Reaction21

I have an 95 Maxima GXE 5 Speed with 130K My Engine would shut off sometimes when i come to an full stop i took it to the auto repair shop just recently and they told me it's was the Knock sensor that was causing that to happen so they replaced the knock sensor for me but it still would happen just not as offen as before this morning i was warming up my car to go out took about 5 mins when then engine got warm i would shut off all of a sudden then i restarted it again and the RPM just went crazy from 500 to 1500 really fast up and down up and down like someone is pressing on the gas and leting it go it happen for like 5 Sec then it would become normal they also check the fuel pump for me and said it was working well here is a list of service that i have done recently listed below THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP THAT U GUYS COULD PROVIDE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RECENT SERVICE DONE :
1 CLEANED TB
2 REPLACE KNOCK SENSOR
3 REPLACE STARTER
4 REPLACE FUEL FILTER
5 REPLACE SPARK PLUGS

Street Reeper

My old eclipse had about 120,000 when it started dying when I would push in the clutch, the RPM's would just fall to 0. The problem was a carbon build up, I had it flushed and the car ran fine. This may or may not be your problem but it should give you a direction to go in, good luck.

maximomo

iTrader: (2)

White96MaxSE

I think this symptom sounds like the throttle position sensor or the coolant temperature sensor is faulty.

Check for ECU codes that might indicate these sensors as the source of the problem.

That is the direction I would investigate! Digital Volt Meter and Haynes Manual would give you the guidance to test those two sensors.

I understand that the coolant temperature sensor over time (since it is in the coolant) will become coated with corrosion and can simply be removed and cleaned or if faulty easily replaced.

Maybe someone else will add their input, but this is my thought on the problem.

White96MaxSE

Reaction21

Thanks for all the help Provided i need all the expert advice that i could get

vmok

All the above recommendations are good places to start. You want to check the IAC, AAC, or AC and PS idle switches as well. Another thing to check is the PCV valve (may be clogged.) The way you mention that the car hunts for the idle makes me think that it may be the IAC or AAC (depending on who you talk to, people call it different things - IAC is Idle Air Control, AAC is Auxilary Air Control). The fact that the idle hunts up and down makes me believe that the TPS is ok, as the car seems to know that it is at idle. When the the car is at idle, there is a feedback system for idle control. RPM drops too low, and the AAC or IAC opens a bypass which lets the RPMS go up. RPM's rise, and the IAC closes to slow the idle back down. The AC switch and PS switches also tell the ECU to idle the car faster then there is pressure in PS system or when the AC is turned on. On my SE-R, the hunt was caused becasue the base idle was set incorrectly. On that car, with the key out of the ignition, I removed the harness on the TPS. This puts the car into a default mode when there is no TPS input. I would then turn the idle adjustment screw on the IAC until the idle was where I wanted it to be, then shut off the car, and plug everything back in. This would reset the baseline that the car bases it's idle calculation off of. The above directions are not exact, there are other steps (warming up the car, revving the car several times, and letting the idle settle) before doing the adjustment. If you need more info, let me know, and or check www.se-r.net.

-V

Reaction21

Thanks for all the info given guys i will keep in mind those things and when i have a chance i will try it

Reaction21

There is a thing when my car is like totally warm up like when temperature meter is on the middle everything seem to run fine but before it reach to that point there is a chance that my engine would shut off my auto repair shop said it was the coolant temperature sensor and replaced it for me and everything seem fine now let's hope it really works do u guys think that the coolant temperature sensor would cause the engine to shut off during warm up period ????

vmok

There are two temp sensors in most Nissans. Ones is for the temp gauge and one is for the ECU. If the coolant temp sensor for the ECU is not working properly, the car would not know how to handle certain conditions, including idle, ignition timing advance, and even the cooling fans. If the sensor was delivering the wrong signal, it could definitely cause the idle to be erratic as the idle goes out of the range determined by the ECU, the ECU will try to compensate back and forth, causing the idle to hunt. If the sensor is unplugged or not putting out a valid signal at all, the car would run on a preset ECU program, a fail safe mode. The cooling fan remains on, and the ECU runs the car as if the temperature was 180 degrees or so (what the stock thermostat temperature is set to pop at).

So that's definitely possible. I had to replace a ECU coolant temp sensor in a 1990 Maxima SE because the cooling fans weren't turning on. Took me a while to figure out that the cooling fans aren't just driven by a resistor going through a temp sensor, rather, there are 3 or 4 different fan speeds depending on need, and whether they turn on and at what speed are all ECU controlled.

-V

Reaction21

thanks for all the info now that i'm more sure it's the collant temp sensor but just keep all the info coming more idea wouldn't hurt THANKS

Reaction21

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funkydjboy

I know it's an ancient question, but this may help someone out there still looking for answers like I was recently. I couldn't figure out what was wrong either, my car would start and idle rough but just have NO power. I changed everything you did and even more and the problem remained. Finally I came across a video online that showed the engine coolant temperature sensor (the one with the single flat blade connector NOT the one with 2 blades) and the connector blade being loose on the sensor where you can wiggle it back and forth or spin it causing problems. The little connector blade on my sensor was loose, I replaced it and haven't had a problem since. It was crazy because I had people tell me everything from a clogged catylitic converter to a guy that was positive it was the fuel pressure regulator....NOPE.. Just the little engine coolant temperature sensor.

max4lyfe

My 98 se had symptoms of the idle surges your talking about.it never shut off though.at start when cold it will idle fine for about 30 sec then idle will go down to about 800rpm and up to 1500 and then back down and repeat the cycle .probably did that for 10 secs then it will idle like nothing happened.I ended up cleaning my iacv (idle air control valve) and my mass air flow sensor.after that car hasn't done it again.been almost 2.5 months.not sure what fixed the problem. If it was the iacv or the maf.but idle air wasn't to dirty. Well not dirty enough for me to say duuhh this is the problem..good luck