Car dies at startup unless I give it gas
 

Hi guys,

Recently, my car has took a crap on me. The car will die if the I don't step on the gas when it starts, and I need to keep giving it gas to keep it going.

I've adjusted idle to ~2k rpm, but this is really bad for my auto tranny because it will shift really hard into gear when I move it from park to reverse or drive.

I am guessing that it is the fuel pump that took a dump on me.

What do you guys think?

I've replaced the pump with a walbro a couple years prior, and the car has had this problem before, but that was right after we installed the walbro.

The problem, then, was because the o-ring (around the top of the fuel pump cage) wasn't sealing properly and thus there was a leak in fuel pressure. We fixed that problem and it drove just fine until recently.

I've rented a fuel pressure gauge from autozone and also bought a fuel pump, but haven't tested pressure yet.

I don't want to install the fuel pump unless I know the problem is the fuel pump, because I don't want to be throwing unnecessary money at the car!

TIA guys

Couple of thoughts:

TPS
FP regulator
vacuum leak to FP regulator or MAP sensor
Not very likely the pump

Well this is not an OEM pump he has since he replaced it. Check the fuel pressure anyways and see if its within spec. If it is, then replace the FPR.

Def. sounds like the FP regulator to me.

Sounds like MAF to a certain extent or a dirty IACV. Fuel pressure regulator also seems to be a common issue lately with a lot of us 4th gen members lol

Yea, OP sd he has to keep giving it gas to keep the car on. THat is strange and confusing a bit.

Any Codes?

I wd say clean TB and MAF, jus to rule that out. I dont think its FPR cuz to me, the car dont have synmptoms of bad FPR. Maybe bad fuel filter too.

I think its a bad IACV. Test impedance per FSM.

Mine will sometimes shut off when it's really cold outside.

Only when the engine is cold and I start the car. If I don't give it gas for the first 2-3 seconds then it will stall. If I restart it (and don't give it gas this time) sometimes it stays on.

If I start it when cold and rev it 1,2 or 3 times it's completely fine. If I go into a store come back starts up without giving gas. Only when the car is pretty cold does it happen.

I NEVER have the problem during Spring, Summer or Fall. ONLY when cold (under 34 degrees).

Other than that... the car runs great!

Did adjusting the rpm up to 2K rpm solve the starting problem? If it did then you need to test that IACV. The FSM clealry tells you how to test it.

Within the Auxillary Air Control unit the magnetic valve broke off from the plastic peice that mounts on it's tip. I had to give it extra air thru the IACV screw or slightly hold back the TB plate to get it started. That valve slides back fully within the step motor during start up.

Replacing the IACV solved my problem.

How is this helping the op?

you might ant to read this i was gonna write my opinion here, but if you read this you ill get a much more detailed explanation of it, and yes pcv valve is a big help in an issue like TRUST me i speak from experience

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...wont-stay.html

O2 sensor maybe?

I had a similar problem on one of my previous cars and it turned out to be an O2 sensor going bust and not feeding correct info into the ECU making it run super rich and stall.

o2 sensor was replaced,

maf sensor was replaced with a rebuilt one (didn't fix the problem so i returned it)

it is not throwing any codes.

can i buy the fuel pressure regulator at the autozone?

thanks.

Well my vans doing the same thing. I don't know much about cars unfortunatly but YouTube is a good resourse. Just recently I went to startup my van and click then alarm started to go off. Ever since then it will crank but not start up unless I give it gas but as soon as I let off the gas it dies. I've ran the gas in park for 5 minutes and it will finally idle but will die on moving the van . But strangly driving it for a few minutes and it won't die. I've cleaned the throddle heads with tb cleaner and cleaned the IAC , cleaned the battery connections and the spark plugs. No go still dies. Figured maybe bad gas so added gas cleaner ran it and no go. The fuel pump is rather new so I'm really leaning towards the IAC what tall think. I'm also leaning towards a short in the battery or the alarm since this all started with the alarm going off. Any ideas .feel free the email me cause I don't get on often

^^WTF^^:stupid:




:nutkick:

I had a similar problem. Would randomly turn off right after starting. Would have to tap on gas to keep from turning off. Turned out to be a dirty EGR port. Where the EGR tube bolts up to the intake manifold.

My old max does this same thing. If you don't give it a few taps when cold starting in the winter months, the RPM's drop and I'd have to start it again. Other than that though...no problems

Hey, idk if anyone is still following this thread, but I am having the exact same problem as this guy... did he or anyone else figure out what was wrong?

-Iowa is about to get cold real soon and the problem only gets worse (leaving me stranded)

I have the same exact problem. i have done everything with no solution, to much to list, lol. But i would start with testing the fuel pressure, cleaning iacv and throttle body, testing egr valve, check for vacuum leaks etc. I am now down to changing my fuel injectors and along with that cleaning the intake manifolds and throttle body hopefully will fix it.

Autozone's troubleshooter suggest 1-egr valve is sticking open or leaking, 2-iacv is sticking or faulty or 3-maf is faulty or loose.

That is classic IACV (Idle Air Control Valve) - which is a small opening in the intake underneath the butterfly.

With just about any starting/cold starting/idling problem in a 4th Gen Maxima - the very first actual repair/maintenance thing you should do, is clean that.

It takes 5 dollars (intake/throttle body cleaner), a rag, and ten minutes.

A guy up north was selling a 4th Gen for a thousand dollars because it wouldn't start at all. I went to look at it, and using **** in his garage, I had it purring like a kitten just cleaning the throttle body. Sometimes I wish I had been a prick and just flipped the car. He ended up keeping it.

Anyway, I've personally had pretty much every problem in this thread because of that, or that combined with a bad coil.

Spray a rag really well with TB cleaner and get in and around the butterfly spotless - shoot a couple at that hole in the bottom. Keep doing it until the black **** is gone.

If you still have problems after that - then start troubleshooting **** that will cost you real money and time.

JMHO, .02, YMMV, HTH, ETC...

Another thing that gives us this problem as the weather gets cold is the ECTS. If it is bad, it can be telling the ECU that the engine is warm and then the engine is given too lean a fuel mixture. You can test it without taking it out, just unplug the wire harness connector and check the resistance in the morning when the engine is cold.

http://forums.maxima.org/picture.php...ictureid=34796

VQ35 swap

I am pretty sure this problem was resolved in another thread that I had with this issue. Relace your FPR and the problem should be resolved.

funny... only if your buying

Thanks for the tips, I was planning on doing the TB/IACV/EGR clean out that is in the stickies. The FPR is a good thought tho.

Any chance an EVAP leak could contribute to this?

An EVAP leak would cause a rough idle intermitantly. It also would cause your car to have a hard start at the gas pump after a fill up. One way to test the EVAP for leaks is to start the car and remove the fuel cap. If it runs rough or stalls I would start looking there.

From what you have discribed I believe it may be a dirty TB or IACV

^^Hmm...you learn something new on this forum all the time. Wasn't aware of this test but will definitely try it out.