Hey All,

Was having two issues with my 97 Maxima. First was hard starts, starter turning, but engine not catching, as if no gas was reaching the engine. Second problem, when engine finally fired up, its would rev up as normal but instantly drop in RPM below the norm (somewhere around 300-500 RPM) causing the engine to stall sometimes or idle rough for a few seconds.

Well after this weekends project of swapping out gas filter, PCV valve and CVCV Evap valve, the hard start issue has been resolved. However I still have the initial engine start problem of the engine revving on and then dropping RPM's and occasionally stalling or idling rough for a few seconds before returning back up to normal idle.

Can anyone advise on the situation with any possible solutions for the eractic RPM drop when turning on engine. Appreciate any input.

THanks
Biz
97 Maxima SE
120,000miles

 

I have the exact same problem that you are having, and from what I have seen, many people are having the same problem. It has been happening to me for over a year now, and I am still in the process of getting leads to the source of the problem. I don't know about yours, but with my car, it only does it when the temperature is cold, or has been sitting around for a long time. The car has the exact same symptoms as yours does. I have a 98 Maxima SE, with exactly 37,000 on it. Here are the things of which I have learned that should be done, and could be causing this:

Clean the throttle-body, clean the fuel injectors, adjust the idle, clean the IACV (idle air control valve), replace the PCV valve, replace the fuel filter, and check your temperature sensor.

The problem could also quite possibly be caused by a bad grounding connection. Also what you can do (and what has helped me) is before you start the car, turn the key to the position right before start. This is the one where all dashboard lights come on. Then wait for about 10 seconds, since doing this builds pressure in the fuel line, and will almost certainly ensure in a good start. (Maybe the fuel pump should be replaced, since people have told me to do this)

Most of all don't worry, because I have seen a lot of people with this problem, and it does seem to be very common in Maxima. You can also do more research on this, by typing starting problems in the search window of this site.

 

Thanks Peter for the useful info. I'll check the areas you mentioned.

Thanks
Biz

 

IDLE AIR CONTROL VALVE. It's either starting to go or gone, either clean it, or better yet just get a new one if u can for cheap. Very common problem, with no check engine lights.

 

Thanks NotNew,

Question for you, where is the idle air control valve located? And how do you go about cleaning it (spray, wipe, etc...)Thanks in advance for the useful tips. Gotta love this forum

Thanks
Biz

 

right behind the throttle body, towards the windshield, ull see a thing with like 4 different colored plugs coming off the right side of it. I havent personally cleaned it, I had mine fully changed becuz it was poo. i would assume just take it out if your crafty and just clean out the only valves on it, they are probably covered in gunk. Someone else will have to step in for that portion of it i just know they tend to cause idle problems and stall problems very often.

 

PIC??? ANYBODY???

 

I had this 'hard starting' problem for a while until I fianlly got it resolved about 2 years ago.

Symptoms:
Start the car, RPM would rise momentarily and then drop down to very low level and the car would die. Subsequently trying to restart the car was useless since it would just turn over but not start.
The only way to get it to start would be to either pump the gas WHILE starting the car and keep pumping the gas until the RPM would steady. Or, basically flood the engine -- WOT WHILE starting the engine. This would cause the computer to acknowledge a 'flooded engine' condition and adjust accordingly.
Either way, whenever I was able to restart it, a puff of smoke would come off the exhaust for a few seconds that smelled real bad.
But once the engine was restarted through either method, the car would run just fine. This hard starting would happen at night, during the day, cold, hot, rain, summer and winter... at any time and very sporadic.

I also replaced the battery, regreased the starter motor but eventually replaced it, fuel filter, air filter, injector cleaner, and I can't remember if anything else. It basically became a process of elimination from easiest/cheapest to hardest/expensive.

Solution:
The third time I took the car to the dealer (this problem did not happen to them during the previous 2 visits, thus they couldn't troubleshoot), I decided to leave it overnight. Low and behold, it did happen to them as well and this was the answer that I got:
The original problem was the starter motor. Apparently it was drawing too much power from the battery, and over time, it degraded the battery. Thus, this would be the sequence of events -- when starting the car, the engine would turn over fine, but once started, the battery would not have enough juice to keep the engine running. The battery would be practically drained by the starter during the starting sequence. The reason of the puff of smoke was due to excess gas in the combustion chamber while pumping the gas pedal trying to restart the car.

