Altima surging after spark plug change

435

Asked by dannnyjos Nov 12, 2017 at 03:56 PM about the 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I just replaced the stock spark plugs on my 2012 nissan altima with oem NGK
plugs and the car is surging, some times in idle and sometimes when I'm at a
a light or right before coming to a complete stop.
I did not change the wires or ignition coils, just the spark plugs.

13 Answers

Is the check engine light on? Did you accidentally leave a wire or vacuum line loose?

3 people found this helpful.
435

All the wires went back in just like they came out. On a 2012 NIssan Altima there are no vacum lines to be touched when changing plugs (unless I'm mistaken). Also, these NGK iridium plugs come pre-gapped from factory and do not require gapping. The OBDII reports no error codes and there's no CEL on. The wird thing is, these iridium spark plugs are supposed to be high quality ($16 each) and rated to 100K miles.

7 people found this helpful.

The idle control valve may need to be replaced.

1 people found this helpful.
435

F_O_R: Understood; however, if it needs to be replaced, why was it working fine before the spark plug change? Tennisshoes: It had NGK Laser Iridium DILKAR6A11 plugs. These are the exact type I used for replacement: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IZ3JD70/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

4 people found this helpful.

Coincidences happen. Don't get too hung up on the timing.

2 people found this helpful.
435

Ok, now I have to find out where the air flow sensor is and figure out how to clean it. I guess I got more homework to do as I have no idea what the throttle body is either.

1 people found this helpful.
435

ok Tennisshoes, I'll try that and we'll see how it goes. TY.

1 people found this helpful.
435

Ok, I did a quick test over the weekend and installed the old sparkplugs back. I tested them for a few days to confirm.... and guess what? The surging issue was gone. At this point I'm starting to wonder if the new spark plugs may have some issue (they were pretty expensive, like $16 each plug). They're supposed to be original NGK meant for Altimas 2007-2012.

2 people found this helpful.
435

I got an accurate spark plug-gapping tool and and couldn't believe this... these plugs were supposed to be set to 0.044 at the factory, but they were actually set at ~0.041 (3 of them at 0.041 & 1 of them at 0.042). This is BS, after what I paid for these plugs. I'll increase the gap and re-install them today to see what happens (though I don't know if this small gap discrepancy will actually make a difference in engine performance).

1 people found this helpful.
435

Ok, I gapped them at 0.044 and what a difference it made...the car is back to driving normally. Ive heard that incresing the gap further will make the car run even better. Thus, Im thinking about setting them to 0.050 to check that theory. What do you guys think?

2 people found this helpful.
435

Ok, makes sense. Now, how do I now if my ignition coils are being overtaxed? Are there any sings I should look for?

20

I have a 2007 nissan altima, had spark plugs changed now my car is idling high, changed out air throttle body vavle still idling high, can relea rning done without computers from shop

2 people found this helpful.

I have a 2009 nissan altima and a friend changed the spark plugs now the car won't even run what could be the problem????

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