I've seen a few previous threads regarding similar issue, but never saw any resolution. Bottom line, after driving my car for longer lengths of time, typically 45 or more minutes, my car stops accelerating when in "Drive" or "Reverse". The engine remains on, check engine light comes (P0507), and power steering gradually goes away. When I place the vehicle into "Park" or "Neutral" and press the gas, the engine revs and RPMs spike. When placed in "Drive" or "Reverse" and gas pedal pressed, nothing happens. The vehicle idles so it will move, but no transfer of power from the engine to the wheels. So far I've replaced the battery, spark plugs, engine coil, and transmission. Any thoughts?

 

I would start by fixing the problem the CEL code is giving you.
https://mechanicbase.com/trouble-code/p0507/

 

I posted the reason why my 2016 would randomly not accelerate ( brake light switch). However, that my not be your problem as I never got a check engine light or any issues with power steering. ( outside of the predictive collision alert and forward collision).

 

Did u manage to solve this issue? I have been struggling for a while and no one can identify the root cause and fix this issue

 

I have same issue. Has anyone found what the problem was?

 

When you say same issue, can you be more specific? Are you getting an error code? Is it the exact same issue as the original poster?

 

Yes almost the exact same issue. It is at the shop and I hope they can figure out what is going on. The transmission has been replaced. Now the battery light is on again. They put a new alternator in and the alternator is not holding a charge. Hopefully the shop can figure it out but this is has been almost a month long process. It definitely has something to do with heat. It's hot out and once the car heats up I lose power. I'll repost if they find the problem.
update 7/27/23
Got the car back after having transmission, battery and alternator replaced. Same Problem happened again apporx 45 minutes of driving. More or less limp mode. It will rev in neutral or park but will not accelerate. This time much like the last eventially the car just died and would not start.The shop that fixed it was called and they had a mechanic come run some scans seeing as i was only down the street from the shop at this point. The scan tool says the battery is only running at 10.4 volts but they realize it is not the battery. There was a code for the BCM. I will continue to update. This is aggravating to say the least. I can't believe there hasn't been a recall. At least the shop mechanic was able to be there to see. It seems once the car heats up the problem happens.

 

I had the same random no acceleration issue in my 2016 Maxima. The alternator would just randomly not charge properly and I confimed this by plugging a voltage reader in the center console and would constantly watch it while I drove. Right before the "no acceleration" would happen, I would watch as the voltage would drop from about 13 volts to around 9 or 10 volts before the car would no longer accelerate. However, alternator would test fine on my battery charger. I replaced the alternator with an OEM Nissan alternator from the Nissan dealership though as opposed to the aftermarket ones that everybody seems to have a problem with. Its been 2 full months since and the problem for me has been resolved. I hope this info helps you guys!!

 

Hey I’m experiencing this problem now as well with my 2016 maxima platinum. I took my car to Nissan and they had my car for two weeks, checked everything (I even replaced the battery for a new one myself while it was there) but they said everything came back good. I was just driving on highway and I stepped on gas and it wouldn’t accelerate, I also noticed the more I stepped on the gas it felt as if the car was losing power/as if I was stepping on breaks. Luckily I was able to roll off the highway, and waited 10 minutes. During this time different symbols such as my traction, abs, brake, steering fluid etc came on. Eventually they all disappeared and I was able to drive back home. I’ve been dealing with this issue the last two months, I just wanted an update if your car is still doing good since you changed the alternator. I don’t want to do it and still have these problems.

 

Did anyone ever fix the issue?

 

Yes.

You need to replace your alternator with an OEM (genuine Nissan) brand alternator. Do not replace with an aftermarket brand. Its been over 5 months since I replaced mine and I have not had the "no acceleration problem" since.

 

Wanted to get some opinions on whether this sounds like my alternator is going?

Was driving on the highway and then suddenly gas pedal just revved up but no acceleration.

Then I pulled over and shut the car off and then I couldn't start the car again. It was acting like the battery was dead. Got a jump and then replaced the battery but then now i notice the battery light flash briefly under harder acceleration.

 

Except for the "gas pedal just revved up" part, it does sound like an alternator issue. My advice would be to purchase a volt reader that you can plug into your accessory port in your middle console or a different type that may plug into your usb port and watch your cars voltage next time you have a similar problem or when you see the that battery light flicker. If your volt reader fluctuates during those problems, its going to be your alternator.

