Hi!

I've got a really weird problem with my 2000 maxima, and the local dealers want to charge me stupid $85/hour diagnostic fees or $100 ecu reprogram fees or $50 this or that just to diagnose the problem.

I'm looking for anyone who had any or all the following symtpoms to let me know what fixed your problem:

- Stutter/stall on COLD ENGINE that goes away immediately after the stall or within under 30 seconds of ignition, but that still happens if I sit for a little bit before moving.

The problem seems to be worse with 92 octane gas than with 91 octane gas. This problem recently got worse to the point that I have actually had stalls.

- Dip or drop in power at 3.5k RPM

- P0133 O2 Sensor Circuit Slow Response (Bank 1 Sensor 1)
- P0174 Lean Mix (bank 2)

I got these two errors seperated by a good chunk of time, without recurrence. The codes were thrown some time after the engine had been running.


Thanks for ANY help! I don't wish to spend hundreds of dollars for diagnostics that lead to thousands of dollars of parts.

 

It's possible one of your oxygen sensors are bad, but I wouldn't imagine that causing stalling on a cold engine... my more likely bet is that you're having fuel system troubles. Totally clogged fuel filter, or maybe a restriction/malfunction in the fuel line or a fuel injector?
If the fuel system cannot mobilize itself to put out more fuel to respond to an O2 sensor lean condition fast enough, the ECU could mistake that as a faulty/slow O2 sensor.

Maybe try resetting your ECU first for good measure? (disconnect battery negative cable, hold brake pedal for a minute or so, wait another 5 minutes then reconnect... that should do it)

 

If what spirilis doesn't work.. try cleaning out you throttle body, it may be full of the gunk then have someone who reads it for free reset the codes, otherwise could be fuel filter... check lines and look up how to change the filter

 

can your car rev about 3k? if so then it's not the maf sensor...i would also check your ignition coils since they tend to go bad on 00-01...also clean your throttle body as someone suggested..

 

I have a code reader so no need to go anywhere to read the codes.

It doesn't hurt to clean the throttle body or clean the fuel filter... Those are much cheaper than a MAF replacement. The engine revs to redline just fine, but doesn't have quite as much power as it used to after 3.5k onward. At 3.5k the power drops a little bit. I'm not saying the car is gutless. It still has a lot of power available on demand.

The stutter problem began almost a year ago but was only momentary shortly after ignition. When going up a the parking garage's ramp in the old building I lived in, the car would lose power for maybe 1/2 a second. As soon as it had done that, everything returned to normal with kickass power and acceleration as usual. The problem only recently started to become noticeable: but it only happens to a cold engine.

The problem is now as described above -- occasional stalls (twice now) but frequently jerky/jumpy/stuttery at start. Today after work, i applied extra gas on purpose and the acceleration was what i'd describe as "wiggly". It felt like it had a staircase type effect.

I'll reset the ECU sometime soon. I was planning to get an ECU reprogram when I did a MAF replacement, but you bring up good points -- the car probably needs a new fuel filter and the throttle body cleaned as it is at 150k km (100k miles).

I still believe the MAF may be faulty but suspect that you're right, the fuel filter or throttle body may be dirty.

Any more advice or input still welcome since the dealer are rip off artists.

 

Oh, the problems do not occur until AFTER I put the car in drive. In idle, the car is just peachy happy.

 

yeah. It sounds like fuel system to me... the lack of power above 3500 RPM is probably a fuel system bottleneck. I generally feel my "rush" of power occur starting around 3000 RPM, and peak torque is at 4000, so that's probably up there.

 

check throttle body for dirt, I had a p01710 code, and it was a failed airflow sensor(common problem with maxes) and that is power loss for engine bank 1. similar to p01740. check fuel pump and filter as well.

 

read the VIAS tsb