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[jeff haskell]

I’m interested in buying a used hatchback or station wagon built in one of these years as I’m not interested in the newer cars. There was a time these cars were out of favor and you could hardly find any co manufacturing hatchbacks and/or station wagons.

[jeff haskell]

Hi dtidman – Thank you for kindly sharing your additional notes. My great mechanic from years ago (2,500 miles away now) shared that one time he had to spray carburetor fluid into/around the #3 and $4 fuel injectors to clear this sort of problem and Altimas generally have these kinds of issues with their fuel injectors. It’s very challenging where I live to find a good indie car mechanic. Most drivers just go to the dealer (costly and not always the best service). I’m trying to work with the tranny guy because the car mechanic I used to go to told me to just buy a new car instead of trying to fix this. The trannyt guy at least tested the transmission and shared it works well. He cleaned the Mass Air Flow Sensor and ti makes the car run a little better but that same Check Engine light P-error code comes on and the engine runs rough, especially when it’s cold. I’m trying to limit how much troubleshooting the tranny guy would have to do at this point since he advised that replacing the intake manifold gasket could disturb (possibly break other parts) in the process of replacing the gasket. I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place. I’ll see if the tranny guy is willing to help me test for the sounds of the fuel injectors and if he would be comfortably replacing any which sound troublesome. Again, I very much appreciate all your kind help.

[jeff haskell]

My apologizes if I seem not as focused as I should be but I’m juggling a lot of plates simultaneously

I recall watching Eric running tests on his Altima and determining he needed to replace the intake manifold gasket.

I do *not* recall where/if he tested the fuel injectors to see if they were dirty or needed replacement.
Is there a test I can do to ascertain if any (or all) the fuel injectors are dirty and if so can they be cleaned?

If so, what cleaner is applied in cleaning fuel injectors?

If they can *not* be cleaned and must be replaced then how may hours does it take to replace a fuel injector?

Does Eric have any videos showing you how to replace a fuel injector on a 1997 Nissan Altima?

Again, please forgive me if I’ve missed this.

Thank you for your help.

[jeff haskell]

Computer Question? For the webmaster?

If I copy/paste replies here into MS Word 2010 about 1/4 of the replies content go off the page so they can not be read in Word.,

I’ve tried all sorts of copying/pasting in MS Word and the only one which displays all the content is plain text but then I lose all the highlighting, colors, formatting.

Suggested solutions?

Thank you!

[jeff haskell]

The car mechanic friend who sprayed the water and poured the silicone on the hose was the one who suggested I replace the intake manifold gasket. He did not open the intake manifold and extract the gasket to examine – that he said was a 5.2 hour job.

I’ll watch the compression test video you kindly linked to.

The car otherwise runs really well. A “tranny” guy drove it and said it shifts flawlessly.

I bought/installed 4 new spark plugs, 4 new spark plug wires, new distributor cap, new rotor.

I have not tied swapping the spark plug wires from cyl 2 and cyl 1 and see if the fault code moves to cyl 2.

I’ll also look at page EC-156 of the FSM (http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Altima/1997/ec.pdf) – flowchart starting at step C.

Thanks for all your help!

[jeff haskell]

How does one check the intake gasket to determine if it’s leaking before changing it?

Must you open up the intake manifold and pull out the gasket and look at it for holes or cracks?

The engine gets smoother after it gets warm but doesn’t run smoothly like it used to. It still runs a little rough but not like when you first start it up in the morning and the whole engine seems to vibrate violently.

A mechanic friend sprayed water, at first start up when the engine was cold, around the intake areas ( I think also near the fuel injectors) and then replaced a small “looping piece| of rubber hosing and then applied silicone spray around some large rubber hosing and then sprayed water again around those areas and he said there didn’t seem to be any leaking detected from that water test.

How does one perform a compression check?

If it is a mechanical issue, does that mean the intake manifold gasket *must* be replaced to fix it?

Or are there other mechanical issues you’re thinking of?

Thanks for all your help.

