Hi guys. Haven't been here in a couple years! Anyway...down to the business at hand:

I've a 99 se-l automatic that has problems running after sitting through a night of cooler temperatures. It only has a problem if it is being driven for the first time of the day. The car will act as if it will stall when coming to a stop applying the brake, or will certainly stall at a stoplight with the car in gear and a foot on the brake. My wife says she had some mechanic come to the house to diagnose the problem. She doesn't know jack about cars, so she can't tell me what he did. Has anyone else had this type of problem? She needs to have the timing belt changed, though I don't think any strectch in the belt would cause this. I was thinking more along the lines of the fuel system since I changed the plugs with more platinums about 30,000 miles ago.

Thanks!

 

Couple of things here:
1) You don't have a timing belt, it's a chain...so, whomever told you
that you need a new belt, probably doesn't have a clue.

2) You have a 99 -- sounds like an issue with coils...many 99s have
this issue, so, you're definitely not alone.

3) While it could be the coils, because you mention cold weather I
would also check your "Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor", which
affects the air/fuel mixture and can cause stalling if it sends the
wrong signal.

Hope this helps...
FLO_BOY

 

Right on. Thanx for the reply. I'll look into those coils. Are there good aftermarket replacements available or should I feel safe picking them up at NAPA for $70 that they're asking?

 

i believe i have a similiar problem.

first off, i haven't driven the car since nov. 02, i have 2 cars and i love the max, so it never sees snow or salt.......some people have porches, ferraris, i have a Maxima.

anyway, the car was jacked up, stupid me i didn't disconnect the battery i also didn't run it at all, the car basically just sat there and collected dust.

anyway i got the car jumped, ran it for about 20 mins, changed the oil before running it obviously, once i put it down and drove it, it stalled immediatly. Turned it over again, and the "Service Engine Soon" light came on along with the "slip" and "TCS OFF" lights.

every time i come to a stop and try to get on the gas it stalls

it won't let me pin, it almost stalls then, or if i stay on it a bit, it seems like the engine is choking or the TCS is kicking in and it just stays at about 2200-2300 RPM.

some of this may not make sense, but any help would be greatly appreciated


also, i took it to the dealer they really don't know whats wrong with it, they said it was the harness and that the CAI caused the harness to stretch and the wires broke on the inside of the harness.....what they were basically telling me didn't make any sense.

another nissan tech. who's a friend of mine, looked at it and said that its the Mas Air Flow Meter, and that the problem is current, and its continously occuring.


i think the dealer is just trying to rip my *** off......they said 2G's to install a new harness.

any input?????

thanks



gudhkara@hotmail.com
ravi@universitybooksonline.com

 

Clean your throttle body. www.motorvate.ca

That usually cures most idle related problems.

 

hey there!

Not sure about the first batch of info, but, as far as the MAFS issue,
I had THE SAME PROBLEM!!! There's actually a Technical Service Bulletin
on this, and if you have the ability to search, you can see that it
took me OVER A YEAR to correctly diagnose the issue.

Basically, the MAFS wiring was broken in the harness toward the passengar
side firewall -- right around there, the harness makes two big bends
and over time, the wires start to corrode. I had some electrical
techs find the broken wires and fix 'em. Total cost -- $250 CDN.

Here's a quick test -- with the car running, grab the harness right
around the passengar side strut tower and give her a few tugs...Not
too hard, but not too soft...in my case, even a soft tug would cause
my car to stumble and shut off.

If your car has similar issues, you will notice that the RPMs will
change if not stop altogether...

hope this helps, and good luck!
FLO_BOY

 

thanks for the input

how many miles did you have on the car when you got this problem, i don't drive my car every day and i don't beat on it much, only 37500 miles.

i checked the harness for power, and it does have power, did your lights all go on also.

same exact problem/???

you said something about searching for "Technical Service Bulletin" where could i search for this, i think the guy at the dealer knew exactly what the problem was but they wanted to charge me for the entire thing........the harness is repairable??

where did you get your problem fixed and how...........totally new harness or did you just repair the old one?


thanks a lot for your help

 

hey man same thing happened to my car. exact thing. but after awhile it strted to rev up and slowly take off like like as if you were feeding out a clutch. now my car is in the shop getting the tranny rebuilt. go to a tranny shop and leave it overnight so he can feel what its doing. i'm serious dude go now before you hafta pay 2500 like me. BTW it started doing that about a month and a half before it went out

 

Easy....

