here and learned very much. Great little area.
Here is my problem.
I have a 1994 Maxima, Automatic. About one month ago it began to have problems accelerating. It would hesitate and hiccup. I could relieve the problem by accelerating slowly, until up to speed and it worked ok. No check ignition light has ever come on. However, this type of driving did not sit well with me. I took it to my local mechanic who could not find any problems. Ran computer tests and it checked out. Even when he drove the car it worked fine. Very frustrating.
I took it to the dealership to see their opinion. They called and said it was the ignition coils. About 900 dollars to replace. I searched the forum here and found that the problems associated with poor ignition coils were consistent with my problems.
I decided to get a second opinion from another dealership. They told me the car needed about $2,500 worth of work, including new o2 sensor, new coolant sensor and a lot of other work that would not be justified for a 12 year old car.
The first dealership told me all that work was unnecessary and if the other dealership would have just looked at the ignition coils then they would see that is the culprit.
I had the coils replaced. The car drove fine for about 5 min, then it would begin to hiccup when accelerating and hesitate. Once the car is off the line it works great. Better than ever. However, now the car idles very poorly. Worse than before. Around 500-750. It shakes at idle and feels like it is about ready to stall at times. Then acceleration off the line is still bad. Car shakes at first, then drives fine. At high speeds though it still hiccups if I am not giving gas.
Here is the list:
- Idles rough 500-750 (When in D and R, in P and N it idles better, but after time begins to idle rough)
- Almost stalls at idle
- Hiccups and hesitates off the line (works well once acceleration has reached 5 - 10 mph)
- Hiccups at higher speeds if gas is not being pressed
- No check engine light
- All six ignition coils and spark plugs just replaced
- Fuel filter just replaced (did this myself, in fact the car at idle feels just like it did after I pulled the fuel pump fuse out and waited for the car to die)
- No other problems
Sorry for the novel, just trying to get all the facts out. It is going back in tomorrow to the dealership who replaced the coils, but I wanted to see what you all think. I have some suspicions, but I am far from a mechanic. Thanks.
Cameron