Hello all I am new to this site and to message boards in general so please bear with me. I own a 1990 Maxima and for some reason she is just shuts off on me. No hesitation, no jerking no cloged exaust. It's like if someone turned the key to the off position. She starts right up after. I was hoping someone would give me a lead on what this could be. Thanks.

 

well feed me some more info. many things can cause her to do that. my suggestion is to find a mechanic with CONSULT and see if any error codes come up first.

 

First, the more details you can provide, the better. Like when it shuts off, when does it do this (while driving, at idle, at night, etc.) or is it completely random or maybe some pattern like after driving 20 mins or ??? Sounds like it could be something electrical...

 

Check for any trouble codes. Should tell you something.

 

It seems to be a random. At times while she is warming up. at times
while i am driving sand giving gas. It happened going up a hill. Day and night.lol. I do remember that i did smell something electrical come throught the vents one time it shut off. I even have days that she seems fine and does not shut off at all. She's coming up for a tune up soon. One other thing when she shuts off the lights on the dash do not dim out. I think I heard a ticking on my side but i think that has to do witht the control unit for the window which is opening the windows but closing them from the main control. And my window close by itself. But i do not think that should have anything to do with the car shutting off. at least I think.

 

If you smell something electical when this happens, that could be a clue. What I would do is try to monitor certain things while your driving. If you have a multimeter, you could try tapping into the Ignition line from your ignition switch and verify that you have +12v on that line when the car shuts off. If not, your ignition switch may be flakey. There are all sorts of posibilities and you would probably need the electrical schematic to follow through. You could also check at the coil and see if your getting +12 on the Primary side.

 

Just shooting in the dark. Check for trouble codes.

 

where would i find trouble code.

 

By the way thank you all for giving me some area's to look at cause
I had no idea where to begin,at a total loss Thanks again. Please keep the suggestions coming

 

You can either do a self diagnostic or go and get a diagnostic at a shop done.

 

you will need nissans CONSULT. most likely you will have to go to nissan or a mechanic that has it.

 

lol I would shoot for that before I go and try to do a self diagnostic

 

You can check for codes right on the ecu. All you need is a screwdriver. If you have a haynes/chiltons manual it should all be in there. One thing you could do is make sure the harness that connects to the MAF is getting a good connection with the terminals.

 

try this. measure the voltage that's on the battery with the car off. then start her up, and measure again and tell us your findings. it might be your alternator.

 

Get a Haynes, it's much better than a Chilton's. If you can find a factory service manual it would be better, but there expensive.
It will tell you how to pull codes out of the ECU.
A quick check you can try. Idle engine and shake the wires going to the different sensors. If it dies you found a loose connection.