Nissan Repair: 95 Nissan Maxima misfire/miss, coolant temperature sensor, engine coolant temperature sensor

Question
I have a 1995 Nissan Maxima with approximately 230,000 miles on it.  Starting about a month ago the car started misfiring/missing intermittently.  In the last few days the car has been doing this nearly 100% of the time and the check engine light came on.  I checked the codes and two showed up, a knock sensor fault and a engine coolant temperature sensor fault.  The car starts fine and stays running but it runs rough and you can tell there is a misfire/miss.

I listened to the injectors through a screwdriver and they seem to be working (heard clicking sound for each one).

I had some stalling problems several months ago and replaced the spark plugs and the fuel pump and the stalling problem went away (the fuel pump was the problem).

Will replacing the knock sensor and coolant temperature sensor resolve the problem or is there something else I should be looking at?  I am not getting a cylinder misfire code which makes me think the coils are OK.  Would the knock sensor fault cause the timing to be retarded enough to be causing the missing problem?

Thanks for your help.


Answer
Brian,

Yes, the knock sensor is a known problem and that would cause the issue you are having.  If you have a single distributor check it for oil and if you have six coils do an ohm check to see if they are good as well.  But, what you are talking about is a common problem with the knock sensor and the temperature sensor too.  Replace them both before doing anything else.  Then reset the code and take it for three short drives to see if the codes stay off.  Autozone or Checker will reset the light for free if you buy the parts from one of them.