Nissan Micra Jerking

[Ellis]

Friend of mine has a Nissan Micra 1.3 N reg. She has no problem starting the
engine and it will run ok for maybe about 20 minutes and then suddenly start
pulling or jerking for several seconds. It does this intermittently, usually
in the lower gears.

She took it to her regular garage and they checked it out and tuned it up
and put a new silencer on which they said was faulty. Cost her near £90 but
the problem is back as bad as ever. The only thing to do now it seems is to
take it to a Nissan specialist who can use diagnostic equipment. We have
looked around various forums and this problem has been mentioned several
times by people who variously refer to the problem as jerking, pulling, or
hesitating.

I was wondering if anyone on this forum has experienced the problem? I have
heard it suggested that these Micra's are subject to problems with the
airflow sensors or airflow meters. What can we expect to pay for a Nissan
dealer to give us a diagnostic report using the specialist equipment?
Grateful for any help.

Ellis

[Professor]

I would use my normal method to attack this problem... easy things
first. I would check the fuel filter and the fuel pumps ability to get
to the proper pressure and flow rate. If nothing is uncovered there...
I would turn my focus to a possible ignition system cut-out. I believe
I would start there by jiggling wires around in the engine compartment
looking for any sign of the symptom.

Professor
www.telstar-electronics.com

Post by Ellis
Friend of mine has a Nissan Micra 1.3 N reg. She has no problem starting the
engine and it will run ok for maybe about 20 minutes and then

suddenly start

Post by Ellis
pulling or jerking for several seconds. It does this intermittently, usually
in the lower gears.
She took it to her regular garage and they checked it out and tuned it up
and put a new silencer on which they said was faulty. Cost her near £90 but
the problem is back as bad as ever. The only thing to do now it seems is to
take it to a Nissan specialist who can use diagnostic equipment. We have
looked around various forums and this problem has been mentioned several
times by people who variously refer to the problem as jerking,

pulling, or

Post by Ellis
hesitating.
I was wondering if anyone on this forum has experienced the problem? I have
heard it suggested that these Micra's are subject to problems with the
airflow sensors or airflow meters. What can we expect to pay for a Nissan
dealer to give us a diagnostic report using the specialist equipment?
Grateful for any help.
Ellis

[Ellis]

Post by Professor
I would use my normal method to attack this problem... easy things
first. I would check the fuel filter and the fuel pumps ability to get
to the proper pressure and flow rate.

The garage we took it to did all these checks. (I hope)

Post by Professor
If nothing is uncovered there...
I would turn my focus to a possible ignition system cut-out. I believe
I would start there by jiggling wires around in the engine compartment
looking for any sign of the symptom.

This rings a bell. I once had an ignition problem with my old Ford Escort
Estate. The engine would just suddenly cut out for no apparent reason. It
took the mechanic a long time to trace the fault which was a fracture in one
of the ignition wires. If I had "jiggled the wires around", as you suggest,
I probably would have found the fault myself. The engine has not actually
cut out on the Micra. It pulls and jerks but keeps going. Still it is worth
a try. Thanks for the tip.

I rang up the local Nissan repair shop and they will charge us £55 plus vat
to examine the car for one hour to see what they can come up with. The
mechanic wanted to know if there were any lights coming up on the dashboard.
He said if there were none then it was unlikely that any fault would show up
on the diagnostic machine.

We shall see.

Ellis

[anon]

"Professor" <***@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:***@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
I would use my normal method to attack this problem... easy things
first. I would check the fuel filter and the fuel pumps ability to get
to the proper pressure and flow rate. If nothing is uncovered there...
I would turn my focus to a possible ignition system cut-out. I believe
I would start there by jiggling wires around in the engine compartment
looking for any sign of the symptom.

Professor
www.telstar-electronics.com

Yeah thats what i would do.......jiggle wires about........if that don't
sort it, nothing will. !!!!!!!!

[Tue]

Also it might be the sparkplugs! try and change them .......

Post by Professor
I would use my normal method to attack this problem... easy things
first. I would check the fuel filter and the fuel pumps ability to get
to the proper pressure and flow rate. If nothing is uncovered there...
I would turn my focus to a possible ignition system cut-out. I believe
I would start there by jiggling wires around in the engine compartment
looking for any sign of the symptom.
Professor
www.telstar-electronics.com
Yeah thats what i would do.......jiggle wires about........if that don't
sort it, nothing will. !!!!!!!!

[Waynus via CarKB.com]

sounds to me like you've got air mass meter problems.When the car
"misfires",does it throw black smoke from the exhaust when you rev it up?
Last one I priced was around £460 from a dealer but check BBA website for
recon unit.

[Ellis]

Post by Waynus via CarKB.com
sounds to me like you've got air mass meter problems.When the car
"misfires",does it throw black smoke from the exhaust when you rev it up?
Last one I priced was around £460 from a dealer but check BBA website for
recon unit.

When we took the car to the garage the mechanic said it was throwing out
emissions and so he put a new silencer on. I will check it tomorrow to see
if it is throwing out black smoke when it is revved up. He also did some
other things like put a new fuel filter on and cleaned the plugs. When we
collected the car he had to admit that he had not cured the problem and he
said to take it to a Nissan dealer who could use specialist diagnostic
equipment.

I have just been to the BBA web site and they say that the Nissan Micra
Airflow Meters are prone to throttle potentiometer problems. They say that
on Nissan Micra K11 engines the throttle body is responsible for nearly all
engine problems. I was afraid that it might be the airflow meter as people
had mentioned this on other forums and said how expensive they are.

Thanks for your opinion Waynus, and for pointing me in the direction of the
BBA site. They say to ring up for a quote on the price, which I will do
tomorrow. They also say they will supply them on a test-hire basis if
required, which is brilliant. I am reluctant (to advise my friend) to pay
£65 to the Nissan specialist just for him to tell us that it is an airflow
meter problem and then to charge us top price for a new unit and fitting.

Could you tell me, if we purchase a reconditioned unit from BBA (probably on
a test hire basis) would we be able to give it to our regular mechanic to
fit? Would this be something that any garage could do? Also, could you
confirm that a Nissan Micra LX. 1.3 Litre (N reg) has a K11 engine? If it
has, then this would seem almost to confirm that the airflow meter is the
most likely suspect.

Thanks to all for your helpful responses. It has come as quite a shock to
take a car to a garage and have a mechanic scratch his head and admit that
he has no idea what the problem is.

Ellis