pure_insanity Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 ok, ive got a nissan altima 02, with a 2.5 4 cylinder. and this thing is messing with me. it keeps acting up and will throw itself into something like a limp mode. whenever it starts this it will usually , jerk hard once and then start running horribly slugish and rough. it will continue this untill you cut the car off and wait a while. it may only need 5 mins before whatever resets itself. when you start it back up, it runs great again w no sign of anything. whenever it does this it doesnt always throw a check engine light but it will have a code of 0303. which is a cylinder 3 misfire. i know nissan coils are not the greatest so i swapped the coil for cylinder 3 with the coil for cylinder 1 then waited to see if it came back. sure enough came back the same cyl 3 misfire. so i replaced the plugs. still came back as cyl 3 misfire. about the only thing left in cylinder 3 is the injector but i have a hard time believing it to be an injector acting up so sporadically. any thoughts? issue no 2.when you first crank it, it rattles and sounds like an engine w a crappy oil filter on it thathas to pump up the filter then shuts up the rattles. ive already tried a nissan oil filter as well as fram, wix and purolator trying to stop the rattles. nothing shuts it up. i initially thought the rattles were bled down lifters that took a second to pump up, but after looking close the cam rides directly on top of the lifters which rides directly on top of the valve stem and i just dont see this as being the problem. the sound seems too high to be the bottom end. im thinking it may be timing chain guides etc. any thoughts here. ive already looked around on the nissan forums and asked there without any real help. they all keep telling me to gut the catalytic converter. i spoke to the service and parts dept at the nissan dealership and they just tell me they dont even try to repair the, but rather just go straight for a new engine to the tune of abo0ut 2200$. im not about replaceing this motor as when its running it does run good. anyone got any thoughts or know much about these cars? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 does it have variable valve/cam timing? I remember one of those newish nissans coming in to the shop and it was having similar issues and it was related to cam timing. (this was a few years ago, so forgive me if my memory is totally wrong) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UlrichWolf88 Posted September 20, 2011 Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 Gut the converter. It disintegrates, and substrate actually sucks into the engine, and scores the cylinder walls. That's why one guy is telling you to get a new motor. Chances are, there is crap circulating in the oil from a bad converter, and this is causing your start up rattle. I'd prepare for the worst. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted September 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2011 ive had the converter down and looked in and it doesnt appear to be disentigrating. appears to be perfectly intact. i totally see what you say about the material in the oil etc. but that doesnt explain the issue with running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 I'm a nissan tech and most of the new nissan's timing chain guides start wearing out around 50-60k miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted September 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 ahhhh, i sort of thought so. what can you tell me specifically about the qr25 motors. or at least the ones in the altimas. im sure your bound to see a million a week. and im pretty sure the rattle noise i have is fairly common among these cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasQuest Posted September 21, 2011 Report Share Posted September 21, 2011 Yes they are a dime a dozen thru-out the dealership. They are noisy motors but overall are good if you take car of them. The front motor mount (one next to the pass. side strut tower) usually fails prematurely, you may have already found this out by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted September 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 mine had been replaced when i got the car at 120k. looked a touch old and dirty so i think it had been there since about 100k or longer. what else do you know of that fails prematurely? ive been told need to gut the cat, but there was service records in the car that said cat had been replaced around 80k, so i think im good for the minute. i live in a non emissions area so its a goner. do you have any insight as to the crazy running issue i described? i pulled codes yesterday and got a crankshaft position sensor code. so looks like that may be one of the next few items to attempt to fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 does that engine have a crank frt mount'd oil pump , i've had many problems with frt mount'd oil pumps seals leaking air ,,they suck air and cause loss of prime durring down time , so the engine starts up with no oil in the pump and foam in the oil while it's runing , these are mostly found on belt engines tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pure_insanity Posted September 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 shelby, im not sure if the pump is frt mounted or not. im not familiar with the internal design of this engine and you cant tell squat by looking at it. it def does have timing chains. on motors youve seen sucking air at the pump, where exactly does the air leak occur? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 most metal clad seals are made to keep oil in,, with an oil pump you have an internal suction,,these seals aren't nearly as well at keeping air out as they are oil in,, ,normaly the seals are on the end of the oil pump where the crank extends thru the pump,,other things like a loose pick up tube will cause the same thing , so will an oil filter that is up side down with no flaper valve, basicly any thing that will alow oil to drain back to the pan will cause the oil pump to loose it's prime but one thing is clear you do have oil pressure problems or the noise would not be there , but it the engine has 100k or more i'd deff be looking into the timeing chain system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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