Car guys, HELP!!!!!!

edbert

alright, 2005 altima 3.5 SE. 60K miles. Brand new brakes, battery and a fresh oil change(all within the past 48 hours). I was out test driving the car after installing the brakes to make sure it was just really warped rotors(which was my suspicion) and not out of balance tires. Everything was going great and it turned out it was the brakes. I sped up quickly from a stop sign only to have to slow down again(within a 1/4 mile or so) because of a new stop sign I didn't know about. I hit the brakes pretty hard and stopped in plenty of time. The problem started when the car started hesitating at idle. At speed the car is fine and drives like normal or it at least seems too. There might be a slight hesitation if you get on it, but it is very slight. When i pulled in my garage about 5 minutes later the check engine light came on(not blinking). I pulled the codes today 0300 and 0021. Random cylinder misfire and intake valve timing control circuit failure, respectively. I checked for any type of vacuum leak and there isn't one that I could find. I noticed when I shut it down that it sounds like something is trying to go back in place but either can't or it is just moving really slowly.

If anyone has a similar car or engine and can shut it down and listen, tell me if this is normal. I think that noise when I shut the engine down is the problem, I just don't know what that might be.

I probably typed way more info than you guys need, but more info is usually better than less in these situations.

Thanks!

petrym

Me personally? I would disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes, reconnect and start it up and give the car a drive; if it replicates the same errors I would take car and give the codes to your local trusted garage.

edbert

I actually already tried that. So far my local trusted garage has been my own. If I absolutely have to I will, but I am really trying to not have to pay someone else to do something that I can end up doing. That kind of thing drives me nuts. Thanks for the tip though!

anyone else?

thsmith

Go back over the areas you touch before the problem started. Check for pinched wires in the areas you worked or loose connectors. It was working fine, then you did work and then it was not fine.

AudioGenics

possible service bulletin....

NTB06-079a 0 *
1996-2009 NISSAN MODELS WITH ENGINES: VQ35, QR25, QG18, GA16, VQ40, VK56, MR18, MR20; DTC FOR VARIABLE VALVE TIMING CONTROL FUNCTION
The MIL is on with any of the following DTCs stored:
P0011, P0014, P0021, P0024, P1110, P1135,
NOTE: The engine may also have Camshaft Sprocket rattle noise and/or other engine noise.

*****

NTB04-090a
-REVISED-
2004 MAXIMA, QUEST, ALTIMA, 2005 ALTIMA; MIL "ON" WITH DTC P0300-P0306, P1273 OR P1283
A MIL "ON" with one or more of the following DTC’s stored :
• P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304, P0305, P0306 (cylinder misfire).
• P1273, P1283 (A/F ratio lean).

AudioGenics

here is the 'possible' service bulletin on the p0300 code

Access denied NTB06-075
2004-2006 NISSAN ALTIMA, MAXIMA, 2004-2007 NISSAN QUEST; DTC P0300 STORED AND IGNITION COILS BLISTERED
DTC P0300 is stored in the ECM,
and
One or more ignition coils are blistered / melted,
NOTE: The customer may report one or more of the following:

*
Hesitates on acceleration
*
Rough running engine
*
Engine cranks but will not start

edbert

Awesome. One thing that I never understood about TSB's, are they things that the dealer should pay for since they are recognized problems or are those only on recalls?

wz2p7j

edbert wrote: »

Awesome. One thing that I never understood about TSB's, are they things that the dealer should pay for since they are recognized problems or are those only on recalls?

The dealer will pay for it if it is a recall. If it's just a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) the dealer is not obligated to pay. Although sometimes with just a TSB the dealer will get it covered under warranty as it is a "known problem."

Chris

AudioGenics

looks like the original post may be at or over the warranty period...

2005 Nissan Altima Warranty Program
Basic 3 year / 36,000 miles Contact a dealer about warranties & pricing
Free Maintenance N/A Contact a dealer about maintenance & pricing
Drivetrain 5 year / 60,000 miles
Roadside N/A
Rust 5 year / Unlimited miles

edbert

Alright, so I am somewhat of an idiot. I know that I said that I had disconnected the battery to try to reset the system and see if it was just a fluke. Well, it helps to disconnect the POSITIVE side and not the negative side, that does nothing, which is initially what I did. This morning after thinking back to what I had already tried to do to make things better, I thought, hey dumb butt, you disconnected the battery wrong the first time. Sure enough, everything is fine. I'm not exactly sure what I did the other night to make all this happen in the first place but it is all good now. I even went back and recreated everything that I did the other night when testing the brakes and everything is fine.

Everyone learn from my stupid mistake and if you need to reset your car computer, disconnect the positive side for 30 minutes, and not the negative side.

Thanks for all the tips anyway boys, it's nice to know the help is there if you need it.

disneyjoe7

I'm not sure why disconnecting Positive over Negative would make any difference. Any car nuts going to correct me, learning curve on.

edbert

Honestly man I don't know. I have just always heard to disconnect the positive side. I had the negative side for about an hour or so and as soon as I turned the car back on the check engine light was already back on and it was like I hadn't done anything. However when I disconnected the positive side of the battery for about an hour, everything was fine. Maybe it was just a fluke all around but I know what worked so I will just do that from now on. I'm just glad the car is running again and it didn't cost me a thing other than some time and a little frustration.

jcaut

Unless there's some super-secret ground wire back to the negative battery terminal, --meaning it's not really disconnected-- then there is no difference unhooking positive vs. negative as either way breaks the circuit. At least that's the way I understand it.

AudioGenics

I use an ACTRON to reset OBDII codes.

the battery thing usually doesn't reset the codes for OBDII