I have a 92 max SE with an intermittent stalling problem. There does not seem to be any apparent condition to cause this. It does it when it is cold or warm. I could be moving or at a complete stop. It is as if someone just turns the key off while I am driving. The TAC still is reporting engine speed during times of power down. The engine usually recovers on it own within seconds. The local dealership does not want to work on this issue. What they told me is they have seen this before and to try changing the EFI relay. Unfortunately the problem did not go away. This is something I would have liked to diagnose myself, but I no longer have the same diagnostic equipment that I had when I worked for Nissan 10 years ago. Please advise.

HISTORY: Car has been I in the family since it was driven from the dealership. Sister did get into an accident that cost us over $5,000 to repair the front end. About a year later, one of the VTC sprockets let go causing extensive mechanical damage to the Engine. The car sat for a year and a half until I rebuild the engine. The car passed NJ state inspection with flying colors. 2000 miles later, I start getting this stalling problem.

 

Alas, welcome to the club. I have a 92SE 5 speed that I have had virtually the same problem-while idling, it will sporadically dip down and sometimes stall. While driving, I seem to hit a 'flat spot' and the car will jerk and sometimes die. Many, MANY others on this forum have had a similar problem and there does not seem to be one common solution. Some suggestions are replacing the ignition coils (VERY expensive), replacing the Throttle Position Sensor (I just did that this morning and it did NOT work), replacing the o2 Sensor, replacing the MAF Sensor, etc. Good luck to you.

 

check your injectors or the seals around them. a buddy of mine found it was causeing his to stall.

 

Was his specifically a 92' SE?

 

Deffinetly look for cracks in the Injector Coils. I had this same problem and 3 of them had cracks, all on the same Cam.

 

my 92 has been doin the exact same thing for about a month or so now, i really hate it... looks like i got some work ahead of me to try and "fix" it

 

Guys, I was going through the board and I found this posting. In my experience, This seems to be the answer that I am looking for. Unfortunetly I have to wait til I get the car back from the shop before I can try it. I will let every one know how it goes early this week.

Compliments of maxima_man2002:

I just got off the phone with Nissan tech support. Here is what they told me to do about my stalling problem.
1. Check the Main Harness for shorts this is the harness that runs along the passenger side fender. They told me to shake is and see if I could make it die.

2. Check the relay harness this is located on the drivers side fender.

3. Check the ECU connector making sure the bolt is tight. I pulled mine off and checked for damaged pins.

4. Check the pins and plug on the crank sensor the crank sensor is located on the right side of the front valve cover.

Hope that this might help someone with their stalling problem. So far mine hasn't stalled since I checked all the above.

 

Mine used to do that. A lot.

It stopped doing that after I disabled the knock sensor. It runs quite well now, hasn't done that in many months (knock wood!)

Of course that would mean fixing the knock sensor probably is going to fix the problem, but that's expensive. I'll do it when I have spare money lying around.

 

I can't seem to find the Knock Sensor listed in the Chilton's manual. Is it called something else? Where is it located in the engine bay? Thanks.

 

Is the Knock Sensor the same as the Oxygen Sensor?

 

Nevermind, I found it.

 

Just disconnected the knock sensor and started er up. Alas, the idle problem is still present. At any rate, thanks for the tip.

 

AGA,
How did you disable the knock sensor? Or did you just disconnect it. Also did your check engine light come on after the disable?

 

Well, Gents, it doesn’t look good.
Tried the harness shake test.
Tried to extract diagnostic codes. Only code 55.
Pulled off the ECU connector. No damage
Tried disconnecting my knock sensor.
Tried swapping my new EFI relay with my ignition coil relay.
NOTHING WORKED

I have just purchased a logic tester and I will be getting an oscilloscope soon.
I have not nor will not give up.

My next step is to find out if I am loosing spark or fuel. I will keep everyone posted.

