Thought I would share this as it may save others from aggravation in the future. Our 95 Maxima SE suddenly started to sputter and surge like it was running out of gas. Made it home, but problem became worse. Idle would surge and hesitate, then died. Restarts became increasingly difficult.

I thought it was definitely a fuel pump as this was symptom when one in my truck has gone failed (twice in 25 years). So I went right at it and replaced fuel pump and filter and realized no improvement.

Next went at the MAF and unplugged. Car would start and idle fine w/MAF disconnected.

So I cleaned the MAF, plugged it back in and restarted.... the surging and sputtering was instantly back.

So, I then replaced MAF w/ used OEM MAF, no change, still sputtering and hunting for steady idle.

While doing MAF, did thorough inspection of intake system and saw a couple of the parts of the air intake had developed holes (one in a rubber hose type connector and another on one of the plastic pieces). Likely from a deer wreck my wife had been in years ago. I grabbed some HVAC foil tape and wrapped/covered the open areas. Went back and started car and it idled perfectly. Took for test drive and it ran perfectly through all speeds.

I've since located replacement parts for the intake system at a junk yard, but am confident the HVAC tape would have held for months if not years.

Moral of story....any extra air or mismatch between what the MAF expects and the engine is getting will screw up the ideal air/fuel mix. Look for air leaks in the intake system all the way back from the throttle body through MAF/Air Filter/to collector pipe at front of car above radiator on driver's side. Literally a five minute, low cost fix.

Hope this helps someone else!

 

@matt4irish , could you be more specific about the location of the leak? Glad to hear you got the issue resolved.

 

The rubber boots connecting the various plastic components of the air intake duct were cracking/falling apart. I think the largest culprit was the boot that connected the intake to the duct just downstream (engine side) of the MAF sensor (after the air filter).

 

EXACTLY.... That makes whatever info the MAF sends to the ECU..... Useless. Air leaks are BIG trouble for our intake systems.