Hey all,

This is my friend's 2001 Max. Car starts but it seems that it stumbles immediately and then dies. If you try to start it again, you have to put your foot on the gas and then its ok.

If the car sits for a long time, and you try to start it, it happens again. But if its warm, its ok.

Now, I changed the crankshaft position sensor (two of them) and it still does this. Cleaned the throttle body and its still does the same thing.

Comes up with a SES light checked the codes and nothing?!?

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

 

SES light with no codes?

 

Yeah I know. Strange right? I plug in the scanner and it goes through and produces an E which means no codes.

 

could be your scanner--never heard of an ses with no code.............. if you don't have another scanner take it to an auto parts store who scans it for free.

i also wouldn't rule out a bad injector...

 

Could also be a tps (throttle position sensor) although if that were bad I would normally stall no matter the temperature. How old is the gas??

 

I have had the same issue for quite a while now...

I took it to a shop a few months back. They cleaned the throttle body and fuel injection system. It seemed to help a bit, but now the problem is becoming worse again. At this point, I think it may be the fuel filter, which I will have changed and see what happens. My current filter has over 140,000 miles on it so it may very well be the filter. How many miles does your have on the filter?

I'll report back after I have the fuel filter changed and let you know if had any affect.

 

Ok got my good scanner out and it came up with the P0505 code. The IAC was changed from his mechanic about a week ago and they can't find out why its still stumbling. I'm not sure if the mechanic was able to perform the 'relearn' procedure also.

The car has new gas in it. Only has 87,000 miles for a 2001.

I'm not sure if changing the filter would do anything. Perhaps a shot though.

Also, my dad mentioned to me about the coolant temperature sensor. I doubt that has any affect on the stumbling.

bump it up. Thanks guys.

Andrew

 

Fuel filter is cheap, about $15 or $20 from the dealer and easy to change. I changed mine initially around 70,000 miles and now have over 210,000 miles.

I had changed my IAC and did the idle re-learn procedure...it did not affect the problem, good or bad.

I'm not ot sure how the coolant temperature sensor would cause the issue.

 

mine was doing the same till i changed the upper intake plennum gasket between upper and lower intake,sucking air

 

An intake leak can lead to the issue.

In a semi-routine service of my max, about 10,000 miles ago I had changed my intake gaskets (both upper and lower manifold), my throttle body gasket, and fuel rail o-rings. No change...

I will double-check my Injen intake though to make sure there are no leaks there.

 

replaced the coolant temp sensor. Threw a code for that. Cleared the codes. Still the same thing but its hard to start sometimes now.

bump

 

Possible ECU problem, damaged by the IACV when it failed. My ECU is coming back in the mail tomorrow, similar issue. Mine would not idle after being warmed up, or it would idle fine for a few days, and then forget any relearn procedure I gave it. New maf, tps, iacv did not fix it. No vacuum leaks of any kind.

ECU rebuilder found one of my mosfet power arrays to be on the fritz.

 

how much did he charge you for this?

 

Its 199.00 flat fee with return shipping included. I overnighted my ecu =(Seattle to LA), arrived at his shop Friday. He had it done Friday night, mailed it back to me Saturday and it will arrive tomorrow. Great customer service from a guy with a voice like a villan from a bond film.

Pull the ECU and see if any of the power arrays are toasted. There is a thread here with a lot of info about this: http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ecu-bad-1.html

The link to the ebay auction for this service: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2000-...Q5fAccessories

 

Did u look into the IAC valve? Had the similar problem! Good luck!

 

Post #7

 

Thanks man. Let me know if this solves your problem.

BTW, do you have to get your keys reprogrammed? How will you start the car if you change out the ECU?

 

No problem. its been my own nightmare/learning experience. The ECU is repaired, not erased/replaced, so keys work just as they did. I'll have a report back tomorrow night.

 

Update: idle problem fixed. Phew. ECU came back perfect.

 

Definantly fuel issues

 

Not to thread jack, but I have same issue as OP - any help is appreciated!

My car has been getting worse over the last week, same bad idle issue as OP. At first it would not idle once it was warmed up. I tried the idle relearn and it helped for a day, now its really bad. It turns over several times before it finally starts, then the idle is VERY erratic, from 1200 down to 200 and back up and then it finally chokes and dies.

