Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

So I go to work this morning and everything is fine. I leave work, and let the car warm up, and everything is fine. I get down the street to the light, and the car shuts off as im idling. The battery, oil and brake lights come on first, followed by the engine light shortly after. I try to turn the car back on, and it starts right up no issues, then dies again. So I start it again and it feels like it wants to die, so I rev it and it stays on. So I pull into the gas station and it fells like it wants to die, so I rev it and it stays on. I figured I'd get some gas while I was there, so I put in some gas, I had between 1/4 and half of 1/4 of a tank, but the needle wasnt on "E" and the gas light wasnt on. I put in $10, then move the car out of the way of the pump and let it idle. It idles fine, there are no codes and it doesnt feel or look like it's going to shut off. I dont think it was b/c I was a little low on gas b/c it has never done that before when I was low, but idk. I did just change 3 of my 6 spark plugs yesterday (I will change the other 3 when my spark plug socket gets here) and the car pulls strong and it isnt low on oil. It drove fine all the way home, which takes about 15min on the freeway. And when I got home, I shut the car off for a few min, then turned it back on and let the car idle, and it was fine. I seem to be getting spark, I am getting air, so could it be a problem in the fuel delivery system? What could the problem be?

Jayson89NYC

iTrader: (4)

alternator dude check that first!! i had that problem before and it ended up being the alternator

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

The alternator is only about 5-6 months old. And with the alternator, the brake & battery lights come on, not the oil light as well (at least I think the oil light doesnt come on). And if it was, I dont think I would have been able to make it all the way home from work. So I dont think it is the alternator, that was the 1st thing I thought of when it happened lol

sanford7575

I had this same problem on my '97 SE and it turned out that I had a bad ground cable from the battery. Couldn't notice at first glance of the cable, but it was completely corroded. I replaced both + and - cables from the battery to ground and starter circuit and haven't had anymore issues since.

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

Seems plausible I guess, I will check them, thanks. Any other ideas are welcome

asand1

iTrader: (1)

Bad sock or rubber hose on the fuel pump pick-up. Fuel gets low and pump sucks air through break rather than drawing fuel up.

asand1

iTrader: (1)

To demonstrate, punch a hole in your straw next time your at mcDonnalds and see how easy it is to drink your orange HiC. The light are just the result of the engine turning to slow to pump oil or spin the alt. Just stay above a 1/4 tank till u can fix it. On a side note, fuel pumps are cooled by fuel and low fuel kills them.

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

ok thanks. I was low, but I thought it is bad to let it get so low that the light turns on? oh well, thanks ill jus keep it at least half filled till it gets fixed. If it isnt one thing, its another lol

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

Update: Need some more help. The car has been randomly shutting off. It has happened maybe 3 times over the past 3 weeks. The 1st time, I was sitting in the store parking lot, choosing a song to listen to, when the car just shut off. It turned on again with no problem. The 2nd time was this past weekend, I was on my was to a Nissan meet, and it shut off twice but turned back on both times. The 3rd time was today. It shut off twice, came back on, then as I was getting on the freeway, it shut off, but wouldn't come back on. I made a video of what it was doing, below. It would turn over and run roughly, but in order for me to keep the car on, I have to rev it, when I stop revving, the car dies. I get it towed home, and when the driver gets it off the truck, i try to crank it, and it turns over, idles and drives as if nothing happened. What is going on lol?! This is driving me mad crazy lol. Oh and there are no codes, and my gas tank was 3/4 full.


Here is the video:

http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t...=VIDEO0003.mp4

tigersharkdude

iTrader: (20)

The sporadic-ness of your problem sounds like a loose wire or ground somewhere. Check the battery and alt. grounds. Make sure the surfaces are good and clean too

Sorry I couldnt be of more assistance.

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

That's what I was thinking too. Nothing seems to be wrong with the engine, as there are no codes. The engine can rev past 2500 so it's probably not the MAF. The car can turn over, so the alt. is working, as is the battery. Im thinking something is loose as well. More input is welcomed!

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

i had a cavalier that did the exact same thing... ( i know apples and oranges) lol but it would do the exact same thing as your describing
As i went to pull into a busy intersection it finally just died and wouldnt start back up.
I replaced relays everything i could think of short of the actual pump and it was my fuel pump that was on its last leg and as soon as i replaced the pump it ran like a champ.

