Occasional stall when turning and acceleration issue
 

I have a 98 Maxima SE with 140k miles. Yesterday I was making a left and stalled in the middle of the road, started back up fine and drove off. Happened a couple of weeks ago making a right turn. I did notice earlier that day and today sometimes when I accelerate it feels like the car isnt accelerating just the rpms. Any ideas?

Automatic or stick shift?

Automatic or stick shift?

Does it drive normally in traffic?

Does it accelerate normally on freeway on ramps?

How about up hill?

Sorry, Manual. No issues in traffic. Fine getting on, and on the freeway. No hills to try it on. It has only happened when its colder and car isn't fully warmed up.

Maybe your clutch is going. Put on your emergency brake, and slowly let out the clutch while in 5th gear. The car should stall. If it doesn't. then your clutch is slipping, and ready to be replaced.

Do you/did you experience issues when the vehicle makes/made a turn or when you turn the steering wheel?

Experiment with this a little.

If you experience stalling when the steering wheel is turned that's an indication of a malfunctioning IAC valve.

Also, with all the lights on, do any lamps seem dim?

Do you get any symptoms when the turn signals are activated?

There may be corroded ground connection that the fuel pump is tied into ... but play with this an let us know.

All of these other guys have more experience than I. But really - you should baseline your fuel pressure FIRST. Quoting myself (bad form):

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ml#post9180745

Clutch was rebuilt a couple years ago, it has a couple minor issues but not that. The wheel is definitely being turned when it happens. Have noticed some dimming issues and I have had a long time problem with the airbag light being on and I have to be careful in higher rpms or gauge warnings turn on and headlights can blow, its like something is shorting. If you have any suggestions on that also Id be happy to listen and try. But that has been ongoing and the turning has just recently started.

Hard turn, engaging the power steering pump, little to no throttle in the turn, sounds to me like the power steering pump is putting strain on the pulley system, stalling you out. That would be my guess, bad power steering pump. Check fluid first...see if it's low or discolored...regardless may need to replace it.

This article talks about power steering pressure switch...

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article...ressure-switch

Your description of an over-voltage condition matches my own:

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...ml#post9172383

Remove the battery and check the ground cable underneath it - there are pictures of it on the thread attached. In my case the factory end on my original ground cable no longer cinched up on the battery's negative post and caused "many problems". Replacing the battery was the final step in correcting my issue.

Again - fuel pressure gauges are FREE to rent. If its not getting enough gas then nothing you can do will change that outside getting fuel pressure to spec.

BrianA in Houston

I'd say that the no power even though rising rpm is probably caused by a slipping clutch.
This is most evident when one floors the gas pedal while the car is in 5th and going up a slope.

The stalling could be related to low idle speed.
What rpm does your car idle at.?

Suspect area's are the throttle body or iacv.
Both of those get dirty. CRC throttle body cleaner could help. The iacv can be removed, then cleaned with carb spray.

So Im off the next couple days and Ill have some time to work on her. Hopefully we can narrow it down. Here are the latest updates, When I got off the freeway after a 20 min drive the first light I stopped at the car stalled. Also when starting the car it fires up normally then idle drops really low almost stalling then right back to normal. My regular idle is 800-900 rpm, I feel like its always been around that.

Ok, so first Ill test the fuel pump. Where should I go from there? Easiest/least expensive first to rule them out, then the more difficult/expensive? Happy to do whatever, just trying to use your experience to rule out unnecessary steps.

Since the car gets enough gas to drive on the freeway, we can assume that the fuel pump is fine.

But the iacv probably needs cleaning

Since we're slinging ultimatums around this thread, if you don't check the power steering pump for fluid level/condition, I'm going to tell your mom.

It wasn't a threat - more like a cajole. He's saying he's stalling. He also mentions "electrical problems". If he can't state what the measured fuel pressure of his electrical fuel pump is then he's just shooting in the dark.

"Fuel Pump" is at the top of the troubleshooting tree. But everybody (including me) blows right through that ("Aw F I'm not doing that, its obviously getting enough gas to run") - and that's a mistake. "Stalling" = "not running" - if the PS is dragging the alternator down, or the fuel pump isn't getting 12V, then a compromised 20 year old fuel pump isn't going to continue to barely cut it under those conditions, right?

