maxima lost of power

[lildoggs]

What's up guy's I'm a noob and I need someones opinion. About two month's ago I took my 03 maxima to the shop and requested a gas filter replacement. The mechanic said ok. So I left the car and went back to the shop a few hours later. The mechanic says that he didn't replace the filter cause nissan advised him not to replace it. So he decides to just clean the filter and put it back. anyway after that my car is running really sluggish it pings like crazy after 2k rpm's and I have to accelerate at a higher rpm to take off. Trying to fix the car back to normal I replaced the mass air flow sensor, cleaned the trottle body, valves and fuel injectors and the car still feels the same. Can anyone shed some light on my situation. Please I don't know what to do anymore.

[blackmax23]

Well, my first thought when I saw your thread was coils, but after reading into it, it sounds more like the mechanic you dealt with may have damaged the filter that you wanted him to replace. They are extremely fragile and if he tried to clean it, he may have damaged some of the elements in the filter, actually worsening the filter's effectiveness. It sounds like the engine is starved for fuel, especially if it pings the loudest over 2k rpm. It sounds to me like it's running too lean and the culprit could be the fuel filter. It makes even more sense because it was fine before you had this done and after he messed with the filter, it's gone downhill. Seems like the most logical reason. Good luck!

[lildoggs]

Well, my first thought when I saw your thread was coils, but after reading into it, it sounds more like the mechanic you dealt with may have damaged the filter that you wanted him to replace. They are extremely fragile and if he tried to clean it, he may have damaged some of the elements in the filter, actually worsening the filter's effectiveness. It sounds like the engine is starved for fuel, especially if it pings the loudest over 2k rpm. It sounds to me like it's running too lean and the culprit could be the fuel filter. It makes even more sense because it was fine before you had this done and after he messed with the filter, it's gone downhill. Seems like the most logical reason. Good luck!

Hey thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it. Last night me and a friend decided to replace the old filter with a new one even though nissan and a hand full of people said not to do it so I took the chance. Let me tell you it was the easiest thing in the world and I was done in about 20 minutes. Don't know what all the hype was about. Anyway it didn't make any difference the idling is a little smoother but that's it. Tomorrow I'm going to a friend of a friend's house to connect a computer to the ecu to run a few diagnostics to see if we can pinpoint the problem. I guess I'll keep you updated on the results.

[Sentientbydesign]

Call the mechanic and ask him EXACTLY what he did to the filter to "clean" it.

Is your check engine light on?

Did the mechanic perform any other service? You sure? hehehe

[blackmax23]

If you figure out what's wrong, bring it back to the mechanic and see if he'll pay for it because everything was fine before you brought it to him and now you're having all sorts of trouble. I know I wouldn't pay for it!!!

[lildoggs]

Call the mechanic and ask him EXACTLY what he did to the filter to "clean" it.

Is your check engine light on?

Did the mechanic perform any other service? You sure? hehehe

The check engine light just turned about 1 week ago. I'm waiting for my friends friend. He has a professional scanner for the ecu and my friend say's that he can work miracles with that thing. I hope he's right about that.

[Sentientbydesign]

It's an OBD II. You don't need miracles, you need a visit to Autozone to borrow their scanner. Find out what the code is. Take it in to the counter and ask them how to fix it.

[lildoggs]

The check engine code was p1456 (small leak in the evap canister). My friend hooked up a cable from his lap top to the ecu and he got the same code p1456 he broke it down to the component and it turned out to be the fuel tank temp sensor. So I ordered the part and I just installed it and damn that was the problem the car is running exactly the way it was before the mechanic touched it. It makes perfect sense that the reason that the car was running bad was because the guy f**cked up something on the unit itself when he removed the unit from the tank. What a relief to know my car is 100% again.