car sputtering bad?

1093 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Harris, Feb 2, 2004

sr20veb13

Discussion Starter · Feb 2, 2004

hey i have a 92 sentra se-r and i run 17* timing, and it hasnt had a problem in about a year, and yesterday i filled up with some bad gas i think... i usually always use chevron but i wasnt around one soo i used bp or some ****.. and now at 1/4 throttle its ok but wot it will sputter badly and make nooo power???what is this am i detonating or did this gas ruin my injectors??? it was literly 20 feet from tha gas station it started doing this, and hasnt let up yet except when its cold.. thats why i figured detonation.. anyone have any idea or comments, anything would help thanks. jake

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Monsoon

· #2 · Feb 2, 2004

If it was detonation it would be knocking. When the car detonates it still fires in the cylinder so it wouldn't be sputtering/missing like you're saying (I think?). What octane was the gas?

Sounds to me like your distributor cap/rotor might be needing replaced, or plug wires, or spark plugs. Just check the most simplistic things first.

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Harris

· #3 · Feb 2, 2004

Sounds like either you have an ignition or injector related problem.

I would recommend a way for you to check if you have spark coming to the wires, but my way is a little dangerous.

The first thing to do though is check your plugs, wires, cap, and establish that you have a spark.

To check which cylinder is not firing, take out each wire one by one. Take one wire out, see if it change the way the engine is behaving. If not, put the wire back and move to the next one. The one that doesn't change a thing in the way your engine sounds is the one that needs attention.

If you still incur a problem after having established that you have spark, the next most logical problem would be the injector.

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sr20veb13

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 2, 2004

i know it really does feel like a cap and rotar thing... but i have haddd nooo signs of this before and where i live i only use 89 to 91 octane chevron (thats the only gas staions we have out here) sooo i went to another town to drop of my girlfriend and i noticed i was lowww on gas soo i stoped at this gas station right before the freeway and filled up with 91 but it was like a BP gas sation, i little cheap one! and literly as i drove out of the gas station my car would sputter really bad and have nooo power and then it would stap and roast the tires and ****.. and as the farther i drop it seemed to get worse where as i could only 1/4 throttle it and it wouldnt make a noise but put my foot on the gas and it starts making a loud sputter and make nooo power? so yesterday i filled my tank with some nice 91 techron and i drove it home with noo problems. then i left this morning to pay a ticket and sure enogh half way on the freeway it starts doing it.. where i could give it wot and it would spudder then take off then spudder. and it only seemed to get worse were the only way i could get it up in the rpms and driving was to 1/4 throttle it, and any more and the symptoms came back.. i mean i will ckeck my cap but it just sounds like wayyy to big of a couinsadence (spelling*) to be that, could my injecters be ****ed from shitty gas? or detonation or even something else ...i dont think that gas from the bad BP has ran through the system yet. thanks

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Harris

· #5 · Feb 2, 2004

Correcting spelling is Coincidence.

Anyhow, yes, it could be a coincidence that maybe your injectors crapped out the same time you used BP gas. My injectors crapped out just like that. Once in a while the car would sputter for a little bit, but after revving it a little, the sputter would go way. One day, the car decided to stay in the sputter mode, which is when the injector on the #2 cylinder just stopped working. However, I came to the conclusion of having a bad injector after doing a little diagnosis like I recommended above.

Hope its nothing seriously bad with your car. At least it doesn't sound so from the way your describe it. I'm quite sure its a clogged injector. You just have to find out which one it is. I'd say if it is a bad injector, its better that you change all four while you're at it. You'd be surprised as to how bad they'll look when you take them out.

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sr20veb13

Discussion Starter · #6 · Feb 2, 2004

alright thanks man ! ill try your test... im still hoping that i can just kill this tank of gas through in some injector cleaner and run the helll out of it until it clears or blows! ahh who cares de's are dime a dozen ! myns older than dirt anyways! and im gettin a 240 soon.... so detonation is out of the question ?

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Harris

· #7 · Feb 2, 2004

Yea, it doesn't sound like detonation at all. Heck, with 17* ignition timing, you could use 87 octane safely, as you fall right under factory specs at that timing.

Make sure you purchase either Redline injector cleaner or the one that Nissan dealerships sell.

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chimmike

· #8 · Feb 2, 2004

BP is generally good gas, too.

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sr20veb13

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 2, 2004

Harris said:
Yea, it doesn't sound like detonation at all. Heck, with 17* ignition timing, you could use 87 octane safely, as you fall right under factory specs at that timing.

Make sure you purchase either Redline injector cleaner or the one that Nissan dealerships sell.

17* is factory ?????? whoaa i totally thought it was 15*.. but good its not detonation ! bp isnt bad i guess but this gas station wasss ghettoo and i dont think it is as good as chevron ! i got the chevron injector cleaner. all the machanics at the shop said to go with it, and it was alsmot sold out!

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Harris

· #10 · Feb 2, 2004

Yup, factory ignition timing for SR20DEs is 15* +/- 2 BTDC.

As far as injector cleaner goes, it is recommended that you use at least the ones I prescribed, as those cleaners do not contain this one ingredient that is known to cause problems on Nissan injectors. I don't remember what that ingredient was though. Hopefully someone can help out with that information. Anyhow, there was a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) regarding that issue.

Good luck.

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