Nissan Cefiro A32 Terrible Idle

[chamindaa]

I have a Nissan Cefiro A32 which i bought about 2 yrs ago. About 8 months ago it suddenly started getting a vibration at idle. The car failed to idle at 700 RPM but would either drop or increase but mostly drop. When driving the car did not give any issues. The only catch was when i press the accelerator for sudden pick up there would be a delay but the engine would rev up and give me the power i needed. This i do very rarely and I'm very careful with the accellerator. Driving in Colombo is mostly stop and go and terrible idle is not good. So I took the car to A*W and they cleaned up the injectors and did an engine tuneup. They recommended to change the plugs. I took the car to my local mechanic and changed the plugs to laser platinum which cost me almost 20k (bought from Pioneer). Further they said to replace the coils, since they would have become weak but they failed to give me concrete evidance. I was sceptic to carry this out since the 6 coils would cost me close to 50K. I have been driving with my new plugs for about 4 months now with the issue in idle still persisting. However lately my RPM drops when i'm accelerating as well and i get a sudden jerk similar to a misfire when i press the accelerator. Specially in the morning after a cold start. I can sense the car is not moving as fast as it should and when i put the AC the car gets really slow, but after few mins when the engine warms up it becomes fine. I'm a very conservative driver (for obvious resons when driving a 2L ) and my RPM is usually under 2K or hovering around there. Mostly i'm under 80kmph. I read in a blog somewhere that a power steering belt which is slippery can cause RPM to drop and increase. I checked with my mechanic and he said replacing the power steering belt is not espensive and i plan to do it anyway. My question is what do you guys think will solve this problem? Is there a good mechanic who can fix my car cause i have no faith in A*W. (All they say is replace this, replace that which is rubbish).

[isurujosh]

i think we had a similar issue with a honda city. in my case the bug is the idle sensor. but if it's idle sensor then engine check light lits and then you can read the error code and figure that it is the idle sensor.

Edited February 14, 2010 by isurujosh

[Sylvi]

i think we had a similar issue with a honda city. in my case the bug is the idle sensor. but if it's idle sensor then engine check light lits and then you can read the error code and figure that it is the idle sensor.

Sir,

I have had same symptoms with my Chinese build Channa 1300CC Duel purpose Vehicle like on this early comment I too suspect that your one censor is not functioning correctly.

When the trouble start I cannot accelerate the Engine as I start in the morning do not Idle correctly. Stops the engine when I change gears.

My Engine when this happens I remove the first censor on the intake throttle of the inlet manifold and clean same fix that back then the engine work fine for few 1000 Km. I will suggest you to try same or get some one who has a Engine Diagnostic Analyzer to check your engine working system.

I think Cost is around Rupees: 2500/=.

Power Steering oil pump or Alternator Belt I personally do not think have any thing related to your Engine problem.

Poly V Belts and V Belts will have a Creaking noise when they have faulty traction due to worn out problems.

Engine runs with out correct belt tightness to take the load of the any one of above said drive units will give creaking noise.

In the market you can buy belt non slip spray for Creaking noise which is around Rupees 1300.00 to 1500.00.

Air intake filter also I change every 10000 KM I clean same every 1000 km using high pressure air due to this First Air filter at 6000 Km I had this problem. I was advised by a foreign forum to check the air filter if this problem comes up as in town running air filter will absorb lot of Black smoke and get clogged.

I am a old School worker who had my training in Electrical Maintenance of units in west in 1960 to 1964. That is the reason I Have a little more knowledge of motors and Generators of Auto and industrial units. After 30 years I deviated to another subject in Automobile service industry as the subject which I cater was not available in Srilanka was necessary to our automobile owners. Changing from one service to another service was a Gamble in my technical field which I could effort.

Regards,

Wijesinghe.

[MkX]

i think we had a similar issue with a honda city. in my case the bug is the idle sensor. but if it's idle sensor then engine check light lits and then you can read the error code and figure that it is the idle sensor.

However lately my RPM drops when i'm accelerating as well and i get a sudden jerk similar to a misfire when i press the accelerator.

I am having same issue in my EK3 and check light came up. It was TPS (throttle position sensor). For me this comes only in long journeys. I am changing the sensor tomorrow at Willeys Auto peradeniya

[deco]

There is a sensor called "Mass Air Flow Sensor" normally fitted in between the air filter and the throttle body. Once this sensor gets contaminated the same kind of symptoms could appear. Please have a good look at this sensor through a qualified technician as this is a very fragile and easily get damaged.

I strongly advice you to have this inspected before going any further..

Thanks

[isurujosh]

i think the gentlemen also would like to get an advice as to where he can get a good diagnostic check done on this. if the agents have let him down, he is left with few choices.

sometimes i wonder whether these agents do this on purpose to suck the blood out of the customers. how hard can it be to find an issue with some sensor?

[chamindaa]

Thanks to all for you comments. I took the car to Laughs at Wellawatta today and cleaned the fuel system with 3M. The process took me nearly 1.5 hrs and cost me Rs. 4250. Two separate liquid filled cans were used. One to clean the throttle body and the other which is used instead of the fuel line. I must say after the process I'm a beliver in this product. I can definitely feel a performance improvement in terms of pickup. Sadly my earlier issue still remains but not bad as it was. Perhaps it's too early to tell.

As for A*W when they hooked up my car to the consult, 2 chambers out of 6 gave low readings. They re-ran the test and the second time all cylinders were fine. All the sensors were giving the correct readings and hence they came up replace coils answer. They took the easy way out since my problem is hard to diagnose. Therefore I'm not too happy to take the car there. Plus they charge for the hrs and not for the job. So the longer i keep my car there the more it's going to cost.

I'm aware of the master air flow sensor and I must say it's indeed a fragile peice of equipment. Given the price i did not want to mess with it. I'm planning to take the car and get all it's sensors cleaned including the MAFS. Hopefully this will resolve the issue. Fingers crossed.

In Isuru's City the check engine light lit up. But in my case it only comes when i start the engine and goes out after a while which is "As designed". Therefore this problem is hard to diagnose.