Hi guys, I've already tried the search and it's not working, so here we go. I've been having this problem lately with hard starting. It's not a first thing in the morning thing, but a problem when the car has been shut off for a little while. I'll go to start it, and it will turn right over, then immediately die. I turn the key, and it cranks over and over and over, and eventually will start by sputtering and a cloud of blue smoke when it finally starts. Yesterday on my way to work, the car was warmed up completely and I came to a stop sign and it stalled. Again it took a couple of minutes to get it started again just like above mentioned. This morning the car all warmrd up and pulling into my work the tach dropped really low and it wanted to stall, but didn't. I burn 89 octane and got a new o2 sensor about a year ago, new plugs from Nissan and throttle body service a full tune up basically. I don't think it's bad gas, because I've gotten a fillup a few times now from different gas stations. Should I get some of that stuff you put into your gas tank? gas treatment or fuel injector cleaner? Sorry for the length, but wanted to provide as much info as possible. Thanks for any help or suggestions
Jeff

MAF sensor? Does your car idle really rough? My car did that when I had this problem:



Try unplugging the MAF sensor and starting the car. It should start and idle at a 1000 rpm or so.

Doh! ...............

Hi, thanks for the reply. It idles pretty smooth, it does fluctuate here and there, up and down sometimes. Where is the MAF? How much is a new one from Nissan?
Thanks again

Also, what does the MAF do?

the MAF reads the amount of air entering into the engine so the computer can put enough fuel in

its attached to the air box which is where your air filter is

new from nissan there about 400$ so i would by a used one from someone for about 50$

Hi guys, I didn't receive enough info on this problem last time, so I'm re-posting. After my car is warmed up, it will occasionally start idling rough, the tach jumping up and down and will sometimes stall if I don't catch it in time. If it stalls, I can't get it started for at least 10 or 15 minutes sometimes. It will crank over and over but won't start. And it smells. It will sometimes start to want to stall when coming to a stop and I put the clutch in and see the tach drop really low and will stall or sometimes won't. Today, the car was warmed up and I heard it start to cough and fart and I ran over and jumped in and tryed to catch it but it stalled and couldn't get it to start for 10 minutes. When it did, I had to rev pretty high and it was smoking. MAF sensor? What? It was also just tuned recently with all OEM parts. Thanks for any more info on this annoying problem.

does it only do this when you gas is high or low level or does it not matter where your gas level is

10chars

Thanks for reply, but it doesn't matter.

I believe Nissan recommends 92 Octane for the VE engine, except at high elevations (check your owners manual). I don't think the East Coast has any real high elevations, so this may contribute to some of your problems, although I doubt if it IS the problem.

You have a lot of things that can be working improperly.

When you say it smells, it smells like what? Rotten eggs? That could be your catalytic converter.

Have you checked your coil packs? Sometimes cracked coil packs can cause surges or problems with your electrical (spark) system.

Check all of your connections, too.

I think taking your car to a dealer or someone with a code reader might help you out a lot. I would imagine it would throw a code that could send you in the right direction.

Hi thanks for your reply. It just smells like gas. I used to burn 87 octane and recently started 89. What and where are coil packs? And what connections specifically, as you can see, I'm not very mechanically inclined. Thanks again 92 SE.