the car starts and shuts off.. need to press on the gas to keep idle which is low.. took it to autozone and got the P0506 code ..the guy said to it could be the Idle air control valve which is part of the throttle body and they don't sell it ..

anybody encounter this ?

thank you..

 

Do a search for the idle relearn procedure. Much cheaper than a throttle body

 

Your car doesn't have an IACV, but the code is for a lower than programmed idle speed. Has anything been done to the car recently and did this happen suddenly? Check for any air leaks between the MAF and the throttle body and for any vacuum leaks downstream from the throttle body. Any "hissing" sound with the engine at idle that you haven't noticed before?

 

nothing has been done to the car recently..... i will check for leaks tomorrow in day light no unusual hissing sound ... will check again though....

Joel: idle relearn procedure? will look into that

 

Try cleaning the throttle body: http://forums.maxima.org/6848584-post28.html

That often clears up low idle problems, sure did in my car. If you are worried about the DBW throttle (and considering they cost close to $500 to replace, you should be...), most mechanics can clean it for under $50.

Raised my idle from 600 to 750 and no more idle dropping (and occasional stalling) after a hot restart.

 

thanks will try that today...

 

yes... i'm a newbie here...but have read through ALOT of various threads to help diagnise my probs. that said...things have changed in the last 12 hours, lol>>> any and all help is welcome !!!

will layout the events in description as they have unfolded over last couple of days ...

2001 maxima se 144k miles... other than normal wear and tear replacements/maintenance over the years, nothing major to speak in regards to break-downs ...

2 days ago ... car operating fine, mid-aftrnoon-warm weather car died/stalled when idling at a stoplight, had to double pedal the brake and gas to keep running. 30 min. later problem gone.

1 day ago ... same thing again, but this time in the morning, cool weather ... BUT, this time it actually did while driving UP a highway on ramp at approx. 15 mph(i had to let off gas to merge into traffic) ... car died when i let off. problem went away... re-emerged later in same day, idling at light. went away again.

today ... car wouldnt start this morning, acted like battery dead, yet, lights/radio, and all auxilliary functions worked. would slowly turn over, after 3-4 attempts, dead...nothing. 7 minutes later it started and warmed right up, no probs. after a 20 mile drive, started stalling again at low idle, had to double pedal it home again.

here is where it gets really weird ... as soon as i got home and turned vehicle off, i decided to take it to autozone and get their free diag test. again ... car wouldnt start, every indication its battery oriented. 3 hours later it fired right up (still had to double pedal to keep it running, though)
drove to autozone... showed the IACV was out (as i expected somewhat after reading this thread)... had him check out battery, its fine, but a little loose on the positive side terminal. tightened it up, car started fine. went and got some gas, car started fine.... came home, turned it off, tried to restart..and NOTHING. cleaned the posts and terminals, even tried jump starting ... still NOTHING.

guy at garage said it sounds like the terminals on the positive side could be corroded down into the "multi-terminal" portion (3 cables into one, with a fuse).... also said i shoud take off the IACV and spray down with B12 chemtool since its already showing up as "bad", said it couldnt hurt, and in his experience has fixed the prob sometime.

the IACV stuff makes sense to me... but whats the deal with the "electrical" starting issues...and why did it start happening directly/indirectly with the idle issue??

sorry this was so long...just wanted to make sure you had all info.

btw...i have relative that has worked at GM for 30 years, said absolutely no reason for me to be using higher octane gas...he has used the lower with no probs. so...my gullable money saving a** decided to start running the regular lowest grade gas (after using premium since i bought this car new in 2001) about 3 weeks ago... could this be a prob too??? mechanic said if no pinging then no prob...but also said "there is a reason the manufacturer tells you to run premium in this car!!"
i switched back to premium today...albiet the car wont start....

PLEASE HELP !!!!!!

thanks !!!!