theore

Car: 1990 GXE
Miles : 148k

Problem :

My car appears to want to stall on me at times. It seems to happen sporadiclly, but Ive noticed a small pattern. It usually occurs at the end of the day after driving about 30 miles in city traffic. It also seems to occur when Im low on fuel.

Stalling details:

When the problem arises Im usually at a stop light and my car will begin to shake and the rpms drop between 6k-8k. The car seems as if it wants to shut off and the rpms will pulsate back up to around 12k-15k. The KNOCKING / rattling / shaking is coming from the passenger side of the engine compartment. Ive had the hood raised before when this was occuring and I notice that some pulley near the bottom seems to "wobbling" and the belt appears as if its gonna shake off its track.
I posted something about the pulley before (i think its the harmonic balancing pulley) and I did not receive one response. Im sure I worded something wrong or just confused myself and typed something totally incoherrant to those of you that understand Maximas.

Also the car seems to lose power when Im making left hand turn, its seems as if it wants to stall out half way throught the turn.

I also smell gasoline every morning in my car when I warm the engine. Somedays the smell is stronger than others. Actually I smell gas whenever I first start my car anytime during the day.

Could it be the fuel injectors that are causing this problem? Does the knocking and shaking indicate that I need a valve job? Im not mechanically inclined, so I dont plan on doing any of this work myself. Id just like to identify the problem and not get shafted when I take it in for repair. I wouldnt want it to be something simple and then the mechanic gives me the run around because he knows that he can pretty much tell me anything about cars and Id believe it , which would end up costing me major bucks.

Thanks for any help that I receive. If theres anything else you need to know about the car, before giving me advice please let me know.


theore

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

the stalling might be due to a faulty fuel filter... since you say it occurs during low fuel, thats most likely because the crud at the bottom of the tank ig getting flushed out and clogs the filter, thus leading to a stall. I had this problem last summer, but after I changed the filter(during the tune up) it never happen again!

I'm no expert on the pulleys/belts, but sounds like the "belt tensioner" needs to be replaced if your saying it looks like its about to come off the pulley track, but like I said I'm no expert so I couldn't be 100%. I'd be careful driving on that cause you can cause SERIOUS problems if that belt slips off while you're driving.

as for the fuel smell that is an inherent problem with the third gen rubber fuel lines going into the intake manifold, most likely they are slightly cracked and thats where the smell is coming from.

I hope this helped, but I'd seriously get that belt prob checked out before you have some major issues...good luck

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Pulley. I could be causing the idling problems if it's really tight or is wobbling around. If it's your crank pulley, you had better get that checked ASAP!

Fuel smell. DaMax is right. It's either your rubber fuel lines(check them when you first start the car) or leaky fuel injectors(best left to a mechanic to inspect)

Replace the fuel filter. It's cheap and probably needs to be replaced at this point anyway.

But either check or have those "wobbley" pullies checked asap!! Like today or tomorrow.

theore

Thanks for the help here guys. I'll be going to get those pulleys checked today as soon as I get off work.

Once again, thanks for the help.


theore