when ever I start my car and I go to put it in reverse to back out of my parking space when im abt to go anywhere latley my car has been dying as soon as I put it in gear.(98'SE automatic) ..it usually happens abt 4-5 times, then it will usually stay started on abt the 5th time..and I wont have any prblms for a few days, anyone ever have this happen?...and info on what it could be?...thanks for any replies in adv..

 

Does this happen when it has sat for a while, like over night? Do you have any codes?

I cannot tell if this is your problem, but when your coolant temperature sensor goes bad, your car can stall out. Give us a little more information if you can.

When I let my car sit overnight and it is cold in the morning, I have to let my car warm up a little, otherwise the RPM's dip to 400 or so at the first stop sign (it's just around the corner from my house). If the car is warmed up or it is not really cold outside it has no issues.

 

yeah its generally in the morning when its cold..its happend abt 3 times in the past 2 weeks or so...right before I get ready for school, the first time I didnt give it much time to warm up..plus I was low on gas so I thought that was the cause, then the 2nd time I let it warm up for abt 5mins, and almost a full tank of gas, and the 3rd time was just like the 2nd..3/4 of a tank, and abt 5-10 mins.it warmed up...and no codes....in the winter I can generally Never start my car w-o reving the engine and giving it a little gas when turning the ignition...

 

ECT or you car is not timing its fuel injectors or spark at the right time. This could be your camshaft sensor. It is guessing where TDC of the #1 cylinder is, and if it assumes it in the wrong place it can stall out. Eventually, after 4-5 times it guessing the right spot, and will run in module timing. Do you notice a performance difference when this happens?

 

I have the identical problem with mt '98 Maxima SE. I posted the problem a few weeks ago, but still haven't been able to track it down to fix it. When you put it in gear and it stalls does it almost feel like your tranny is locked in? (kinda like a standard without using the clutch)
I've checked the engine ECU and the tranny ECU with a snap-on mt2500 with the asian tranny troubleshooter and can't find any codes or anything not working properly.
I looked into the coolant temp sensor and it's OK, although that will not really cause it to stall only when put in gear. The characteristics of a bad CTS will show themselves more. ( like surging idle or no idle when cold, high idle when hot, excess fuel consumption, and a # of other noticable issues)
It really feels like my torque converter is locked (like direct drive to the tranny) but can't figure out.
Any Nissan factory techs on here?? This is the third person I've seen with a '98 Max SE auto that does this. (assuming you have the same dillema OklaMaxOwner) I know someone has figured this out before.

 

The one thing I notice is that latley my car has been running poorly..poor acceleation, poor gas milage, I just hit 108k...but i have keep my car well maintained..I think im going to do a whole tune up..but im sure that just because of that..that should not cause my car to die...thanks for the info and the input..