[jeff haskell]

Another update. The engine still runs rough and the check engine light is back on with the same cylinder one misfiring error code. . I watched Eric’s very informative video re: “Misfire Diagnosis” and at the end of that video after resistance testing, spark plug and wires testing, throttle cleaner spraying and mass air flow sensor cleaning, it seemed the only option left was to replace the intake manifold gasket. I shared that with a car mechanic and he looked that up on his computer sharing that’s a 5.2 hour job which for labor alone would cost $480. He also warned me that there’s a very good chance that when you remove the intake manifold other parts could be damaged fairly easily in the process and the whole repair process could get very expensive if other parts get damaged or involved. I’m not a mechanic so I’d appreciate others thoughts and/or suggestions of how to best proceed? Thank you so much!

[jeff haskell]

Here’s my update.

A tranny guy thoroughly cleaned the Mass Air Flow Sensor unit and the engine performs better but it still runs rough with the steering wheel vibrating wildly from the engine idle. It starts up rough and sounds rough but at least it no longer can only go 18 mph before the engine lurches pushing the car into the next gear forward (sorry I don’t know how else to describe it).

I was reading that it could be the Fuel Injectors now need cleaning.

Is that a big job?

Are there any videos of how to clean a 1997 Nissan Altima fuel injector?

Any new parts needed to do that?

Thanks so much for ally our continuing help.

[jeff haskell]

Will do.

Thank you.

[jeff haskell]

Hi relative 4,

Am I understanding correctly that you’re suggesting I do *not* replace the intake manifold gasket?

But, rather to search for the leak(s) along all the rubber hosing?

Thank you so much.

[jeff haskell]

Can someone pls, share how I can attach a photo in .jpg here? It’s a photo of a car engine part I’m trying to identify.
I asked a mechanic friend to look at my ’97 Altima and he sprayed water mists around the 4 fuel injectors (?) intake manifold area.

The engine raced and then almost stalled out like it does when Ii drive it. He shared that it’s a vacuum leak. He constructed a rubber tubing where that “loop” rubber tubing appears closer to the firewall and also sprayed silicone on a couple of minor cracks in the rubber tubing which leads into that part I’m trying to ID. The engine ran slightly better but I still get the engine accelerating up to over 3 in the Tach and then plummeting down to almost stalling. The check engine light has returned displaying the same P codes indicating the first cylinder misfiring. My regular mechanic installed new spark plugs, new spark plug wires, new rotor, new distributor cap but that did not change anything.

The mechanic friend (just stopping by on vacation) suggested installing a new intake manifold gasket.

I appreciate all your thoughts and help.

Thank you.

[jeff haskell]

No apologies necessary. Thank you for all yur detailed suggestions. I’ll be following though on them.

Very much appreciated.

Hope you can enjoy a fun weekend – other than working on your Altima! 🙂

[jeff haskell]

I replaced all the sparks plugs and spark plug wires with new ones along with a new rotor and distributor cap.

Thanks.

[jeff haskell]

My apologies. I’m troubleshooting a number of computer and related issues along with the car. I don’t get the check engine light on now but I did for a couple of weeks reading P300, P301 indicating #1 cylinder is misfiring. That’s when I phoned my former mechanic where he imparted the Intake Manifold issue and checking the Fuel Injector resistors. It’s not easy finding a good, independent mechanic where I live so I’m not sure if I can find one before this Wednesday when I need to drive 75 miles each way on the highway. I was concerned I might blow something in the engine driving 70 MPH on the highway. Thanks so much. It’s really a good little car.

[jeff haskell]

Well, I hope yours does *not* blow up.

The engine stalls at some lights and runs rough. Sometimes surging. Tranny is smooth and fine.

My former mechanic (now in a different state) shared that about 8-9 years ago he had to spray carburetor fluid around the 3rd – 4th area where the intake manifold meets the cylinder to stop something from sticking. My apologies as I’m not a mechanic so I’m not an expert with all the mechanical terms. He suggested having someone check the intake manifold as well as the Fuel Injectors as maybe one of those needs replacing.

Until recently, the engine was running as smooth as silk.

Thanks for your thoughts/suggestions.

[Author]

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