 

did u know this engine is known for a faulty CPS? most of the time it will not store a code either. I had the nice guy at nissan explain this to me.

 

So far I have run a couple of test to help isolate the problem. I hooked up a volt tester to the positive on the coils. Power remained constant through stumbling issues. Using a logic probe, pulse was detected on the ground side of the fuel injectors during both normal running and during the stumbling/stalling situation. I am waiting to get an oscilloscope to test primary signal on ignition and doing research to find a feul gauge to test the feul delivery system. Updates to come.

 

Sorry for the late answer, I haven't visited this board in a while...

There's a post about disabling knock sensor quite a while ago. Try to do a search for it (if the search feature works!)

Basically you need to find the connector that connects the knock sensor to the ECU (the knock sensor itself is buried deep inside the engine). Unplug that, and then you have to connect the two terminals inside the connector side that goes to the ECU (not the one going to the engine) with a 470 ohm (470k? I can't remember) resistor. This 'fools' the ECU into thinking only good news come out of the knock sensor. Otherwise it receives no signal from the knock sensor, and won't like that at all, and might misbehave (engine check light on, car running badly, etc.)

Sorry if it's far from clear. I just wrote it from memory! I think I might have printed out a copy of that write up. I'll see if I can find it.

 

Ticking VTC has the likely culprit. The Cam Position Sensor goes bad and it does not register in the ECU codes. I have the same stalling symptoms as you (and a lot of others) and in some documents I have read, getting a new CPS solves the problem. It is not a very cheap one to solve, though.

 

what the hell is the CPS

 

hey dsantos i work up in lodi wonder if we ever passed each other

 

my car started doing it yesterday . it died once while rolling and then today it just got worst it cut out at least 5 times i see when i mash on the gas and then stop hard it would stall . i dont know whats going on . i told in might be a electrical clitch going to nissan tommorrow to get a dia. will post updates. later

 

You have a 92 se correct?

 

CPS = cam position sensor

 

Look at the plugs. Is it burning oil on them. I have to change my plugs every 3k miles.

My Maxima is in its golden years. Have almost 300k miles on original motor.

 

Mine does the same thing -- stalls everytime i come to a light & it is sluggish pulling away too. I have noticed that it is also running very rich.

 

yeah i have a 92 se, itas 129 119 miles on it and i change the oil evey three thousand miles . i havn't changed the pugs since december. I never got a chance to go to nissan . i still have no clue to how it doing it today it only stalled once oddly when i was trying to park. i drove it all day and didn't stall after that. but i still trying to figure out what wrong.

 

Brian, every 3k. That is alot. I hope you have a the smaller 3.0 engine. Platinum plugs are expensive. My plugs are fine through. Thank for the info

 

Gents,
Here is an update on my diagnostics. I was able to use a volt meter to determine that power to my coils is constant during the stumble/stalling. Also with a logic probe, I know that my injectors are getting a good electric pulse. Fuel pressure is normal. Next step, I have ordered a new oscilloscope and sent my fluke 88 out to be repaired. I will keep everyone updated.

 

wierd thing happenened to day i went to a shop to run a dia on the computer and it came up with no codes. the mechanic then did the shake wires test for any shorts found nothing. The only weird thing w2as before he did the test he said my computer was switch on the dia postion and he switch it back normal. after he did that i didn't stall at all . i still don't trust it i wanna more in depth test done by nissan to find out more. The mech said that it has to happen more often to see whats really wrong with it. because it doesn't do it alot so i has to get worse so the can dia it better.

 

I had the same problem. After replacing the Mass air flow sensor it went away.

