electr0lyte

This is not my first winter with my Maxima but I have run into a few things that I have never noticed before...

1) Car smells like burning metal/burnt marshmallows when heat is on. I am not leaking any fluids as I check daily in case something was leaking onto the engine and that was the source of the smell.

2) When commuting on the highway, specifically in 4th and 5th gear (5 speed MT), I step on the gas but not WOT, even at 50% this happens... my RPMs jump up ~500 then fall back down and then my car accelerates. I recorded a video to show what happens. It doesn't matter what speed or RPM I'm at, when you step on the gas, it jumps. I have never experienced anything like that before. Obviously, Im not losing traction...

3) More times than not, when driving and I am coming to a stop, I push the clutch in and begin braking, the RPMs dip below 500 and then bounce back to neutral at ~650 and sometimes when pushing in the clutch, they will rise to over 1k, then come down to neutral level.

I don't know if this is something to be worried about or if its normal car behavior. If anyone can offer any kind of advice or explanation, I would greatly appreciate it!

UnorthodoxMaxima

iTrader: (1)

Test your MAF for starters, especially if it's original. The cold weather kills our MAFs. Check the coil packs as well, pull them one at a time and see if your car idles like crap or just dies out. How old is your fuel filter and your spark plugs? All helpful things to know.

electr0lyte

We have had the car since ~160k in the family and now its at 199k. I have only had it for the last several thousand miles. Apparently no one recalls if any maintenance (besides oil changes) was done on the car, so I'm going to assume to worst and say none. There have never been any issues before. Spark plugs could have been replaced with cheap Auto Zone ones but this is not known for sure since no one ever had problems with the car.

How do one test the MAF? I guess I could start out by cleaning it...?

Climaxx

iTrader: (4)

Burning marshmallows? Not sure. Can't help tere. Try pushing the recirculate button to turn off the outside vent. Might be a "band aid" to the problem.

2: sounds like the clutch is going. Which since you mention it may be original, that is very likely. And who knows, it might be a culprit to number 3 as well.
3: clean your maf AND iacv.

electr0lyte

A little update, I cleaned the MAF and throttle body and now my car idles at ~850 +/- 50. I will look into cleaning the IACV next weekend and will have to adjust my idle. But I read on the internet that some people drove their cars around and the idle fixed itself? I guess time will tell with this one...