SuperSlow_max

bring the car to a mechanic and let them check it out

tigersharkdude

iTrader: (20)

a mecahanic..LOL

they will just throw parts at it AT YOUR COST until they figure it out. Also, I dont think too many ORG members visit mechanics

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

I go to a mechanic, and he is pretty good. He was a head Infiniti tech and an Infiniti certified specialist, and works exclusively on imports, but mainly Nissan's and Infiniti's. But if I can figure out the problem before taking it to him, it would save me some money lol. It would be even better if it was something simple I could do myself. Im still learning how to work on cars, and this is my only car, so I need it up and confidently running asap lol

tigersharkdude

iTrader: (20)

awesome to hear that there are some trustworthy mechanics still out there

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

I've been thinking about this too.

ef9

iTrader: (8)

Actually this is the first forum I've joined where MAJORITY of the members bring their cars to a mechanic.

iDuty

Could this random stalling problem be a faulty crank or cam position sensor?

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

idk, would those sensors throw a code? If so, then no it's neither one of those b/c my car isn't throwing any codes. Im beginning to think that the fuel pump has been slowly dying, and is getting closer and closer to ultimate death. For instance, when I idle for more than 30sec, the idle dips a little bit, enough to slightly vibrate the car, then quickly rebounds. It never dips enough to stall though. It has been doing that for a while. Maybe it was the fuel pump trying to tell me, idk though. The car is going to the shop tomorrow, but I still welcome input. I also started the car this morning, and it started, idled, and revved with no problems.

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

So when I took my car to the shop, the found that one of my hoses had a big hole in it creating a big vacuum leak. That was fixed and car ran fine for a few months. Fast forward a few months to now, the car randomly shuts off, but there is no CEL. It will begin to run rough and try to bog down. I have to rev it to keep it from dying, and while I rev, there is a weird smell. If I am able to keep revving it, it jus keeps trying to bog, and one time it wouldnt let me get past 4k, but it eventually stops and the smell goes away. If I let it die, it turns right on with no problem. Any guesses?

MAXIMA_STYLE

iTrader: (21)

Bad maf... bad map solenoid....vaccum leak...bad fuel pressure...could be an array of things...if your maf is on its way out car will eun strange then normal...back n forth...until it craps out...whens the last time you looked at your bay and check lines hoses etc etc?? Regular maint and checks on older cars will prevent this...not trying to be arrogant just speaking from experience....sorry about your car but id check vac lines first...then down the list

Fauken

iTrader: (6)

It could be that harness that connects to the alternator because my car did this while driving and it turned out that my harness had broken off.

The one that is on the passenger side above the oil filter.

I may be entirely wrong though

hornepirate

iTrader: (23)

How old is ur fpr?

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

Don't know, I haven't touched it at all since I have had the car, so I would say it's the factory original.

MAXIMA_STYLE

iTrader: (21)

Id say change it with an adjustable one

beatdown97

iTrader: (2)

to me it still sounds like a fuel pump, as i said once before i have had the same exact symptoms with another car and it turned out to be the fuel pump.. but lucky for us 4th genners the fuel pump only takes about 10 minutes to replace.
just remove the bottom part of the rear seat, loosen 3 bolts and then a few more and viola you have your hands on your fuel pump

Closetcanibal

You can always take it to a mechanic for a free estimate. That says I want you to do it right and I'm going to check other places. That's what I do lol. Then I fix what they tell me is wrong lol. Super easy and helpful.

Closetcanibal

I'm gonna be honest man don't ever walk under ladders or own black cats or break mirrors again. You have the worst luck lol

Bassman.357

if you have a CAI, check the filter, or the MAF or the secondary sensor thats usually mounted on the box, if you have any vac. leaks or if your sensors are dirty sometimes your car will shut off (even with a clean idle). if thats not the issue then

check the alt. line and see if it's snug. and if thats not the issue.

look on the positive terminal of the battery, there is a red terminal plug that mounts to the Positive battery terminal, check and see if theres corrosion on the terminals (Inide the red plug) if there is then you need to address this.

i had an issue similar to this happen, i had just changed out the alternator and i left my house, about 100ft away my car shut off and i was like wtd, so i popped the hood and looked at the cables and i looked at the battery cables last trying to see if it was loose, so when I moved the positive cable nothing happened, but...when i moved the red plug thats attached to the positive battery terminal i got something, so i ended up removing the plug and putting o-ring terminals on the 2 wires that are now bolted to the + terminal

hope this helps

Shift_Nismo

iTrader: (9)

So it turns out my TPS was a little out of range, not enough to cause a CEL, but enough to cause the car to bog down and try to shut off sometimes. And my fuel filter was getting clogged,(completely my fault due to laziness) which probably just exacerbated the problem.