 

My 2016 Nissan Maxima does the same thing , charging system randomly quits working , I plugged a voltmeter into the cigarette port and it seems charging system puts out a good 14 .2 volts for about 34 minutes when I suspect the alternator warms up at which point the out put goes to about 11.9 volts or 12.1 volts and at this point the battery isn't getting charged while driving and after probably 30 or 40 minutes of driving with the charging system not putting out a high enough voltage the battery gets low and when the battery gets low there's not enough battery power to power the car and the car won't accelerate.
sometimes if you let the car sit for long enough it will cool off at which point you can start it and drive it for around 34 minutes at which point the charging system will fail when it warms up.
A guy told me he thinks it needs a regulator or alternator, the regulator is in side the alternator.
I will buy OEM alternator and have them put new battery cables on it and a new alternator plug while there at it , I want it working good my old cables have some corrosion on them

 

any update? I’m experiencing same issue I replaced it with aftermarket alternator and had the same issue an hour later

 

I dropped it off at the shop this morning , I should know something by 5pm tonight

 

I talked to the shop and I may not get it back until tomorrow

 

did they tell you what they thought was wrong w it? Mine will start now but still has no power to gas pedal

 

They don't do diagnosis , I told them to put a alternator in it , try charging your battery or swap in good charged battery , then go from there

 

I got the car back , I requested a OEM but a new OEM is kinda hard to find , the shop offered a Denso and so I looked online
and I seen some bad reviews but I seen other reviews saying that they only use Denso and Denso was the way to go.

The shop installed the Denso and said it had a lifetime warranty and the shop gives 2 years warranty on the labor.
It costs somewhere around $975
I still have the voltmeter hooked up and I've been watching itsince I got the car back , I started the car and it read 14 something volts and then dropped to 12 something volts but went right back up to 14 something , it dropped to 12 volts like that 2 times but then went to 14 something and stayed right over 14 volts for the next hour and 15 minutes of driving.
It use to fail after 35 to 45 minutes so it went 30 minutes longer then before and then I shut the test down.
Is it fixed ? I don't know yet , it looks like it might be but I'm 55 years old and use to work on cars a little bit and plus I've sent many cars out to shops and so I know how it goes , don't get my hopes up because about the time I think ah it's fixed and put all my stuff in the car it starts acting up.
So , so far so good but I'll keep watching it and report back.

 

Mines still working so far

 

I have a similar issue at 83k miles on my 2016 Maxima. I am intermittently losing power when making turns or after slowing down on curves. The car will go into a limp mode where there is no additional power but it will remain constant at low speeds with low power. Mashing the pedal to the floor makes no difference and the car will not accelerate. This is an interesting realization when crossing divided highways or merging. Quickly taking my foot all the way off the gas gets it to reset and power is restored again. I noticed one day my brake lights were still on so this is most likely a related issue. No error codes to report. I'll need to investigate further.

Edit: Update - Battery died shortly after noticing this problem from brake lights staying on; replaced the battery to get back to square one. The first thing I replaced was the brake light position switch. I also replaced the key fob battery for good measure as some others have mentioned. However, the intermittent power issue persisted. I then replaced the brake light switch relays and this resolved the problem entirely. I understand this is the next leg in the wiring system ahead of the control module. The car is running great again. Hope this helps.

 

Believe it or not, this issue was solved by replacing the battery in the key fob. The battery must have died while I was driving, and the car didn’t know how to handle a missing key fob while driving. So it would let me accelerate in P and N, but not R and D. Replace the battery in your key fob and it will fix the issue.

UPDATE 8/24: The issue happened again, three times. I was able to pop the battery out of the fob and back in the first two times and that reset it. However, the third time, that didn’t work. My grandpa had to come jump me twice before the gas would work again. I get random errors sometimes when it dies as others have mentioned, but no check engine lights. Not sure what to do at this point, but I’ll keep you updated. Might replace the alternator with a genuine part.

UPDATE 9/1: Took it to the Dealership hoping that they would be able to diagnose the issue and they told us that they read a code "P17F2" and said that we need to replace the transmission. They quoted us $7,100 to replace it. I really felt like it was not a transmission issue, and $7,100 is a joke, so we brought it to a local mechanic and he couldn't find an issue until I told him to test the alternator. Upon him load testing the alternator, he was able to reproduce the issue and realized that the problem was, indeed, a bad alternator. The alternator wasn't completely non-functional, so it would work enough to start the car, but after a minute of driving (usually with the AC on), it was too much for the alternator to handle and everything would start to shut down and the computers didn't know what was happening. So, my mechanic replaced the alternator with a non-OEM alternator, and the car is working as good as new!! Everything is fixed. If anything changes, I will post another update. If you never hear from me again, that's good news!

