hey guys I really need some help on this one. I did a engine swap from a 97 maxima to a 99 maxima and its been running great for awhile now. But yesterday morning when I went to start it, it took a second to start but after it started it ran just fine and reved normal but I put it in reverse to get out of the drive way and it died immediatlly. it did this 7 times before it finally went into reverse or any other gear besides nuetral or park without dying imediatlly. I'm a lube tech at a lube and mechanic shop and my mechanic said its probably a vacuum issue but I think if it were vacuum it would do it every time not just the first time after its sat all night. I'm thinking the fuel filter??? Idk any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Just my uneducated guess, but perhaps its a cold start issue related to the IACV? Not sure why the problem would be only in gear and not while idling, maybe due the car still being in closed loop mode?

Does this still happen after the car has warmed up?

 

Let's think this through.....

Fuel filter issues generally occur when a lot of gas is required. This occurs on the freeway when you floor the gas pedal. Not on the driveway.

I have experienced your issue before on other cars. Most often it is a vacuum leak. You replaced the engine. So you must have disconnected old vacuum hoses. They might look good, but might still leak. You should test them.

IACV issue...... could be. Does your problem only occur while the car is cold? If so, it could be an IACV problem, perhaps accompanied by the vacuum leak. If the problem also occurs while the car is warm, the usual problem is the vacuum leak.

 

that makes sense now ill see if that's the problem. And yea it only does it when its sat all night and hasn't been driving in atleast 8 hours. My girlfriend just drove it at 9am this morning and it was about 30 degrees outside. She said it started fine and it went into gear but when she let off the gas to come to a stop sign it chugged a little and died when she stopped. But she just left class and it started and drove normal

 

My money is on the iacv being the culprit, especially if the problem is more or less only apparent when the engine is cold. Try cleaning the iacv, or if you have access to it just swap in the one from the old engine.

As already stated you should also check and recheck for vacuum leaks. Have you noticed any high pitched wistling while idling?

Edit: in the meantime, give yourself a good 5-10 minutes of extra time tomorrow morning and start your car. Let it fully warm up so you can confirm its a cold start issue. If it still occurs when fully warmed then you may have a larger problem.

 

thanks for the great info! And no, no whistling while idling or driving. That's why I didn't think it was vacuum. I'll deffinatlly check out the iacv. Hopefully that's the problem since it only does it when the engines really cold

 

Clean the throttle body and IACV if that hasn't been done already.
Then check the resistance of the ECT sensor, make sure it's within spec when it's cold.
A vacuum leak, unmetered air large enough to cause a stall will cause a lean condition and more then likely set a DTC.

 

ok. So I cleaned the iacv and the throttle body was clean. It idles smoother but it still has the same problem. but this morning something new happened. It bogged down when accelerating from a light. Making me think it wasn't the aicv. Does the aicv do anything when accelerating? Or could it be something else?

 

Idle problems? maybe the idle is set too low so when you engage any gears it dies for the same reason. I think the 4th gen has a physical wire that you can adjust just by turning it. I would try accelerating to 1000 rpm if idle is below that and then jump to D, if it still dies it's something else, if it doesn't then adjust the idle.

 

no the idles fine its about 1000 in park and 800 in drive

 

let me try to explain a little better. The first day it did this it was below freezing outside and it also sat for over 10 hours without driving. In the morning it would start fine but when you put it into drove or reverse jt would die imediatlly. The second day it sat for over 10 hours and was also below freezing and when we started it same thing. The third day it was above freezing, and only sat for 8 hours and it didn't die. It only dropped rpms at the first stop sign and then the rpms bounced back up. And the car is always fine after it has been driving for a mile or so. Now its warmer and the problem is better but still there. But also we don't let it sit as long as the first 2 days it died in gear. Does this sound like fuel at all?

 

Here is what I did after ****in around with all that crap...I took the 4 little phillip screws out on the MAF sensor (where it plugs into it) pulled it out and there are four metal sensors and mine had "condensation oxidizing" on the 4 prongs, well i used a soft wire brush and gently cleaned off the tiny bit of rust, put it back together and bamm...ran like it came off the show room floor, havent had a problem since. Wasn't a lot of rust on there, but just enuf to make u scratch ur head for days. Hope that works for ya.

 

thanks man! I'll deffinatlly try that tonight.

 

My nephew did kinda the same thing with cleaning his...but i warn you as he said GENTLY...it very delicate!!

 

I'll definitely check that when it's light out. Have the exact problem with my max. Thank you much!

 

Could that cause p300?

 

A pocket knife gently used works great fire taking off the rust. My 96 idles smoother but stalls below 1000 rpm.