so yesterday i was driving to work and at a stop light, the check engine light came off and the car starting shaking and putting or acting like it wanted to turn off. i made it to work but before i did the car turned off or stalled. i made it home but i went from half a tank to empty in less then 20 miles. the only code i got was 03 04, so i changed the knock sensor out and thought everything would be okay.... nope it got worse! now when i start the car, i give it gas and the car just turns off. i don't know what to do now. its a 96 automatic with around 170k. before i have it towed ($50 for the tow and 85 for the shop to find out what is wrong) what do you all think it could be? thanks to all in advance that help

 

When was the last time the spark plugs were changed? When was the last time the fuel filter was changed? These things will not throw a code. Check/change those first, make sure you gap the plugs correctly if they are not when you install the new ones then report back.

 

i changed the spark plugs not to long ago, i'm not sure the exact date but i'd say a few months/ few thousand miles ago. not more then 3 or 4. the fuel filter i don't remember when the last time it was changed and actually i have one the i meant to install so i can go put that in now.

 

Considering you burned through 1/2 a tank in 20 miles, I would suspect an injector o-ring or injector signal staying on. Injectors are switched on negative, so a shorted negative would keep them on 100%.

 

Just changed the fuel filter and its still running the same. Its spitting out a lot of gas out of the exhaust

 

Some of my friends were saying it could be the maf sensor? If the maf sensor were to go bad, what would happen? Its kinda expensive so I want to be sure before I go that route

 

You could get a used maf if that was the case, but see post #4, that could be your problem since you said gas is coming out of the exhaust.

 

Update. So I had the car towed and inspected and after 3 hours and after testing various things, they are saying my ecu is not working properly. Got quoted 1300 for a brand new ecu installed along with a tune up and everything in working order. That's a lot more then I'd like to spend and I actually have a ecu I pulled from another maxima at the junkyard. I asked him if it was possible to re program the working ecu and use it in my car. He said he'd have to see if it matched up and if it did, he could try and flash it but it would cost 340. Do you guys think its possible that my ecu is broken and that it would cause all of this? Is it possible to use another ecu from a maxima and have it work in my car? Thank you for everyones help

 

ECU is rare to go out on a 4th gen. I would start with the MAF. DO you have someone else 4th gen you can swap with or pull one from a JY?

 

disconnect the MAF sensor and start the car up . then reconnect the MAF sensor while the car is running. if the car starts to run worse as soon as you reconnet the MAF then it is the MAF sensor.

it cost me $ 70 on ebay about a year ago and still running good

 

went to 2 junkyards yesterday and not one maxima had a maf and i dont know anyone else with a maxima and i chickened out on paying 240 for one at o'reilly's :/

i tried this before and it seemed to run the same but i just tried this again and started the car up with it unplugged and i plugged in the maf and the car would immediately turn off, tried 3 times so it has to be the maf right?

 

If you think it is the MAF, there is a thread on here that describes how to fix it by re-soldering the connections inside. (I thought I had the link but I can't find it.) I brought one back from the dead this way. Of course, if it isn't bad, you risk making it bad, but as always YMMV...

 

update #3 i got the maf in the mail and installed it and the car is still running the same. idk what to do now. i guess i might take it to another shop and ask them to check the injectors or see what they have to say but I'm running out of patience and money

 

Lol, there are manly a few things that will make you use THAT much gas, and you are skirting the problem. Throwing parts at it that wouldn't possibly affect your current issue won't help.

 

I thought it was the MAF.

Jus get a few used MAFs from the JY and try them..

Chinese knock off MAFs work like ****.

did u try cleaning your MAF? what kind of intake u running?

ECU cd be fried. Used ECU should be easy to find and why shd u have to flash it? jus plug it in

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA 1300 for a stock ecu and 340 for a reflash?!?!?!?!
tell them to suck it

**** the dealer for many overpriced things. this isn't a maf issue and for the record ebay mafs are perfectly fine. nissan wanted $600 for one and i bought one for $100 new (china) ebay and it does the job perfectly. junkyard mafs are cheap too (20-$50) but you have no insurance on it so if it doesn't work you just threw your money down the toilet.

dunno about the ecu issue but i DO know that you can get jwt for 400+ shipping on the classifieds. stock ecu on classifieds go for no more than $200 plus shipping and the junkyard shouldn't sell for more than $150.

why would you need to flash a stock ecu from the same car? sounds like that mechanic is trying to exploit your situation or doesn't really know whats wrong either and wants to throw parts at it too.

 

lol i still can't get over it... you know what i could do to a maxima for $1640?? lol.

sry don't mean to jack your thread... now back to the problem

 

so on to the 3rd shop. they finally got it down to a cylinder. so they suggested i change a injector, so i did. and after running the engine for a good half hour it still was the same. so then they checked the compression and measure all of the cylinders and the one they thought had a problem was way too low. so now they are suggesting a rebuild or putting in a new engine. got a few prices of 1300 to 1500 for a new engine installed but idk what to do anymore. what would you guys do? get the engine rebuilt, buy a new one or get a new car? i'm leaning towards putting in a new engine for about 1300 cause i don't really want another payment but i'm nervous about putting that much $$ into the car