[versatile93]

Hi all,

I had the spark plugs changed in my 2011 Versa. After starting it, immediately felt the car idle erratically, the rpm's were fluctuating, car was shaking.

Drove away, and when accelerating would feel the car jerking, this happened for about 5 minutes and then seemed to go away. I have now parked the car and afraid to turn it back on. Is this normal? Is the car just getting "used to" the new plugs?

Car had what seemed like original Denso iridium plugs, I changed it to NGK Ruthenium plugs as suggested by a user on here.

Thank you!

 

[pimperell]

Hi all,

I had the spark plugs changed in my 2011 Versa. After starting it, immediately felt the car idle erratically, the rpm's were fluctuating, car was shaking.

Drove away, and when accelerating would feel the car jerking, this happened for about 5 minutes and then seemed to go away. I have now parked the car and afraid to turn it back on. Is this normal? Is the car just getting "used to" the new plugs?

Car had what seemed like original Denso iridium plugs, I changed it to NGK Ruthenium plugs as suggested by a user on here.

Thank you!

Nope, no getting "used" to new plugs. What I suggest you do is go over the work you did, make sure you connected the right wire to the correct cylinder, and that all the connections are tight and secure.

 

[versatile93]

Nope, no getting "used" to new plugs. What I suggest you do is go over the work you did, make sure you connected the right wire to the correct cylinder, and that all the connections are tight and secure.

I had a shop do the work. The jerking only happens during acceleration, at both local and highway speeds. Cruising along or idling the car seems to run fine. Almost feels like it's the CVT that is jerking.

 

[Desert Rodent]

Is the check engine light on?? If the car is misfiring, you should get a P0300 (series) code.

 

[versatile93]

Is the check engine light on?? If the car is misfiring, you should get a P0300 (series) code.

So the first time the shop gave me the car back, it was shaking very badly and had a P0300 code. I took it back to them and one of the new plugs was cracked. They replaced the faulty plug and it runs okay, except for the jerking when accelerating. It seems to occur at certain speeds.

 

[versatile93]

Took the car back to the shop, they are looking at it. Tried driving the car, it would jerk more severe than earlier when accelerating. Keeping the rpm low (<1400) helped a bit.

 

[Ecate]

did the shop adjust the plugs accordingly? you need to adjust the tip of the plugs to a certain measure otherwise car could overheat or jerk.

I had the same issue last year but in my case it was a faulty plug, I didn't take the chance and replaced them all with OEM nissan.

 

[versatile93]

did the shop adjust the plugs accordingly? you need to adjust the tip of the plugs to a certain measure otherwise car could overheat or jerk.

I had the same issue last year but in my case it was a faulty plug, I didn't take the chance and replaced them all with OEM nissan.

I got the NGK Rutherium plugs which come pre gapped 0.044", it's at a different shop now, who thinks there's an issue with one of the coil packs (for cylinder #3, which accidentally had the cracked spark plug installed). I'll end up switching to the Denso Iridium oem plugs if I have to

 

[dkmura]

I got the NGK Rutherium plugs which come pre gapped 0.044", it's at a different shop now, who thinks there's an issue with one of the coil packs (for cylinder #3, which accidentally had the cracked spark plug installed). I'll end up switching to the Denso Iridium oem plugs if I have to

Sorry to hear about this. I've got the NGK rutheniums in my Versa and that MR18DE runs like a top! Your problems sound like the first shop may have done a faulty install. I wonder if they tried to install them with the intake plenum still in place? NGKs don't usually crack and the plug gap is computer adjusted on the assembly line.

 

[Max4ever]

When in doubt go OEM...

 

[dkmura]

When in doubt go OEM...

OEM is NGK...

 

[ryangyear]

To add ngk is stock and usually when you have a misfire issue with a spark plug to replace the plug and coil pack across all cylinders , Full OEM little bit pricey but I'm told these cars don't like aftermarket coils or plugs ...gotta keep it simple for such a simple chassis

 

[NYnorth]

Sounds like they may have damaged the spark plug wires. At low speed the spark is direct to the plug and will jump any breaks (gaps) in the wires gap. Then at high speed the broken wire will not carry the full spark or it jumps from the wire to a grounded engine component. Remember..spark plug wires do not have solid wire inside, they are carbon fiber strands that reduce radio interference.

BTW: The wires resistance can be checked with an ohmmeter.

 

[dkmura]

Sounds like they may have damaged the spark plug wires. At low speed the spark is direct to the plug and will jump any breaks (gaps) in the wires gap. Then at high speed the broken wire will not carry the full spark or it jumps from the wire to a grounded engine component. Remember..spark plug wires do not have solid wire inside, they are carbon fiber strands that reduce radio interference.

BTW: The wires resistance can be checked with an ohmmeter.

OP- how reliable was the shop that did the original plug change? Did they have a Nissan trained tech do the work?

 

[NYnorth]

Some mechanics pull the spark wires off using the wire itself (damaging/separating the carbon wire continuity). The proper method is to pull the boot off the spark plug.

 

[versatile93]

Hi all, sorry I haven't checked this forum in a while.

My Versa 1.8 is finally and running again!

The second shop that had my Versa confirmed the misfires from cylinder #3. They moved the plug+coil pack from #3 to #4, and now #4 had misfires. So they changed the faulty plug, coil pack, and intake gasket. The plug they removed had burn marks all over the tip. Since then my car has driven over 2,000kms and no issues.

The only thing that bothers me is that now 3 of the plugs are Ruthenium, and 1 is Platinum, I guess that 1 will wear out faster.

@dkmura it was a quick lube chain. I'll never go there again.

 

[dkmura]

Hi all, sorry I haven't checked this forum in a while.

My Versa 1.8 is finally and running again!

The second shop that had my Versa confirmed the misfires from cylinder #3. They moved the plug+coil pack from #3 to #4, and now #4 had misfires. So they changed the faulty plug, coil pack, and intake gasket. The plug they removed had burn marks all over the tip. Since then my car has driven over 2,000kms and no issues.

The only thing that bothers me is that now 3 of the plugs are Ruthenium, and 1 is Platinum, I guess that 1 will wear out faster.

@dkmura it was a quick lube chain. I'll never go there again.

Understood- the quick lube franchise probably damaged the one plug, but that's water under the bridge now.

As far as the plug mismatch, I wouldn't worry too much. All of them are NGKs that are designed for this application, properly gapped and installed. Best of all, your Versa runs fine, so leave it for another 100K miles, or until one of the other coil packs goes out. At least you know the symptoms!

 

[Felix Santos]

To add ngk is stock and usually when you have a misfire issue with a spark plug to replace the plug and coil pack across all cylinders , Full OEM little bit pricey but I'm told these cars don't like aftermarket coils or plugs ...gotta keep it simple for such a simple chassis

It has to be the coil, you could change it one at a time or all at once.