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2001 Frontier XE missing at high RPMs Forums > > 2001 Frontier XE missing at high RPMs 2001 Frontier XE missing at high RPMs
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Frontier Nissan Frontier/HB/Truck Discussion Forum

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  #1  
Old 01-25-2016, 10:27 PM
kevinw kevinw is offline
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2004 Quest
 
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Default 2001 Frontier XE missing at high RPMs

Truck has 175K miles. It recently started having issues when I accelerate. On the highway it will run fine if I steadily build up speed, but when I have to accelerate to pass, it starts to act like it is missing. The tachometer shows the RPMs jumping/dropping after it reaches about 3K. I pulled the MAF and it looks clean. I am going to check the PCV tomorrow. Neither the MAF or the PCV has ever been changed. The distributor, wires, and plugs were changed about a year ago. I checked the distributor and it looks good. All wires and plugs look good also. I am the original owner, so I know of no other issues or recent problems. Also, had the codes checked. The only code is for the knock sensor that shows up from time to time over the years. I also let the gas tank go near to empty, filled the tank, and added a fuel additive, so I don't believe it was bad gas or water in the tank.
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  #2  
Old 01-26-2016, 07:46 AM
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smj999smj smj999smj is offline
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The tachometer jumping around with the high rpm misfire would typically indicate an ignition problem. PCVs rarely fail and would not be an issue at high RPM; it would be more of an issue at idle if it was stuck open, which is another rarity as most would fail by getting clogged. Getting it on an oscilloscope to monitor that spark patterns would be helpful in diagnosing the problem.
Fuel injectors have been known to to go bad on VG engines, but they are usually noticeable at idle.
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  #3  
Old 01-26-2016, 10:45 AM
kevinw kevinw is offline
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Another issue I have noticed is when the engine is warm after having been driven for awhile will idle very rough after restart. It runs fine when starting for the first time of the day when engine is cold.
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  #4  
Old 01-26-2016, 12:58 PM
JRJoe JRJoe is offline
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Have you changed the fuel filter?
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2013 SVV6 KC AT 2WD Frontier, '93 4Cyl, AT, KC Hardbody(20yrs Orig Owner-Sold 174K mi.)
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  #5  
Old 01-27-2016, 03:41 PM
kevinw kevinw is offline
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Changed the fuel filter today. No improvement. Even though I had no SES light on, I had the codes pulled. There were "cylinder 1 misfire" and "knock sensor" errors. I am going to change the plugs and wires tomorrow. Distributor looks good, but may change that also.
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  #6  
Old 01-29-2016, 04:29 AM
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Cusser Cusser is offline
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My daughter has had a '98 Pathfinder for over 3 years, believe same engine as yours. That would never accelerate decently, way worse going up Interstate upgrades; then it died completely April 2015 (coil inside the distributor) and I bought a new distributor online for $82 shipped so she could get in running to sell it. That cleared up the issue, now it accelerates and runs great (like it never did before), and she still has it, decided to keep it as the lack of acceleration was her only issue.

My guess is that the advance was either not advancing, or that the coil just couldn't keep up. I actually don't know or care what was really wrong, just know what corrected this, as all I did was install distributor and adjust timing. By the way: two sops (one AAA-approved) had not been successful to track down the power issue, suggested to "try" throttle body cleaning, etc., just guesses on her $$$. Hopefully they checked ignition timing during all that, but my guess is that they checked at idle - which was OK - but didn't check to ensure it was advancing correctly...
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  #7  
Old 01-29-2016, 10:46 AM
kevinw kevinw is offline
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Cool. I ordered new NGK plug wires, plugs, distributor cap, and rotor. I was reading the reviews for the NGK wires and a lot of the people said they had the same issues as me before changing the wires (missing at highway speeds and rough idle after vehicle had warmed up). After replacing the wires, they said their vehicles ran great. A mechanic also told me that Nissan's run best with the NGK double platinum plugs, so I ordered them also. Rockauto.com seems to have the best prices I have found. The NGK wires were $125 at Autozone, but I got them for $43 at Rockauto. Should be here in a few days!
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  #8  
Old 02-05-2016, 09:19 AM
kevinw kevinw is offline
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So far I have replaced: fuel filter, air filter, PCV, plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor. Also cleaned the MAF, even though it wasn't really dirty. Truck runs great when it is cold, but has a terrible idle when warm. Runs great at higher RPMs also.
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  #9  
Old 02-05-2016, 12:53 PM
kevinw kevinw is offline
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Problem ended up being the distributor itself, not the cap or rotor. Replaced and all is well.
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  #10  
Old 02-05-2016, 10:40 PM
JRJoe JRJoe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinw View Post
Problem ended up being the distributor itself, not the cap or rotor. Replaced and all is well.
Well Good Kevin,

Look's like Cusser Nailed it, and glad that you got Your Frontier up to snuff again.

Congrats on staying with it, till you figured out the problem.
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  #11  
Old 02-07-2016, 04:53 AM
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Cusser Cusser is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRJoe View Post
Well Good Kevin,

Look's like Cusser Nailed it, and glad that you got Your Frontier up to snuff again.

Congrats on staying with it, till you figured out the problem.

Winner, winner; chicken dinner !!!! Ding !! Ding !! Ding !!

When similar and then finally distributor died on my daughter's '98 Pathfinder with same engine, I was amazed at the number of the distributors sold EACH DAY for these (some vendors actually list this information online, or how many total of that part they have sold), like the vendor I ordered from had already sold 6 that very day so far. That number alone made me realize that these things do have issues as they get used and older. And for my daughter, that $82 distributor made her decide to keep her paid-for rust-free Pathfinder (120K) 4WD instead of having to purchase a replacement 4WD SUV at about $12K or more (wild guess).
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  #12  
Old 02-07-2016, 04:31 PM
JRJoe JRJoe is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cusser View Post
Winner, winner; chicken dinner !!!! Ding !! Ding !! Ding !!

When similar and then finally distributor died on my daughter's '98 Pathfinder with same engine, I was amazed at the number of the distributors sold EACH DAY for these (some vendors actually list this information online, or how many total of that part they have sold), like the vendor I ordered from had already sold 6 that very day so far. That number alone made me realize that these things do have issues as they get used and older. And for my daughter, that $82 distributor made her decide to keep her paid-for rust-free Pathfinder (120K) 4WD instead of having to purchase a replacement 4WD SUV at about $12K or more (wild guess).
That's why I like to Frequently read the Forum's. For me a little bit of reading, help's me to learn what to look out for,, as I like to keep my Truck and other stuff that I have for as long as possible.

Truck's especially are not cheap anymore, like they used to be year's ago. So it pay's off big time to keep them running good as long as possible.
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