I swear my car is like a woman!

[davis449]

This damn thing gets CRANKY when you don't drive it EVERYDAY! I went out of town from Wed. of last week to Sunday. I left my car at a friend's house and it was started twice, briefly, so it could be moved. I come home and start the thing and it shakes like hell with this loud knocking, and I'm not talking about bad gas knocking, this was bad sounding stuff. I rev it up to over 4000 a couple times and it quits and the car smooths out. Been running fine ever since, no CEL , nothing. I mean it has great acceleration and everything. What's going on here?

[djdoughboy]

that sounds like a fuel line or fuel pump problem... and although it is working fine now... you may have problems in the future... i would take a look and the fuel pump and the fuel lines just to be safe...




Sean

[davis449]

The knocking sounded like it was coming from the engine, not under the car. But you could be right. My friend, who's worked at Jiffy Lube for 7 years, said that it was probably oil settling and then having to be "slung" up again. However, I did smell fuel when the thing was doing this so I'm going to run some Ventil Sauber or Jectron through it and see what happens. Thanks.

[c280nz]

do these engines get valves sticking open?
and if they have hydrolic controlled cam followers then it takes a wile for oil pressure to build up and the cam can knock,
i know this can happen on new nissan engines

[davis449]

do these engines get valves sticking open?

I'm glad you mentioned this. I really wouldn't have thought of that. It's definitely a possibility. I will probably call the stealership and see if this could be what causes it. The only thing is that this is the first time I've seen this particular incident happen after leaving it sitting for a while. I've been away longer than this when I lived in West Texas and it never reacted this way. Maybe this is a new problem for my car. My dad is NOT going to be happy if I have to have this repaired. I'm going to run that Ventil Sauber (Valve Clean) next tank and I hope that fixes the problem. It better. Supposedly this shit is really supposed to do what it says.

[djdoughboy]

keep us posted!



Sean

[benzist]

i think it's normal due to unburned fuel after starting the engine and not reaching normarl temp.

[Sulaco]

My car has done this for the entire 7 years I've owned it. Sat parked for a month once due to gutted transmission. While in college, I routinely leave it alone for a week before I drive it again and it will do this right when I crank it. This weekend I had the entire interior out of the car (for some EXTREME detailing) and left it sitting for 2 days--severe hesitation and rough vibrations.

Long story short, I always just hit the gas and hold her at about 3,000RPM for about 15 seconds, and she's good to go.

These cars are very bitchy and needy. But when you give them exactly what they need, they're your best friend.

[davis449]

Well I came home at lunch today to grab something I had left behind and decided to go ahead and run the Ventil Sauber and see what would happen and if I'd see any results. My tank was beween half and 1/4 so I threw it in there and filled her up (93 octane always). Almost right away I notcied a difference. My car has this slight "bounce" in the idle. It's really subtle but if you turn the stereo down you can feel it. It's almost like a misfire. You can feel that tiny kickback and it feels like someone EVER SO SLIGHTLY shook the car. Well that's gone. Smooth as glass. I'm becoming a huge fan of the "Valve stuck open" theory. The car definitely has a better throttle response and acceleration is definitely a bit quicker and smoother. However, this is definitely not horsepower in a can. I NEVER believe those claims anyway. I would reccomend this product over any of them. I've run all kinds and never really been dissatisfied, but this is definitely the best additive I've used. The Jectron (fuel system cleaner) results will be in in a couple weeks after the oil change I'm going to do. I'm going to try their Octane booster too in a couple months. I'll let y'all know how that is when I get around to it. If anyone has anymore theories on my original problem, I would be glad to hear them. I refuse to go to the Stealership unless I absolutely have to.