over the past week or so, i've been noticing that when my car is running at idle, the RPMs would stay at around 750rpm, but occasionally drop down to 200rpm or so, then jump right back up to where it was before. now over the past two days, i'll be idling at a red light or in traffic or something and the car will idle at 750rpm and then just drop to nothing and the car stalls out. this is a pretty serious problem - it happened to me twice today and three times yesterday! anybody have any ideas? could the problem be related to the cold? the only thing new on my car is a hi flow cat that i installed over thanksgiving break. please help!!!

 

Could be your Catback...

J/K

I would check all your vaccume lines and anything else that looks out of place.

 

haha

i'll take a look around the engine bay tomorrow. this might be a stupid question, but if my hi flow cat was installed backwards, would my engine be seeing too much backpressure and that could be stalling it out? the cat didn't come with any kind of directional instructions, so i just put it in the way it fit best.

 

I doubt that they are directional. If they were it would be clearly labeled and pointed out clearly in any install directions.


also it would only get worse when the RPM's built as backpressure would increase with the more exhaust gass.

 

so then are we ruling out the cat as the problem? i get a bad smell every once in a while too. figured it was the oil's burning off the cat at first, but now i'm wondering if i just got a bad one.

 

I would rule out the cat...

Your SES does not turn on?

If it does or has, bring her to the dealer or a shop and have them check for any trouble codes.

 

SES light turns on when the car stalls out, but only because the car is off with the key in the on position. doesn't come on when the car is running. i've already got an appt on thursday for the stealership to check out a problem with my suspension, but i just wanted to see if there was a quick fix for this problem. i'm a little nervous to drive the car around.

 

just did a quick yahoo search and brought up a Volvo website stating almost exactly the same problem i'm having. the solutions being discussed on that site were:

- bad O2 sensor
- faulty battery/alternator
- vacuum leak
- bad fuel relay

 

Hey,
I had the same exact problem with my 2000 GLE for about a month.
Went to the dealership for a check, and they found that it was the Mass air flow sensor or meter.
They quoted $475 to have it changed.
I found the original brand new piece online for $100 and got it put up for 60.
The only reason why i went to a pro is cuz i have read there was a possibility of it needing to be reprogrammed, (and the second reason was that it is too cold outside.)
The car runs really nice now.

 

actually, it could be the cat. they are directional. but i doubt you did it backards, dont think it fits both ways. I had that stalling problem today. hooked my cold air intake back up and it works perfectly. do you have a short ram?

 

what bout his iacv valve? he should check into cleaning that too

 

yea, i do have a short ram intake - frankencar to be exact. i really hope my MAF isn't going, i don't have the $$ to swap that out right now.

 

I have a shortram and it works fine, driven around in 10* weather without a hint on dying.


I would not think it is your batt or alt because every car I have seen that has a bad one just dies. The rpms dont flicker and jump then die.

If it was an O2 sensor you should have a solid SES light on. I really doubt it is the cat.

 

I had the exact same issue on a 2000 SE. It was the airflow sensor. I changed it and it completely solved the problem.

 

hey had the same problem as well, had a short ram, had to change the mass air flow adapter (not sensor), and it was fixed

 

had the same thing, put a new MAF in, that fixed it, i have a short ram also, cold here now, not making a difference, get a new MAF

 

well, looks like i'm going to need a new MAF. anybody know if i can use any MAF from 2000 - 2003, or does it have to be one for 5.5gens? i heard that the 2k1 maf was the strongest out of the four years. anybody know?

 

Give Dave Burnette a call 1-888-254-6060. He will hook you up with probably the cheapest price anyone can offer on a maf.

 

cool, thanks. i'll know in the morning what the official diagnosis is.

 

Sorry to break in but am denied access to start Thread.
My 02 GLE had been making a lright front grinding noise. No noticable CV damage (boot is perfect) but some plastic shrouding rubbing. Removed shrouding and noise continued (mostly while getting underway and cornering). Just lost drive on way home, throttle and engine run fine in neutral but in and drive gear throttle drops to idle and won't respond. Lights and electrics soon dimmed and barely idled into driveway?????? No dash warning lights????

Bose/Clarion system was replaced 5 times under warranty (Nissan uses refurbished parts for warranty work, look closely for blue paint marks on driveline, they may knowingly put defective, refurbished parts in "NEW" vehicles also. Radio works but CD quit (getting ERR F3 code) any ideas?

 

well, i've fixed my problem. i had one of those piggy back ebay intake chips wired into my maf. never seemed to do much of anything, not much gain and certainly no harm so i just left it there and kind of forgot about it. i took it out tonight and wired the maf back up correctly and the car is running beautifully. can't figure out why the car was uneffected by that chip for over a year and suddenly it stalls out my car. oh well. glad i fixed the problem and didn't pay a stealership to figure it out.

 

The chip prob broke or shorted out finally and screwed with your system...

I bet your catback broke the chip.