j2b4osan

Ok so here's the deal. The biggest issue to me is that when I want to slow down and I keep the car in gear it doesn't nicely glide down the rpm range annymore it decelerates in steps. like it will drop like 200rpm and than rev a little and continue to do this the whoal way down the rpm range. This causes the car to rock back and forth like I don't know how to drive manual or something. Before that started the cars idle fluctates and sometimes the car would stall while breaking to a stop in neutrall or when going over big bumps or potholes in neutrall. My friend suggested that it could be the tranny so that is my biggest fear. I'm leaning twards vac leak but haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. Oh yea before you ask there are no codes ever even ghost codes. I wish there were. I was also thinking it could mabye be one of the mounts because of the rocking I experience. I have searched and it seems that I may have a similar problem with some of you but I'm not sure so I diddnt want to clutter your threads when I have no solution. If anyone has any info or could atleast assure me it's prob not the tranny I would really apreciate it.
Oh yea I almost forgot when I slam a door of trunk or bang on the car hard the idle usually jumps a little if that helps.

alset2

iTrader: (1)

have you checked your battery terminals and engine grounds and such?
there seems to be a connection with sudden jolts to the chasis and the engine ,that would lead me to look for a lose connection first.

hope this helps

j2b4osan

Ive tried wiggling and pulling on the battery cables and ground wires and such but it didnt seem to reproduce any of the symptoms. and I recently replaced the alt so Im pretty sure all the connections with that is ok.

beez5spdmax

might be your maf sensor or the wire check that

j2b4osan

ok so some headway I think it seems like it may be a problem with the harness or one of the wires inside. when I was wiggling and puling things I started to wiggle the harness wrap that goes from by the belts through the firewall to the ecu i suppose. so when I pull a little up on the section coming from the firewall the idle drops and if I do it alot the car just dies still no codes. so i pulled and wiggled from inside the car under the dash and no symptoms. so I unwrapped the harness where it bends to go own towards the firewall because there is like a 90degree turn there so I figured it would be a good place to start and thats where I seem to get the most symptoms from. I started to wiggle each wire one by one and eventually got to a few wires that seemed to do it so I tried to pinpoint which wire it was and now it doesnt seem to wanna give me any symptoms at all even if i grab the whole harness and wiggle like when I first found the problem. so Im wondering its hard to see where the wires duck through the firewall so is there anything else around there like a vacume line or something Im not seeing that the harness could be touching that could cause this? thanks in advance guys and no its not the maf but thanks anyway.

j2b4osan

and now it seems to only wanna stall when I squeeze the whole harness together (like the whole bunch of wires) but if I isolate any one or group of wires it doesnt seem to do it.

j2b4osan

I cant isolate the wire the bad connection is too far down the curve so Ive tried to lessen the curve and secure its position better. it doesnt seem to produce symptoms when i slam doors or anything now but Im sure it will return. if anyone has anymore ideas I would appreciate it. thanks

allensteiner21

iTrader: (6)

since it's the ecu harness have someone wiggle it in the engine bay while you're checking each wire on the inside for voltage fluctuations - should help you isolate the bad wire and then you can bypass the faulty section.

JtzMax

iTrader: (5)

^^^ almost totaly agreed! It seems that you are grounding something out when you squeeze the harnes as a whole. Or, there is a fragile wire that breaks with movement. I don't mean it is in two peices, but the wire under the skin is broken. It may come down to you seperating the harnes in two places (maybe in the car and in the engine bay) and using a volt meter on each wire. Most VOM have leads that will puncture the skin of the wire and you just place a small bit of tape over the hole, this lessesns the need to strip the wire back, but will still give you contact with the wire. This is not a common problem that I am aware of, never heard of it before, so it makes me wonder what someone did to the wiring in the first place. It's possible it's just a bad spot, it's also possible that someone "rerouted" or moved the harnes and it's now causing this problem. If someone did move it, or rerout it ... why? If you know why, it may help you to narrow the problem down.

I'd try running a long lead to the VOM (meter) and pinning each wire from in and out of the car. If you hit the ECU with any voltage (and yes, there is residule voltage on most battery powered meters, and we give off microvolts as well, it's how are heart works when you think about it) you could risk toasting the ECU. I'd most certainly start with just sections of the wire. Have a mate help you, one under the hood, one in the car. G'luck ... keep us posted please.

j2b4osan

when you say run a long lead you mean power the Voltmeter by the cars battery right? or do you mean test the resistance between a spot under the hood with a spot in the car? Im kinda nervous to try anything since you mentioned frying the ecu...

JtzMax

iTrader: (5)

Just use Ohms to test with ... since what you want to do is find the broken wire, you run long enough leads from the meter (so that you can reach both inside the car, and under the hood) and still see the meter. So in a sense .... you need to hold the meter either place, on Ohms, and have someone help you (you could do it alone, but it's back and forth work) by hitting the same color wire under the hood that you hit inside the car. See what I am saying? Ohms doesn't apply voltage, it only measures resistance. So, when you touch the two leads together, it should 0 out. If you hit the same wire under the hood as inside the car, it should "zero" out again .... but if the wire is broken, it will not 0, there will be either nothing or high resistance.

j2b4osan

thanks for clearing it up thats what i meant by test the resistance (ohms). its raining today but Ill try it tomorrow. (p.s. I love imagining that cat explaining everything its great for a laugh)

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Surprised no one's mentioned it already, but there was a TSB released about this, the harness is known to start failing at the bend by the right strut tower. Once you figure out which wire(s) are failing, I'd grab the TSB service kit from Nissan, I believe it comes with a new type of protector for the wiring harness, and some new clips and such. Should help prevent breakage in the future.

j2b4osan

Thanks I actually found the tsb its below if anyone else needs it. there are a few other symptoms I didnt have listed so if you have problems you cant seem to diagnose with the following;
1)Starter Motor Inoperative
2)Engine Stall/No Start
3)A/C Inoperative
4)A/C On/Off Idle Adjust Inoperative
5)Engine Mount Inoperative
6)Oil Pressure Warning Light Inop.
check out the link below..

http://www.lyberty.com/car/Maxima_A3...NTB98-008b.pdf

I feel like it may be the cause of many peoples idle issues and stalling while stopping issues that seem to go unresolved as well so check it out if you have strange stuff going on. but thanks again guys Ill post about how much nissan wants for the repair kit as well.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

$12.52 @ Courtesy.

JtzMax

iTrader: (5)

Pmohr to the rescue ... again.

Makes me question mine now too. Seems that I have times when I hit the key and it cranks, but doesn't really catch to start. Hit the key again and most of the time it purs right up .... I am going to ohm out this section when I get some free time and see if I find anything.

Good thread!!!!