That exact problem (subj) happened recently with my Max (2000 GLE); I also got SES light as well. Idle speed couldn't stay at 800 RPMs as usual and had tendency to fall down. After several starts engine begun to run normal SLIP and TCS switched off but SES was still on. After another day of driving SES also switched off like nothing happened. I disconnected temporarily ignition on one cilinder - car felt very similar to "problem" times except it didn't bring any of the warning lights and idle speed didn't fluctuate that much. All of this happened after ordinary fillup at gas station - bad gasoline? I never fillup at that particular station, it was single occasion.

 

Sounds like the ignition coils are going. The problem will happen over and over again until you replace then. Most say to do it yourself, replace all 6, and get them from the David B fella for ~$300.00.

To see if this is the case, next time it happens have the codes pulled for free at Autozone.

Good luck!

BTW this happened to me once at start up with my 2000 I30 at 28,000 miles, but had not happened again. I'm waiting for it to occur again and then I'll likely replace the coils myself

 

Thank you, I'll wait too .

 

MAF!!!!!!!

 

When the MAF goes doesn't it make the car almost undrivable?

I've read that you can't go above 2000 rpm and it doesn't correct it self, unlike the start of a coil failure where it is intermittent at first and the car is still pretty much ok for 3-4 months. Right?

 

those are the typical results of a bad maf but i agree with idea of the coils. there are a ton of threads in the 4th gen section with mostly owners of 99s. their tcs, slip and cel went on and always led to ignition coils. the only way to tell for 100% is to get the code pulled but in this case, i would bet on the coils.

 

Thank you guys, statistics matter, that's why this site is so useful. All I can do now is wait until it shows up again.

 

Both of those lights went on, before my car had a Crank and Cam sensor failure. When my MAF went, only the SES went on, and it was undriveable. Couldnt rev it past 2k.....

 

Well, it did show up again, the same pattern - first SLIP, TCS, SES were on, then only SES and then everything was OK. I pulled DTCs this time, they were P1320 (primary ignition failure) and P0304(4 cylinder misfire). I went to friendly nearby Nissan dealer and picked up a coil for 40$ CDN (have they reduced the price?). So far so good, it didn't repeat after replacement but it's too early to say for certain - only 4 days passed.