 

i am afriad to think it the air mass flow senser nissan wants 488 for that piece that thing is expensive i hope it not that

 

yo ever since yesterday hasn't stalled since knock on wood. keep with up dates

 

Okay, I got my scope on Monday and I have been able to do some test to isolate the problem.
First I checked the signal to the coils. I was able to see a normal pattern. When the car stalled I saw a second voltage spike at the point when the primary circuit is energized.
Moving to other point of the power transistor I found all normal operating even during stalling.
Currently I am in a search for an ignition module and I will update after I install in the car

 

Ok im having the same problem. (look at fuel injector post today 6-18-2003)
Ater 3 different injectors, I think the O-rings are being pinched or they are not the right size. When I switch an old injector from the back to the front, and put a new one in its place, the new one is having trouble. No matter where I place it on the rail, it works for a few minutes, then goes bad. Runs rich, car smokes, almost stalls at take off. I think its an o-ring problem. Or should I just change all injectors to have a matched set?

 

ever since i ran the dia and the computer has been switched into its normal mode i haven't stalled i went the meet and back no problems i think its cured of its stalling problem . knock on wood

 

Had the same stalling problem several months ago. Local mechanic replaced the MAF with a used one. Dealer said it was Ignition Coil problem, so I replaced all of them with used one ($25.00 each). The problem went away. Good Luck

 

Well, I bought a MAFS from Schuck's and the stuttering/stalling problem is still present. I've tried just about everything. Anyone know of a good cliff I can drive this thing off of? I spose I need to cave in and bring it to a shop. Really pathetic when you can't fix your own car...

 

I had brought my 94 in to the shop (Nissan dealership), and they told me that my problem (intermittant stalling) was most likely caused from either the Cam shaft position sensor, or the transistor power unit. This was their logic.

If you unplug most sensors, the car's computer will substitute a code to keep the car runnning. (although it may run badly) They unplugged everything they could and my car still stalled on them. So they came to the conclusion that it was one of those 2 parts. (the camshaft sensor connects to the computer, but the computer cannot substitute a value for it.)

They told me that it would cost about $900 and they said that it may not even fix the problem!! So, the car sits in the driveway and watches me drive a truck to work instead.!

-Vic

 

I have had the problem for 3 years intermittantly the bucking issue I am able to make go away for months at a time. I replaced my MAF twice but the real culprit is the MAF wiring harness. If I take it off clean it and bend the contacts so it make a better connection the bucking goes away. I couldn't figure out how to remove the contacts from the connector shell but I felt that would fix it for good if I replaced them.

As for the stalling, If I use a half a bottle of RED Line injector cleaner with every fill up 99.9% of the stalling goes away. On the Red line bottle it cliams it is safe to use every tank full. Why does it work know one seems to know but it works for me and costs me 2.00 a week better then the 3000-4000 Dollars I've spent trying to fix it to date. BTW I have had it in and paid nissan diagnostic time 3X so far.

I have replaced all Ignition coils / Gas Filter / Fuel Pump / NGK'S / MAF / Computer / Battery cables and ground strap / Transmission and Torque converter / ( It was slipping anyway and they thought it was torque converter lockup ) and redid, removed cleaned and polished every grond in the engine compartment

And Interesting comment The last time I replaced my MAF it was under warrenty. 18 months on rebuilts from CARDONE, they said Engineering had notes on 3rd Gen SE's recommending through testing or replacement of the crank angle sensor before replacing the computer. They were ****y about replacing the MAF again saying its being killed by the source of the problem, but they did replace it.

Driving it off a cliff is a novel idea I was praying for a fire.

 

Thanks for the update guys. My Max, too, sits around where I venture out with it once a week at most. The last thing I have done was take it to a shop and they ran it on their computer. They said it was throwing a bad knock sensor code and it would cost $900 bucks to fix it. Well, after surfing around on a couple of Max sites, I found that you can unplug the ks and insert a diode to actually see if that's the problem. The funny thing is, for the first 10 minutes of driving, it was like my old Max was back, but after that, the problem returned! I'm gonna try that trick of removing the MAFS wiring harness and bending/cleaning it. Just a quick question-do I have to remove the 'tube' that the mafs is mounted on in order to get to the wiring harness? Thanks.