New to owning I35 and need troubleshooting :/

The club for Nissan Maxima and Infiniti I30 / I35 owners, and the official home of Maxima Club of America!
ainfiniti13
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:15 am
Car: 2004 Infiniti I35

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Hello to all-

So I've been a Ford girl my whole life. Been through my Bronco engine and love the old, simple vehicles. I purchased an I35 in January on this year because it was a great deal and I could use a vehicle that got better gas mileage. The I35 had been taken care of to the 10th degree, with the man having all the service records and doing all the regular maintenance (it was a company vehicle). However, something is now awry with my precious little car and I'm out of ideas :(
I live in Knoxville and my family lives about 100 miles away. I make this trip roughly twice a month, usually with no problem. I went home this past weekend. It drove great home, no problems. I did an oil change on Sunday afternoon. It's been burning oil so I used 43.5 quarts of 10-30 and added a can of Restore to help with the burning. After I was done, I started it up and it everything seemed normal. I then drove it a little while later and noticed a violent shake when I slowed to a stop. My idle had dropping and was ranging from 5-650. It normally centers around 750. The engine light then came on so I went to Advance and read the codes. The first one was P0021. So I changed the cam shaft sensors (bank 1 and 2). It didn't seem to help. After doing some searching on this forum and realizing the oil was the only thing different, I then changed the oil again, putting just 5-30 back in it. I also checked the solenoid on the top of the engine. It seemed to be opening and closing fine, and was spotless. I started it after the new oil and sensor were back in and the idle went back to normal and my little car seemed happy again. The check engine light came back on (cleared after adding the sensors) and it said P0011. I figured the computer might need a few starts to get used to the new sensors so I just cleared it off.
I was driving back to Knoxville last night after this whole ordeal and the engine light cam on about 20 miles in. I slowed down and stopped, checked the oil (it was good) and it seemed to idle great still. So I drove home. All was fine when I arrived home. Looked it over again and seemed fine.
This morning, I started my little car and the engine light immediately came on. And the rough idle was back and back with a vengeance. It's very rough but when its moving, you'd think there was nothing wrong. It smooths out and runs great. I have no loss of power, nothing is leaking and no extra dash warning lights are on.
I plan to take it to Advance to read the codes again and see if anything is different. I would truly appreciate any help or suggestions from you all. And I'll post the code result later this evening.

Thank you!! :)


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maxhopper
Posts: 4364
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 10:43 am
Car: 02 Maxima SE 6spd
Location: Kentucky

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Welcome to NICO.

The P0011 and P0021 codes are directly related to the Intake Valve Timing control. Possible causes of the codes include: harness or connectors(Intake valve timing control solenoid valve circuit is open or shorted.), intake valve timing control solenoid valve, crankshaft position sensor (POS located directly under the crank pulley), camshaft position sensor (PHASE), or an accumulation of debris to the signal pick-up portion of the camshaft.

So while the cam sensor are one of the components that can cause these code, it is not the only possible cause. You can find more information on these specific codes on page EC-165. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/I35/2004_I35/ec.pdf

ainfiniti13
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:15 am
Car: 2004 Infiniti I35

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Could it be simply the change in oil weight?

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maxhopper
Posts: 4364
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2003 10:43 am
Car: 02 Maxima SE 6spd
Location: Kentucky

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I would seriously doubt it. The solenoids are actuated by the oil pressure. It could be that some crud got into the soleniod(s) and is preventing them from acting properly, or it could be one of the other items I previously listed.


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