Ok, I have a Nissan Altima GLE 2001. I was driving the car one Friday and the car was running fine (besides this weird sound I kept hearing). All of sudden the car just cut off; I tried to crank it up but it cut off every time. I towed the car to a supposed Nissan Specialist Auto Repair Shop. They checked the oil and there was no oil in my car (I know I’m a retard for not getting my oil changed regularly). They suggested that I could have a timing chain issue and told me to start off by getting an oil change and a major tune up. So I did ($250.00). After they finished the oil change and tune up, the car sounded extremely loud when I attempted to accelerate but wasn’t getting any power at all (I could barely get it up to 60 mph). It also began hesitating and idling extremely bad. I drove the car home the best I could (it overheated a few times) and then took it to the dealership on Monday. Before I took it to the dealership I went by Autozone and got a diagnostics test done. They told me I had a cylinder misfire on cylinder 1 (P0301). I explained this to the mechanic at the dealership and described my problem to him. The dealership had the car for 3 days and then they told me that I needed a new Airflow Meter. Thinking that would solve my problem I had them put in a new one ($800.00). After they replaced the Airflow meter, the tech told me that I also needed new Catalytic Converters and that’s why my car was running sluggish. I asked if my timing chain could’ve slipped and he said no and that he checked it and it was in perfect timing. I then figured I would take it to a muffler shop the following Monday and have them replace the Cats. So I paid for the Airflow Meter repair and attempted to drive the car home. I drove 2 miles and the car cut off and would not turn back on. I then had the car towed back to the dealership. The following Monday they informed me that the car cut off because my front Catalytic converter was clogged and that I could have a problem with my fuel pump or fuel regulator. I ordered a new Catalytic Converter online and then drove my car to the muffler repair shop when the parts arrived. The guy at the muffler shop informed that the Front Catalytic Converter was fine and that the rear Catalytic Converter was actually clogged (the opposite of what the dealership told me) but that the Auto Parts Company had actually sent me a Rear Catalytic Converter instead of a Front one. He also said that the weird noise I was hearing was from the Heat Fold (or something like that) which he also welded back into place. The muffle mechanic was also nice enough to check the diagnostics for me again and the diagnostics is still reading a P0301 (Cylinder 1 Misfire). The muffler mechanic told me that I had probably had a bad coil pack and that’s why the car was hesitating, idling and having problems accelerating. Now the funny thing about that is, when I originally took my car to the dealership, the tech asked me “when was the last time I had a tune up?” I said 3 days ago. The mechanic at the dealership then showed me one of my coil packs and said that when he pulled it out, it mysteriously came apart. He then checked the spark plug and saw that it was new so I guess he figured the coil pack was fine. Now I'm trying to find out since my car is still running sluggish and hesitating, would it be more likely that the coil pack is no good or that the fuel pump needs replacing? I’m tired of guessing what my problem is and I really need my car to get back and forth to work. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

P.S. Sorry for the long post

ur lucky i took the time to read it. phewww...... anyways.

those places totally screwed u over really bad. the muffler shop guy sounds like he knows what he's talkin' a/b. his advice really seems clear and easy to understand. upon getting halfway through ur post i was startin to think it was a coil pack or spark plug wir or spark plug itself. ur fuel pump is fine. misfires don't happen based off fuel. misfires deal directly with ur ignition system. if there's no spark then its a misfire. even the computer was able to point this out. i'd venture to say it probably is the coilpack for cylinder one. definitely sounds like the symptoms are matching up with ur description.

hope this will help u out.

welcome to nico by the way!

I spoke with the mechanic next door to the muffler shop and the mechanic at nissan and they both said that the nissan altima 2001 gle doesnt have coil packs? Is this true.

well i'm not all familiar with altima's. if it was a direct fire ignition, it would be coilpack'd. does it have a distributor? it more than likely will but there are three types of distributors and i'm not sure what it is. i'll do some searching to see what i can find.

it does have a distributor not sure if it is direct fire ignition or not and thanks for taking the time out to voice your opinion. its very much appreciated

hey no problem. well if it has a distributor then it is not a direct fire ignition. its an electronic ignition.

if its a magnetic type then there might be a gap between the magnet itself and the trigger wheel. or it coulld be something like a vacuum advance problem too.

if its a hall effect type then a widened gap may be present from the magnet to the pickup coil. vacuum advance could also be an issue too and possibly a centrifugal advance problem too if the distributor has one.

if its an optic type, then it could be one of the LED's have gone out. or something may be covering the hole the light shines through to the pickup sensor.

hope some of this helps. i'll do a little more searchin to see what i can dig up.

KA24DE Altimas have a strong failing in intake gaskets.Usually #4 but will pull in all cylinders.Spray carb cleaner across the intake and see if the idle smooths out.If it does then replace the gasket.Word of caution its a tough job.

Thanks for all of the input guys...its sincerely appreciated

I took it to another shop and theyre saying i have low compression on cylinders 1 and 3 and that my best bet is to have a new engine put in...because my engine is weak

if if was u i'd get a FSM and do a compression test yourself to verify this. if its a low compression it could be a number of things. blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head, cracked engine block, broken piston, etc. it would probably be more cost effective to buy a new motor then finding out what the problem is after many tests and maybe being able to fix the problem. anything that deals with engine block and cylinder head components will probably cost alot because of labor.

Definatly double check compression, also you could just have a bad ignition wire or a bad injector if compression checks out ok then Id be looking into these. Also it just seems weird that the mechanic that did the compression test said you had bad compression in cyl,s 1 and 3 but only cyl 1 is being flagged for the missfire I would think that you should get a po301 and a po303. Just a thought.

Thanks I'm gonna get another opinion tomorrow morning and see what we find. If I have to get a new motor than thats what i have to do. Thanks again ill keep you all updated!

I a m having a very similar problem Factual. I drive a 2000 Altima and my fourth cylinder is misfiring. Most of the time what happens is at a stop while idling my rpms jump rapidly and my car pulsates/jerks as the rpms rise and rise then fall. I have had the sparkplugs and wires replaced, I have had the valve gasket cover replaced as well. I had that thing where they run the chemicals through to clean the fuel lines and all that stuff. i dont know waht to do but it is killing my gas mileage and as a result, my bank account. The fourth cylinder is a mighty pain in the rear. Please help