94 Maxima - Check engine light on for the 1st time ever.

[AS]

Well, it finally happened.

After 19 years, the check engine light came on for the first time ever,
accompanied by a cylinder miss. Diagnosed the problem to be a stuck
fuel injector.

Went to the junker to get a rail with 3 injectors; they are not easy to
take out from the fuel rail, much less at the junk yard. Tested the
injector on the vehicle again... stuck. Removed it. Tested it on the
bench and appeared to be working. Put it back on the vehicle, and it
has been working perfectly ever since.

Go figure...

Do they make cars that work so well for so long anymore?

AS

[Your Name]

Post by AS
Well, it finally happened.
After 19 years, the check engine light came on for the first time ever,
accompanied by a cylinder miss. Diagnosed the problem to be a stuck
fuel injector.
Went to the junker to get a rail with 3 injectors; they are not easy to
take out from the fuel rail, much less at the junk yard. Tested the
injector on the vehicle again... stuck. Removed it. Tested it on the
bench and appeared to be working. Put it back on the vehicle, and it
has been working perfectly ever since.
Go figure...
Do they make cars that work so well for so long anymore?

Almost 20 years is quite a long time for a car these days. At the end of
last year, the "average age" of cars in New Zealand was about 13 years
old, but New Zealand is considered to have one of the oldest average ages.
A quick Google search seems to indicate that the US average age is about
11 years.

My car is a 1994 as well. Apart from the usual things like cambelt
replacement, numerous tyres, a couple of batteries, etc, the only thing
that's "gone wrong" was a few weeks ago it needed a new starter motor.
:-)

The prbolem with modern cars is the more and more useless electronic
gadegst and gizmos they add, the more there is to go wrong and the more
difficult and / or expensive it is to fix. :-(

Even something simple like replacing the car's radio is near impossible.
They used to be a standard size and you could slot in any make or model
radio you wanted. These days they are pretty much all custom-made control
consoles. :-(

[Geoff Welsh]

Post by AS
Well, it finally happened.
After 19 years, the check engine light came on for the first time ever,
accompanied by a cylinder miss. Diagnosed the problem to be a stuck fuel
injector.
Went to the junker to get a rail with 3 injectors; they are not easy to
take out from the fuel rail, much less at the junk yard. Tested the
injector on the vehicle again... stuck. Removed it. Tested it on the
bench and appeared to be working. Put it back on the vehicle, and it has
been working perfectly ever since.
Go figure...
Do they make cars that work so well for so long anymore?
AS

I won't get into a "they don't make em like they used to" debate but
wanted to comment that I'm surprised the check engine light came on for
a misfire on a 1994 anything.

What were the ECM trouble codes?

GW

[AS]

I did not check the codes at the time of the failure.

I was driving at 60 mph or so, the check engine light came on, but I did
not notice any changes in the car. When I got the the next traffic
light, I realized that the engine was misfiring, so I thought of a
defective spark plug.

When I checked the injector with an stethoscope, there were no clicks
present as in the other injectors. Being able to measure the injector's
coil continuity, and having the electrical pulses from the ECM, then I
diagnosed it as a stuck injector.

Today when reading the codes from the vehicle, the only code I found was
related to the knock sensor, 2 start-ups ago.

There are injector leak and injector circuit trouble codes listed in the
trouble codes list in the service manual.

I wish now that I had checked the codes at the time of the failure,
because now I am intrigued as to what made the CEL come on.

AS

Post by Geoff Welsh

Post by AS
Well, it finally happened.
After 19 years, the check engine light came on for the first time ever,
accompanied by a cylinder miss. Diagnosed the problem to be a stuck fuel
injector.
Went to the junker to get a rail with 3 injectors; they are not easy to
take out from the fuel rail, much less at the junk yard. Tested the
injector on the vehicle again... stuck. Removed it. Tested it on the
bench and appeared to be working. Put it back on the vehicle, and it has
been working perfectly ever since.
Go figure...
Do they make cars that work so well for so long anymore?
AS

I won't get into a "they don't make em like they used to" debate but
wanted to comment that I'm surprised the check engine light came on for
a misfire on a 1994 anything.
What were the ECM trouble codes?
GW

[Geoff Welsh]

Post by AS
I did not check the codes at the time of the failure.
I was driving at 60 mph or so, the check engine light came on, but I did
not notice any changes in the car. When I got the the next traffic
light, I realized that the engine was misfiring, so I thought of a
defective spark plug.
When I checked the injector with an stethoscope, there were no clicks
present as in the other injectors. Being able to measure the injector's
coil continuity, and having the electrical pulses from the ECM, then I
diagnosed it as a stuck injector.
Today when reading the codes from the vehicle, the only code I found was
related to the knock sensor, 2 start-ups ago.
There are injector leak and injector circuit trouble codes listed in the
trouble codes list in the service manual.
I wish now that I had checked the codes at the time of the failure,
because now I am intrigued as to what made the CEL come on.
AS

It's good that you actually noticed the miss. I wouldn't be totally
surprised if the light came on because the (un-smart old style) ECM
figured the oxygen sensor was stuck lean...when in fact the engine was
not getting enough fuel due to the bad injector. There's a whole bunch
of people in the world who would have pulled an O2 code, replaced the
sensor and not fixed anything.

Anyway, it's academic now.

Great work, good to read it!
GW

[AS]

Yes, good point, burning lean, tripping the Check engine light.

Thank you.

AS

Post by Geoff Welsh

Post by AS
I did not check the codes at the time of the failure.
I was driving at 60 mph or so, the check engine light came on, but I did
not notice any changes in the car. When I got the the next traffic
light, I realized that the engine was misfiring, so I thought of a
defective spark plug.
When I checked the injector with an stethoscope, there were no clicks
present as in the other injectors. Being able to measure the injector's
coil continuity, and having the electrical pulses from the ECM, then I
diagnosed it as a stuck injector.
Today when reading the codes from the vehicle, the only code I found was
related to the knock sensor, 2 start-ups ago.
There are injector leak and injector circuit trouble codes listed in the
trouble codes list in the service manual.
I wish now that I had checked the codes at the time of the failure,
because now I am intrigued as to what made the CEL come on.
AS

It's good that you actually noticed the miss. I wouldn't be totally
surprised if the light came on because the (un-smart old style) ECM
figured the oxygen sensor was stuck lean...when in fact the engine was
not getting enough fuel due to the bad injector. There's a whole bunch
of people in the world who would have pulled an O2 code, replaced the
sensor and not fixed anything.
Anyway, it's academic now.
Great work, good to read it!
GW