This guy is talking about the exact same things that I just got done fixing. But WTF do I know, right ? Ultimatums indeed.

You might be right, I might be right. Don't know yet.

It''s part of the fun of diagnosing cars we can't see hear, or drive. Also based on the quality of someone's discription of how the car seems to act.

I've had fuel delivery issues on various Carson the past. Most of those occurred on the freeway.

The ones I've had idle issues,with were carbureted.
The issue was usually related to the choke. It operates some thing similar to an iacv.

Another issue back then, and possibly now, was a vaccuum leak. The vaccuum leak provided excess air, and could cause the car to stall at idle, or when the power steering pump had work to do.

At this point , your guess is as good as mine.


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Wait ... aren't those those folks that live in the New Orleans area?

What the hell does a group of folks of French Canadian decent have to do with a stalling Maxima?

Best "bang" for your buck:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....307b78a7ae.jpg

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/drum...s-string-cajon

OMG I caught you red-handed making a new post. ;)

Check if your power steering pump is leaking or not. My power steering pump leaks and stalls when I turn into my uphill driveway. But only if I'm turning all the way.

Sorry, been away working. Here's a video I hope better explains. So the few times I have driven since last it consistently does the same thing(especially when cold or I don't gas it). When I slow or come to stops the rpm's drop quickly to the point of stalling sometimes. Sometimes while accelerating the car jerks/freezes momentarily like no gas or air is getting to the engine then drives fine again. The gauge lights dim with the turn signal clicking, windows up or down, or anything electrical really. If I hold multiple window buttons there's a click in the dash and the door lights shut off then when released it clicks again and they turn back on. I had a much better response written but the page closed and I don't know how to recover the text it says it auto saves and I'm doing all I can not to punch a hole in the ****ing world right now. I would like to take one last swing before I take it to a mechanic. I appreciate any help. I should be in a better mood when I respond, especially if someone knows how to recover the previous text. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQ2...ature=youtu.be

Sorry about the camera being jumpy, I got a new phone and can take new videos if needed. Also the battery died, not sure if its from not driving it for a while or part of the problem. Either way it was under warranty so I have a brand new one now.

Anyone?

Regarding the dimming issues, you could try checking charge voltage to see if your alternator is weak. I just rely on my cig lighter volt meter gadgets since they are so cheap. Maybe check ground points also.

i skimmed the thread, everyones saying check voltage and fuel pressure but i dont see any results still. you can toss darts all day long and spend $500 on a alternator/battery/fuel pump, if you cant measure fuel pressure or voltage yourself then take it to a mechanic. if youre in the US you can get a voltmeter from Harbor Freight for 10 bucks, let the car idle, and see what its charging at then rent a fuel pressure gauge from Autozone and compare it to spec. if youre in Canada, Princess Auto has Chinesium voltmeters for $8 and Partsource will rent a fuel gauge for a refundable deposit

dimming lights, suddenly dead battery, etc screams charging issue. idle the car, post the voltage. if its not charging at 13.2-14.6V at idle, somethings up. if it is, charging systems are basic. check the battery to alternator + wire and make sure its not loose or corroded, then check the battery to chassis ground and make sure its tight and not corroded. then check for other random loose grounds. if its charging with good fuel pressure, that narrows it down ALOT and you can quit chasing your tail and look at other possibilities like power steering issues or vac leaks

I wouldn't call it tossing darts. I was simply posting a video I finally caught and thought it might better explain the issues I've been having rather than my poor description. And yeah possibly someone might see it and say "Hey that's what my car did it was the _____." But thank you for your response, Ill check the fuel pump,

A clogged Iacv or vacuum leaks can cause stalling at idle if under light load.

Fully took apart and cleaned the IACV, found some build up but nothing major. However, when adjusting the Idle I can hear a difference (especially in the CAI) but not noticing a change in the RPMs. Checked MAF while I was in there and it checked out. I will still check the fuel pressure but I'm beginning to think its a vacuum leak since it runs fine when warm out. Is there a link on here with all the hoses?