I read the sticky on stalling for the 2000 maxima. Mine runs rough and stalls only when its cold in the morning. After 5 minutes of running it runs perfect. There are no codes thrown.

Does anyone have a clue what this could be?

Thanks!

 

it could be a MAF or Ignition Coil starting to go bad... You may want to check your spark plugs as well, as that could cause a problem too.

 

What is the MAF?

 

Mass Air Flow meter

 

you can pick one up from Dave B for about $90 shipped... not sure how much the ignition coils are but i would put money on the MAF if I were you... my local nissan wanted like $458 for a MAF so it might be to your advantage to order from Dave. You can find his phone number in the stickies.

 

If it's the MAF, why does it only act up when it it cold?

If it were coils, it would trip the SES light and throw a code.

The throttle body may need to be cleaned.

 

I will try replacing the MAF. I will see if the TB is dirty too. How do I order from Dave B. Does anyone have a link?

Thanks very much!!

 

I found a MAF on ebay for $68. I will give it a try.

 

Bad idea, for $30 more you can have a brand new one that Dave Burnette will honor the warranty on

 

It is new...still in the box. Check it out.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...BSAA%3AUS%3A11

 

After repairing my buddy's 2000 Max for the exact same problem, I would be willing to bet on the o-ring gasket for the plastic upper intake manifold. BTW, it also had the new MAF, ECU reprogram and six new coils that helped but did not totally fix the issue.

An air leak is created by the old brittle gasket where the plastic upper manifold meets the aluminum lower manifold. Gets better when the engine is warmed up.

The parts man at my dealer has seen several of these, and recommended this as a fix.The updated part number should be in the database at your dealer. Sorry I don't have it in front of me, but the dealer should have it.

 

If I spray ether around this joint, then I should notice an RPM change if there is a leak, correct?

 

Well, I dumped almost a whole can of starting spray around the intake and every where else. No change in RPM unless I spray right into the air intake.

This thing purrs like a kitten when it is warm. It's hard to believe the MAF is bad or there is a vacuum leak. It just the first few minutes of running in the morning, it's rough and it surges and dies.

 

I know, it sounds crazy, but this leak is probably not going to show up this way. Difficult to get the spray in around all the surface. Besides, the issue disappears after the engine warms, so not much time to troubleshoot. I talked to a Technical Service Manager about the issue. It is a known problem at the larger dealers that see a greater volume of cars to repair. If you are going to replace it yourself, you are in luck. The upper intake, throttle body and EGR gaskets are all together around $20 at your dealer. All should be replaced while you are in there. So granted a lot of labor is involved, but not much in parts.

This seriously fixed the one I did. The old o-ring gasket that I removed was very flat and brittle.

 

I agree with the intake gasket. I'm a tech at Nissan in SC and we have seen several with the exact problem.

 

Where is this O ring gasket located in the intake system?
My 2000 SE has the same AM behavior and some other minor acceleration
quirks that all point to some sort of leak.

 

my 2000 max does the same thing while cold. Keep us posted on the gasket swap

 

It is between the black plastic upper intake manifold and the lower aluminum intake manifold. Impossible to see and very difficult to diagnose while assembled.

 

I am changing the MAF and replacing the gasket this weekend. I will let you know if this fixes it.

 

I replaced the MAF. I noticed that the old one was ajar. It wasn't completely connected to the tube with the big hose clamp. The gasket was all torn up. No doubt it was leaking air. This could have been the problem.

I did not replace the collector gasket.

Thanks for your help!

It runs perfect when cold now. I am not sure if it's because it's fixed or because is warmer in the mornings now.

 

It was cold this morning. Usually when it is this cold, it runs like crap. It ran perfect. So, the problem must be solved.

Awesome!

 

You were right. I had the mechanic replace the MAF first on my wife's Maxima and he discovered voltage fluctuations in it. Didn't resolve the issue. After reading your message, I suggested the air leak possibility (which he didn't think of) and said he would "smoke it" the next morning when cold. Smoke came out from the upper intake manifold. He replaced the gasket and it is fixed. Thank you! I suggest if you have this problem, get them to check this first and then do the MAF. Could save your some money.

 

Good to hear. I still have the same problem though. After replacing the MAF, I noticed a significant change in power, fuel economy, and low idling was gone. A week later I noticed that the issues were re-occuring. The idle is horrible and engine stalls if I don't give it enough gas. It threw a P0139 code which is "Circuit Slow Response (Bank1, Sensor2)". I'm going to replace that this week. Just wondering, will replacing the o2 sensor solve that issue? Thanks! Also, glad to hear your maxima is back in running order.

 

i have similar driveability issues, and changed both my bank one sensors, but only because i could see they were not workin properly with a scanner. now it seems to run great except when cold. i havent gotten a chance to test drive it yet to see if my driveability symptoms are still there, but i couldnt rev it up in park before either.

i unplugged all my coils, one at a time, all made the same impact on idle, so i doubt its a bad coil. maybe the maf, but i'd rather try to change the intake gaskets first.

 

replace uper intake gasket

 

After the dealer had it for 4 days and found nothing, they wanted to change the lower gasket. This was even after I told them it was the upper one. THe said they tested the upper gasket and it was ok. Fortunately the only charge $125.00 for the diagnosis, but wanted $800 to change the upper and lower gaskets
I decided to do it myself as it was supposed to be a 3.5 hour job. I also decided to do the upper only as I believed that if the lower was bad , the symptoms woiuld not go away when the car was warm. Also. the lower gaskets were $160.00
The bad news was that it took me 10 hrs. But that was becasue the manual that I used didn't tell me about and / or how difficult some of the boltsd are that held the plenum in place. Also I rarely work on vehiclkes. If I had to do it again, I could do it in 5 hrs easy. To complicate matters, I also stripped 3 plenum bolts trying to tourgue them to spec. To fix this, I ground down the brass bushings in the plenum so the bolts would bite better.

In any case, changing the plenum gasket solved the problem

 

Are you guys talking about replacing the intake on top of the head or the hose/tube that connects to that intake?