rjohn65

I bought the car 3 weeks ago, very good deal but am running into the infamous stalling issue. I do have a factory manual and a haynes but cannot isolate the problem. It stalls periodically at stop lights and occasionally at low speeds (10mph), not yet at a higher speed. (Had a hell of a time starting it after a stall at work today though.) The previous owner kept all the receipts since 1999. Oil every 3k. Plugs have been changed twice since 2001, injectors were serviced in 2003, MAF has been cleaned twice in 3 years. New starter in 2002 (Turns well). I changed the PCV valve and reset the ECM. (Thought this helped but I was wrong)
I dont think its fuel, because I have flooded it when it decided to start hard today (White smoke and fumes). I cant read my MIL because I believe the bulb is burned out. I did start the car today and wiggle the wires around the MAF, no change in idle. I disconnected the MAF while running, it bogged down a little but continued running. When I plugged it back in it died.......does this mean anything (other than I shouldn't do it)? Right now I'm thinking MAF, Coil Paks, Coolant Temp Sensor, or even O2's. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.....
BTW: How do I change the CEL bulb?

Thanks,
John
1995 Maxima GXE
Automatic
129000

rjohn65

new air filter too.

happyricefob

iTrader: (7)

first of all, disconnecting your MAF sensor is not gonna solve the problem. secondly, if you are getting a "check engine light" on ur dashboard u'll need to pull the code to find out the exact problem by following this instruction >> http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=104931

lastly, my guess is malfunctional engine coolant temperature sensor. cuz i had that problems like bad gas mileage, stalls occasionally. one time i lost power when i was cruising around 55mph! anyway u can get an ohmmeter to check the factory spec of engine coolant temperatur sensor. if it's below or above factory spec, replace that sensor immediately.

p.s. please don't disconnect your MAF sensor.

rjohn65

Thanks for the fast reply. I do know how to pull a code, but I cannot see the code because the bulb is blown, hence the "How do I change the CEL bulb?" and I promise not to disconnect the MAF anymore.

Pappa Grande

Hmmm. Here is my guess. On my 95 when I manually check the CEL I have to be very careful when I turn back the screw to reset the light. Why? Because if I turn the screw too much or too little it has a direct impact on my engine idle. For example If I turn the screw too much, my car will not stay on, and will stall. I'm guessing that out of inexperience you didn't reset the CEL properly, especially in light of the fact that you can't even see the CEL...
So, i recommend that you get your car started and the go down to your ECU and mess with the screw until you have a higher idle.
Hope this helps....it worked for me.

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

Does the MIL turn on when you turn the key to the "ON" or "ACC" position - I can't remember exactly which position, but at some point while you turn the key to start the car, the MIL should turn on and then turn off once the power-on checks all pass...

Clearly the MIL bulb is the first thing to get functional... based on the possible error codes, some other things to check:

- Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (ECTS)
- Air Filter
- Fuel Filter
- Coil Packs and Plugs

Cheers,
Nirav

rjohn65

nope, no mil light at all. Do I have to take out the dash or is there a shortcut?

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

Then I guess you'll have to pull the instrument cluster... don't think you have to pull the whole dash out.. just the gauge cluster.. I've replaced several of the lights in my wife's toyota instrument cluster (fuel guage for example) - the bulbs are just screwed into the PCB that makes up the back of the cluster... not sure how the MIL light is fastened - but I would bet it is "replaceable" without any soldering etc... its just a matter of getting to it... maybe someone else can help you with that - or it may be worthwhile to start a new thread or rename this thread if you can to fix that problem first..

good luck!
Nirav

killcrap

iTrader: (3)

http://www.geocities.com/amixam69/ni...ash/index.html to change bulbs.

rjohn65

Thanks all, the bulbs are changed. My codes are as follows
12-13-33-34-98 just as I suspected. The trick now is trying to figure out which code is tripping all the others. I tried to clear the codes but was not successful, isnt it turn fully clockwise wait 3 secs turn fully counter clockwise? All that did for me was display the codes, I'm not doing something right. Thanks again
John

mkbehbeh

Since you have two coolant temp codes, I would change them first. You can check the MAF by backprobing the harness when it is running. You should get 5V on one (power) and one of the others is the signal wire and should be around 1V at idle. The details should be in the haynes manual.

Good luck,

Mark

97MaximaSE

i would also check the wire harness coming out of the firewall on the passenger side. Take it while the car is running and shake it and see if your rpms fluctuate or stall. Took me 2 years of stalling and hesitation to find this out and now the car is mint since i redid the wires that were cracked

thekenone

its more than likely have someting to do with the maf. but in my other car i had a similar problem that was caused by a oxygen sensor. but i doubt its that cause i need both right now and aren't seeing much change in performance. to clear the codes just do the same operation to get the codes right after you finish reading them. the light should stay on and when you start the car turn off. probably come right back on though but at least you can try.

rjohn65

Thanks to all. It was the Engine Coolant Temp sensor,,.......she's running perfectly now. $25 at Advanced Auto Parts

Max-2-GTR

isn't it just turn clockwise, wait, counterclockwise,immediatly clockwise and counter clockwise?

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

GREAT LINK! This should be listed in the how-to section.