Ok, today i filled my car up with gas and about 5min later it started studdering. Well when i finally got it home, i thought that maybe it was the fuel filter so i changed it and it still does it. It wont even idle right, you can watch the rpm guage jump up and down, and when you drive it, it does runs really ruff. Also i did have that timing chain rattle for quite some time now, im just wondering if maybe it has finally gone bad or something. I dont know what it could be...Oh yea theres no water in the oil either...Anyone know?

 

sounds to me like water in the gas..but i dunno...

 

So, should i buy some gas treatment and try it?

 

siphon the gas out into a container and put new gas in. (if that doesn't help pour the old gas back in!) gas treatment isn't going to help much if you got bad gas.

 

OK, well i guess ill have to try that, also i was wondering, could it be like a bad spark plug or something like that? You dont think it has anything to do with the timing chain, correct?

 

... timing chain... unlikely... bad coil pack is not out of the question but like you said it started right after filling up... so just start by trying some new gas. I've gotten bad gas before. (really stank up the room...)

 

I don't believe the bad gas theory.

Is you CEL light on? See if the ECU has any error codes stored.

A hunting idle speed points to a defective TPS sensor.

 

No lights are on, but see it runs really bad when driving it too not just at idle.

 

Two summers past drove my 95 to Colorado. Decided to top off the tank (I use only premium) at a Shell station before going into the mountains. Started noting some missing, and by the time I drove the 40 miles to the condo, I could barely make it up the drive. New fuel filter did not help, so poured in a can of water removing fuel treatment before retiring for the evening. Stumbled a couple of times the next morning when I started it, then cleared up and has not missed since. Water in gas does happen..

 

Ok, well its still doing it...something i noticed was it doesnt really start acting up until it is warmed up some. You can also get it up to speed and it will run steady, but once you try to give it gas it will start runnin ruff and when you come to a stop it will die most of the time. anyone know what else it could be?

 

Im having the same problem... Can you tell me what caused this? thanks

 

Sounds like a problem with your maf.

 

I think your ignition coils may be misfiring. My '99 max is doing the same. I'm looking to replace all my 6 coils

 

my 86 ford van does this as well...with the studdering and it eventually stalls out. its been sitting on the street for the past 2 years. i wuold like to know if there's any fix. ive done all the obvious stuff, fuel filter, spark plugs, and what not. im really curious as to what is wrong here.

 

Well i checked my coil packs and they all seemed good for me. So i guess im just gonna drain my gas tank and refil it and see if that helps any and change the spark plugs...

 

Ok, new gas didnt work. So i took it down to Autozone and they pulled a code that said my Crankshaft sensor was bad, so i replaced that and the car is still messin up. Im runnin out of things to do...

 

Hello All,

New to the forum. Great sight. I have a '96 Maxima with 165k miles. I have touble starting the car in the cold. Is it time to change the coil packs, or do they last forever? Also, should I think about changing the timing chain?

Many Thanks,
Russell

 

It's your maf, I had the same symptoms and I changed everything but the maf. Once I change the maf, all the problems went away.

 

Ok heard this a million times, my also does this, but my doesn't die. Have replaced everything mentioned above and then some, I am now on to the thought that it could be a vacuum leak. Oh and noone else has ever fixed it.

 

You better believe the bad gas theory. Its all over the local news how a Valero had water in its tanks. Cars werent starting after a fill up and many cars werent making it far from the gas station. Its very possible that there is water in you tank, escpecially with no prior symptoms and having it occur right after fill up.

 

is there a place on here that explains on how to reaplace you MAF?

 

could anyone tell me how to replace my MAF or how to clean it and like where its located?

 

When you said new gas didn't help, did you drain the tank and then refill, or just add gas?

Also, I have had similar symptoms when a spark plug wire went bad.

 

well i just put new in after i got it down to about 1/4 because i couldnt find a way to drain it out...

 

Yup...I had the same problem...its the MAF sensor. After I replaced it, it still had some problems with studdering...then I replaced my o2 sensor...car runs fine now. Just go to the "do it yourself" section of this forum and follow the easy steps...u can buy a maf on ebay for around $100 or less...

 

well see i took it to autozone because my check engine light just came on and it came back with a bad crankshaft sensor and vibration sensor, well i replaced the crankshaft sensor and that made no difference.