Aloha,

First post here. Long time mechanic. Nissan trained in 1985(ouch!)

I purchased a 1 owner 1998 Maxima SE with 150k several years ago for my daughter. It was well maintained so it still ran OK except it had a slight miss and when you start it sometimes it acts like the timing is off. It hesitates while cranking. I pulled the codes and it was only a Random misfire that I could duplicate over and over after clearing the codes. I also ran a compression test and it was perfect across all cylinders. It ran well enough to let her drive it for years. I've replaced the plugs and all the coil packs but it didn't change a thing. I also replaced all the injectors. It really runs well especially with all the tune up stuff I did. I just finished replacing seals and gaskets to stop the oil leaks and now I would just like to fix this one last problem. The car now has 198,000 miles on it and it still runs great. At this point I'm suspecting a stretched timing chain maybe?? With nearly 200k and everything that's been replaced I can't think of any other possibilities.

I haven't turned a wrench professionally since 1990 although you're never not a mechanic once you are one. Needless to say I'm not exactly up to speed on current Nissan tech, or Nissan tech from 20 years ago either.

Wow, nearly a month and not a single reply. Does anybody actually use this forum?

When the engine is cold and starts up with a rattle that means the timing chain might not be tight
I changed the tensioner on one of my maximas and it a lot better