 

Wow, that's from out there and one heck of a solve! Thanks for sharing. Stay in touch just to confirm the fix holds.

 

Wow, what a crazy situation! I wonder if the low battery alert appeared on the dash before the problems started?

 

Updated my original post to reflect my solution

 

Im thinking of suggesting a new Nissan alternator to my mechanic but I think this is an expensive option and I want to be as sure as I can be. I have the same issue ,2016 Maxima .. mine only happens on really hot days with lots of stop and go traffic. It only happens at red lights. When the light turns green I press on the gas and nothing happens. The engine runs fine in N and P , but as soon as I put in D or R it does nothing. I have to try to get off the road and then wait a few minutes. Then I can start and everything seems fine. If its cool outside , no problems at all.

 

Hello,

I signed up just to write this and confirm what a few people have said it this thread. Trust me, I should have just told Nissan that in the first place, but they 'fixed' my vehicle and gave it back to me where the same problem happened the next day and it died so they needed to tow it back to fix again FOUR TIMES. Easily one of the most frustrating and angry times of my life.

THE FIX YOU NEED IS TO REPLACE THE ALTERNATOR WITH A NISSAN BRAND ALTERNATOR. NOT OEM, NOT AFTER MARKET, BUT NISSAN ALTERNATOR.

Whatever the highest and best one they offer and most expensive of the 3 options is. That's the one. They put the second highest option OEM they said in mine and said it would be fine and it died 15 min later as I was driving home.

It will cost you about $1,000 with labour, but at least you won't have to pay more than double that like I did and have my car die in traffic 4 more times after they said it's fixed and made you pay.

Side note - the first fix they told me was the rear lamp jumper cable and I thought that might true because my break lights would stay on sometimes, then the second fix they told me was the battery was loose and I said no way, it's the Alternator like this thread, then after their fix didn't work the second time their scan finally showed Alternator, but they put the wrong one in and it still died. 4th fix worked and has been fine for over a month now and drives great.

Cheers,
Tyler

 

this is exactly what was happening to me. Trust me, it's the alternator and needs to be nissan alternator, just go to nissan. My mechanic didn't have a clue what was wrong after multiple times bringing it there

 

Having the same problem with 2016 Platinum with 70k miles. Intermittent over the past 2 months (I don't drive the car a lot, I can take a train to work). The engine runs fine in N and P , but as soon as I put in D or R the engine runs at around 700-1000 rpms, pressing the gas pedal does nothing to increase rpms or speed in Drive or reverse. If the car has D or R engaged, the car will crawl slowly forward or backwards at around 3 or 4 MPH on flat incline.

Had it towed to a Nissan dealer, they claimed that they saw a Transmission code and replaced the transmission. I approved and authorized this repair. A few days later, same issue. No codes. I'm a little burnt about the $5700 transmission repair (if I did not really need it). Nissan dealer claimed and showed pictures of metal shavings in the transmission pan. I have come to believe the CVT is just a bad concept. My wife had the CVT replaced in her 2016 Pathfinder at 38k miles under warranty. I kind of feel like this transmission would have failed within the next 30-40k miles anyway, if not sooner.

My goal is to get this darn thing repaired and squeeze another 40-50k miles or 5-6 years out of the Maxima, then go electric or hybrid. I love the car and with teenage drivers in the house we don't want or need new/expensive cars. I sure as heck don't want to go back to payments or lease ever again.

Sounds to me like the $1000 Genuine Nissan OEM Alternator repair is worth the gamble. I doubt I have any recourse for the Transmission repair, the law in NJ is pretty clear - the Nissan dealer operated in good faith and did the repair correctly. There is no law against them being "wrong" and I have zero reason to think they were trying to cheat in any way. The whole thing has just been puzzling and frustrating. I'm just super thankful that we have a 2nd car and I don't need the Maxima to get to work every day.

 

Teenaged drivers might be the issue as the power is too much for the CVT. This CVT will last if you avoid any cowboy starts. Sorry you had to pay for this CVT fix

 

Have you had any luck? Was the problem fixed?