The tech also cleaned the TB and gave me the following advice: the car was being driven to easily, and it needed to stretch its legs once in a while. He recommended going to a highway on a weekend or something, once a week, and just give it hell for a few minutes.

Keep in mind that this happened 2 years ago and I might be forgetting a few more things, but this is as accurate as I remember it.

This was the end of my 1.5yr hard-starting condition.

Later,
Peter

 

I park my 98 SE in underground heated parking, a couple of times during this past (Wisconsin!) winter, I'd go down to the garage to leave for work and the car would stall right after it started. The problem was so rare I didn't freak out about it. But it still bothered me enough to look into it a little deeper, so, back when this board had a 'search' feature I did some research on this - thankfully I printed out what I found:

A guy by the name of Muhatma DBM said -

Your fuel-injected engine has an Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor. This sensor sends a signal to the Engine Control Module (the computer). When the ECTS sends a "cold engine" signal the ECM responds by instructing the fuel injectors to deliver a rich mixture. The rich mixture helps a cold engine start and run smoothly during the warm up period. This is similar to the operation of a choke on a carburetor engine.

There are other problems, which cause cold starting, and driveability problems, but the ECTS is the first thing to check. This can be done with an ohmmeter.

On the 4th Gen, the ECTS is located in the water outlet tube close to the engine end of the upper radiator hose. There are two sensors in that vicinity. The one nearest the hose is for the dashboard temperature gauge. The ECTS, the one you're interested in, is adjacent to the gauge sending unit. There is a good picture of these sensors in the Haynes Manual an page 3-7.

With the engine cold, disconnect the ECTS and measure its resistance. Reconnect the ECTS, start the engine, and run it until fully warmed up. Stop the engine, and repeat the measurement. The "warm" reading should be much lower that the "cold" reading. These are the specs:

Engine coolant temp = 68F, ECTS resistance = 2.1 to 2.9 kOhms.
Engine coolant temp = 194F, ECTS resistance = 240 -260 Ohms (or .24-.26 kOhms - roughly, a factor of ten in difference)

The ECTS is a relatively inexpensive sensor and something the home mechanic can replace without special tools.

HTH!

 

Is the ECTS a part that any auto parts store will have in stock or would I need to special order it from Nissan? I've been having starting problems when the engine is warm (not cold or hot) and am going to check/replace the ECTS. Whats a ballpark price for one? $5.00? $50.00?
Thanks.

 

Yes... the ECTS could also be a problem.

When I initially posted my problem on this forum a few years back, DBM mentioned the ECTS as well. In fact, that was the first item that I also checked due to DBM's recommendations, but mine happened to be to spec.

Good thing you mentioned that Dolomite.

 

So did you get a new starter that draws less from the battery or what? Cuz i knowmine does the same thing aside from the idle air.

 

starter, battery, alternator. There is a recall on 97-98 maximas for the alternator. Check your VIN.

 

I had the same exact problem a few weeks ago. I resolved it by cleaning out my TB. Also change my bov from a Blitz to a HKS. The HKS is definitely a lot better. Hold boost more and don't leak.

 

The new starter did draw less amperage from the battery once installed. At the time, Nissan wanted like $450CAN for a new starter if my memory serves me correct.

I remember *****ing and complaining to my dealer about this problem. I had taken the car there 2 previous times and spent 'mucha casharola' on PM items, but they had never solved the starting problem. They would not recognize the fact that this 'hard-starting' problem was a common problem for certain model year Maximas. So I wrote to Nissan Canada whinning and complaining about my unpleasant experiences with a Nissan product and how I would create a whole new generation of Nissan haters (I was blowing smoke of course) on the web and so on... they ended up paying for my repairs during my last service visit!

What really set me off was the way that the Nissan Customer Service at my local dealer looked after my situation. They kept insisting it was all in my head. It wasn't necessarily what they said at times, but the way they would say it, like my case did not matter to them at all. Once I got into a pretty heated discussion with one of them -- that's what actually led to me writting a letter to Nissan Canada.

Heck, the way I figure it, we're sponsoring their product every time we drive it. We might as well fight for what we think is right!

Later