It's your coolant temp sensor. Cheap to fix... It will never throw a code so don't wait for it...



-RMB

 

OK, some answers:

1) about 150K Kms (90K miles)
2) I don't know what you mean about the lights?? All exterior lights
and interior lights work (and always have) fine. The harness for
the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAFS) is bundled with everything.
3) well, i had similar problems -- stalling, studdering engine.

I re-read your post -- do all your lights on the dash stay on? Or, do
they turn off when you re-start the car? Sounds like the lights come
on just because that's what happens when your car engine cuts out...

to get the Technical Service Bulletins, go here:All Data

For your other questions, I suggest re-reading my post...

Also, could very well be the Coolant Temperature Sensor...it's a cheap
and easy repair to do yourself...ANYONE can replace this part, it's
that easy.

FLO_BOY

 

1) dunno why i'm having this problem right now since i only have 37500 miles...but the car has been sitting and doesn't get driven often so that may have some type of effect on it

2) what i mean about the lights are the check engine light, slip and TCS light.....head lamps, blinkers, etc. are all fine.

if the MAFS is bunded with many other electronic parts then wouldn't these things be malfunctioning also.

3) the problems you had are exactly what i had, when idling it doesn't idle at a normal rate, its around 1000-1100.
i'm also able to smell fuel from the exhaust, which obivously means its not running efficiant.

4) lights on the dash that stay lite are "Check Engine, Slip, and TCS" lights stay on. When the car stalls obviously all others come on, but when i turn it over again they go off, but again the orginal 3 lights ("Check Engine, Slip, and TCS") come on.

how can i check if its the engine coolant temperature sensor?

regarding the TSB - what type of information am i suppose to get from this, what does it actually, i'm sorry but i'm just trying to get a grip on this stuff. I'd rather do the sensor myself, if thats whats wrong with it, i'm pretty much about to do easy stuff, of course if i'm giving directions on how to do it.

also, when i had my friend who's also a nissan tech. look at it, he hooked it up to the computer and the error that it read was the MAS, and the amount of times the error occured was 0 - which he told me ment that the problem was current and always occuring.

thanks for all your help, i'm sorry if i'm being a pain, but the dealer is telling me its going to cost 2Gs and i for some reason think thats quiet unreasonable, and i also don't think that this type of cost could be related to something that is barely used. ITS A WEEKEND CAR!

maybe thats the problem, it needs to get driven more often...which i'm def. going to do now

again thank you very much for you help

 

You know what the problem is, a Nissan Tech. confirmed it with you. So change the MAF sensor. It should run you about 300 bucks not 2G's.

Defective MAF sensors cause your engine to stumble and stall which can, and in your case has put your tranny into limp mode.

Change the MAF sensor, clear the codes in the ECU with the procedure in the thread at the top of this forum and be done with it already.

 

Boy do I hate stealing/scumbag mechanics. They're worse than lawyers.... just cheaper. I've learned though only half of those stealer/scumbags are actually doing it on purpose, the rest are just stupid.... I've known two good ones my entire life....

"Gotta replace your timing belt" Freaking dumbass. LOL, maybe have him tear down the engine too and replace pistons #1 and #2, which also are known to cause cold stumbling/stalling... LOL

-RMB

 

ok, now that i know that i should replace the MAF. What could cause such a part to go bad, and of course its not covered under warrenty, even though i have the extended one and the gold package on top of that.

i think the tech who told me 2G's was just stupid, and the service rep was the ***** who said "bend that mo fo over"


anyway, I really do appreciate all your help, without this forum I think the dealers would be making way too much money that they shouldn't be making, just like the ***** lawyers!

once again thanks for all the help

 

A MAFS is easy to replace...the harness for the MAFS, not so easy.
FLO_BOY

 

pretty much, i took the MAF out too see if the sensor in the middle was burnt or discolored at all, but i was able to see anything that was out of the ordinary.

everything looked ok, i'll probably just go to the junk yard and pick one up