I've only had this car for about 2 weeks and I don't know it's repair history. The SES is on, but it only has a p0139 code for the O2 sensor. I will crack open the ECU tomorrow and see if anything is messed up there. If not, I guess its on the the MAF, TPS, IACV replacement...

Any suggestions?

Also:
-full tank of fresh gas
-no intake/vacuum leaks that I can find

 

It's a vacumm leak somewhere

 

I will double check for leaks tomorrow. I looked before and didn't find any... I hope it's as easy as that!

 

HAve you checked / changed the spark plugs, air filter ?

 

I got this kind of problem but only when I put the car in reverse, even it rattles like a bowl of Jello in a earthquake, then after 2 minutes I start it again and it runs without any problem. I just got this car today and I knew it about this problem. Any help? Thanks.

 

My wife's 2002 I35 started doing this the other day after I changed the starter, which had died. Starter works fine, but the car stumbles and stalls when you start it now, which it wasn't doing before. You have to give it some gas and then it will stay running. The car runs and drives fine once it gets started. It doesn't stall at stop lights or anything like that.

The first thing I thought could be causing this is the fact that I had the battery disconnected for most of the day while I was figuring out what was wrong and changing out the starter. Would this affect the car's computer?

The other thing is that she left it with almost no gas in it. A friend at work told me if you run the gas trank dry, you can sometimes suck debris from the bottom of the tank into the fuel line (clogged injector or fuel filter). If this were true, wouldn't the car be struggling all of the time and not just when you first start it?

The SES light is not on, but when I pull the codes I get a P1800 (VIAS control solenoid valve circuit open).

Any thoughts?

 

Update:

My friend bought the car to the dealership.

They took in the car and he told him what was already done on the car. The Stealer-Ship wanted to change the 2 crank position sensors. He told them it was done already even when he spoke to the person who wrote up the car in the morning.

2 hours later they called back saying that one of the crank sensors was installed wrong. UMMMM Since I did it..I highly doubt it.

They changed it over and said to come and pick it up.

Nothing was changed but for that sensor (don't know which one). Now the car starts right up.

Dunno what to tell you. Seriously...

127.00 later just for the diagnostic fee.

thanks

 

Check all the ground connectors

 

Are you talking about the ground connector on the starter? If that wasn't connected properly what would happen? Would the starter not work?

 

i'm not sure how many grounds the maxima has, the starter may or may not work if it's not connected.

there also may be more grounds around the engine bay that if not connected properly can cause problems. don't quote me on that though (the ammount of grounds on the engine bay), just talking based on experience with my z.

 

Update

I cleaned the IACV, the MAF and that's all... Good bye problems of stumbles and dies!

The IACV was dirty as hell, carbon deposits everywhere inside the valve!

 

mine like its a technique to start it and when i lent my sister my car she got stuck at a 7/11 and i had to start it, its like once u hear the car start and see the rpm's pass 1000 step on the gas so the car remains started, strange problem, but mine's a 1995, so its end might be near, runs like new and all but has 155000 so its over the hill

 

I really need to check that IACV... Maybe I need to remove it to clean it all. Now the car stalls when I start it in cold, and the RPMs are too low (600 - 400) when it's stop even without A/C.

I bought the fuel filter and I'm going to change it tomorrow or the next weekend. Let's see if that it's the main problem. Greetings.

 

UPDATE

For me, I was having intermittent hard start issues. When it was hard to start it took 2 or 3 times to get it started. This usually happened when it was cold, but happened when it was warm as well.

I had changed/serviced the following:

-Crankshaft sensors (both)
-Camshaft sensor
-Fuel filter
-Throttle body and IACV cleaned
-Battery checked and charged
-Intake filter and intake good, no leaks
-Ground wires checked, all good

What ultimately worked...ran a ground from the top of the transmission (above crankshaft sensor) to the negative battery terminal. I have a 2K auto and there is a threaded cavity for some type of bolt which was open. I put a bolt in there to attach the ground cable and ran it to the battery. I used a two feet of 2 gauge size wire. Picked up the wire and connections at Home Depot for $8.

Car started up with no issues since installing the ground wire. I had already ordered an ignition switch before trying the ground wire so I installed it when I got it in. The ignition switch helped it fire up even faster.

My fix: additional ground wire and ignition switch.

Good luck to others...I hope you find this helpful.