rob

2 weeks ago I bought a 97 GXE w/ 37K miles. Appears to be very well cared for. I put 87 in and have experinced several stalls when the car is initially started after sitting for 10 hours or more.

It canks and fires for a few seconds, revs to 1500-2000K rpm, then stalls, I tried dry gas and Prestone cleaner yesterday w/ no change. I filled the tank with 93 Octane today after running it nearly empty.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rob

Eric L.

Using regular unleaded should not cause your Maxima to stall. The engine has a knock sensor which adjusts timing to compensate for lower octane gas. It's function is transparent and theoretically you shouldn't even be tell the engine timing has been retarded to protect the engine.

Sometimes it's as simple as the brand of gas. Some people say it's all the same, and it probably is, but just try switching brands and see what happens. If your car still stalls when using premium, try changing the fuel filter..it might be clogged.

Micah95GLE

I always use Chevron 93 octane petrol. Never had any problems. Some brands are dirty (like BP).

Daniel B. Martin

These symptoms suggest that your fuel system has lost its residual pressure after the 10-hour rest period. This could be caused by a slow leak anywhere in the fuel circuit. The leak could be an internal leak such as a faulty check valve in the fuel pump. With that kind of leak there are no drips to be seen, no odor to be smelled.

Try this experiment any time the car has been sitting for 10 or more hours. Turn the key ON, wait 15 seconds, and then turn the key to START. This gives the fuel pump some extra time to build pressure in the fuel rail. If, after this brief delay, your engine starts readily and runs smoothly, that would corroborate this fuel pressure hypothesis.

dch95

Have you ever drove around and had the car stop on you for no apparent reason? If so, you probably have a bad Engine coolant temperature sensor. It not only causes your car to have bad starts but also causes it to quit for no reason. This sensor tells the computer the coolant temperature and the computer adjusts accordingly. Coolant temp too cold computer gives extra fuel, coolant temp too hot (even though it,s not) computer shuts off engine.

rob

Thanks for your insight everyone. I have checked the plugs and changed the fuel filter. I will try your advice now. The dealer said maybe coolant sensor also or air check valve.

Daniel B. Martin

You may want to test your Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor. This is easy enough, requiring only an ohmmeter.

On the 4th Generation Maxima engine the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor is located in the water outlet tube close to the engine end of the upper radiator hose. There are two sensors in that area. The one nearest the hose is for the dashboard temperature gauge. The ECTS, the one you're interested in, is right next to the the gauge sending unit. There is a good picture of these sensors in the Haynes manual on page 3-7.

With the engine cold, disconnect the ECTS and measure its resistance.
Reconnect the ECTS, start the engine, run it until fully warmed up. Stop
the engine, and repeat the resistance measurement. The "warm" reading
should be a much lower value than the "cold" reading.

The Chilton Maxima repair manual gives these specs:
Engine coolant temperature 68F, ECTS resistance 2.1 - 2.9 Kohms
Engine coolant temperature 194F, ECTS resistance 0.24 - 0.26 Kohms
(Roughly a factor of ten difference.)