95 Max - Engine Shudder, Exh Sputter, & Stall Symptom while idling @ stop

Folks,

With my 95 Max (125k miles odometer) warmed up after driving a few miles I experience the following intermittent problem.

When stopped at a stop light with brakes depressed and engine idle @ 650 rpm, engine will suddenly shudder, exhaust will sputter, and the idle will fluctuate up and down between 650 down to 450 rpm as if it wants to stall a couple of seconds and then resume normal idle. The same thing happens intermittently when stopping after driving into a parking stall or when placing car in reverse while attempting to correct parking into stall.

Car will otherwise accelerate normal and driving is unaffected. Itll only happen intermittently when idle returns to 650 rpm at a stop.

Plugs have been changed last year. I don't know what else to do but take it into the Dealer's Service. Anyone have any helpful ideas? Help!!

Read my post, after time you might experience the symptoms worsening.... then again maybe not...

check to see if you have a vacuum leak. i had the same problem

Mine jumps all the way to 1100 then back down to normal. I also here a loud sound when pressing the brakes and letting go.

Folks,

Took car into local mechanic and they checked out fuel, emissions, electrical, ignition (plugs/lining, etc) systems and found things ok. THey did, however, find that the EGR Valve is not actuating fully and only opens/closes halfway. They recommended this be changed at a est cost of $200 for the part alone. Does anyone know if this "EGR" valve is important and be the cause of these problems? There is another valve that the mechanic mentioned about having a small hole in it. I don't recall the name of the valve but its est cost was about $100 dollars.

Boy, these imports are high on the parts costs these days. This reminds me of the time my EIC Valve replacement at $500 part cost at the local dealership plus $200 for labor.

Perhaps its time to switch to a local brand of vehicle; however, you can't beat the imports reliability rating. Otherwise, my car has been a sweetheart. I'm leaning towards a replacement with the Toyota Camry.

Well, I'm sorry to hear that you're not a TRUE Maxima driver...only TRUE Maxima drivers would respect the Nissan brand and always buy a Nissan...

Anyways, what are you going to do with ur 95 Max after turning your back on Nissan and buying a TOYOTA!......Thinking about selling it?

TOYOTA? HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :eek7:

Folks,

Ok, spent my hard earned $ with the Mechanic who replaced EGR Valve, EGR Selonoid, and also cleaned out the fuel injectors and throttle body for my 95 Max (125k miles). It worked for a couple of weeks.

Just recent, it began again. After the car is fully warmed up esp after driving around town stop and go traffic, the intermitent problem began while at idle at a stop light in gear (auto). RPM gauge would flutter and engine would sound/feel like it wanted to stall. This problem would last about a second or two. If I shift the gear to nuetral to take load off of engine, it would stop.

I called the mechanic who stated I leave the car with them for a couple of days to diagnose the problem. THey figured it might be something to do with the electrical ingition system.

Does anyone have any advice? Appreciate any assist as I'd like to keep unto my Max as long as possible since the body is still in great condition, engine does not leak, and except for the problem, its otherwise running steady and reliable.

It may be the air flow meter, thats what it was for me

Wow, I thought it was just me that had this kind of problem! Sorry to hear about your frustration, I know just how you feel. Mine will even be so bad as to stall periodically when sitting at idle at a light or when shifting into reverse to back into a parking space. Really sucks when the light turns green and you're frantically trying to restart your car and get it to shift into gear without stalling. :frown:

Mine will behave this way for a indeterminate period of time (i.e. might be a few days, might be a week). Then it will run fine for weeks, so is very intermittent and thus hard to diagnose. I've never been able to figure out if it is related to outside temperature, engine temperature, humidity, etc.

Mine is a '94 SE. I've done the VTC grounding thing and know that the knock sensor is bad (no money or time to replace that right now).

I'd really love to get this problem fixed and will be very curious to hear ideas about what is causing this.

-- But I would never dream of giving up the max -- :owned:

knock sensor was cheap, a few bucks off ebay and changed it myself within about half hour to 45 mins. goto xxx.maxima.org, they how to's on how to do most things. But like I said b4 I had a shop tell me it was not the MAF or as the techs call it the Air Flow Meter, but it really was the problem. They also said it was my engine temp sensor. So those two things should be checked. My problem started out the same way , Once in a blue moon, then it got worse, then wouldn't happen for a while, .. blah blah blah

From what I've read, on the VG30DE you have to pull the intake manifold off to get to the knock sensor. You did that and re-assembled in 45 minutes??? :worshippy

Also, btw, I've already replaced the coolent temp sensor and the thermostat - thinking that this problem was temperature related. Each time, the problem went away for a time, then came back again.

This seems to be a common occurance as I've kept up with both this and the maxima.org forums...a problem will go away for a while when a part is changed, then will come back again. Apparently, the onboard computer has to re-calibrate itself for the new part and this takes a few trips??? :confused:

Folks,

Ok, where exactly is the AIR FLOW METER and how much does it cost on the market?

As for acronyms, whats a VTC or MAF? Is the knock sensor expensive and require alot of manhours to fix? Any estimates on this knock sensor as well?

I left out a bit of info, but, this particular problem began after a shop had replaced my headcover gaskets which were leaking oil (125k miles). I assumed they had to remove the intake manifold and associated parts located above the headcovers. If there is a vacuum leak, I have no idea which rubber hose/line that would be. If there was a crack in one of the vacuum line, could that be the culprit? :uhoh:

Hey, I'm still in nooby status myself, but consider myself to be a student of these engines - pretty much from necessity since repair rates and parts are both expensive and it's hard to find a shop you can trust (it also seems like so many times a car will come back with something else broken :disappoin).

The MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor) can be purchased for 3rd gens at http://internetautomart.com/ for $165 + $30 core. The dealer price will be considerably higher. This sits between your air filter and the throttle body and measures the air flow into the engine. Through a process I don't fully understand, it also compensates for altitude and humidity - I think basically from the density of the air.

The Knock Sensor (about $145 from the the same source as above) is located internally in the engine - different places on different engines (on the 3rd gens, depending on whether you have the single cam or dual cam, for instance). On the VG30DE (dual overhead cam), it is located underneath the intake manifold which has to come off. My mechanic told me that the book they use indicates 4.5 hrs of labor for this (for my DIY abilities, I'm figuring double :grinno:). This senses a knocking condition in the engine and will retard timing to compensate. I'm not sure at all what happens when this doesn't work at all. I've been told on another forum/post that the computer will go into "safe mode", whatever that means.

The VG30DE also has two VTC (Variable Timing Cam) gears which will adjust the timing under different engine loads and RPM's. These typically go bad after so many miles and are extremely expensive to repair - hence a lot of guys just disable them by grounding them out.

I've re-read your original post and realize that you have a '95 - thus 4th gen Maxima. I don't think any of the VTC issues are of a concern to you, but the MAF and Knock Sensor do exist on virtually any engine and will serve the same purposes.

Hope this helps...:p

My bad...I need to replace all references to the VG30DE...should be VE30DE. :screwy:

i have a similar problem as well. from the research ive done, it could be many problems: o2 sensor, knock sensor, maf sensor, fuel injectors, spark plugs, spark plug wires. ive found that all mechanics really do is go down the checklist, and replace things until it stops doing what its doing, and charge hundreds and hundreds of dollars for it. so basically im going to try to do that myself. i figure even if i hvae to replace 3 parts before it fixes it, itll still be cheaper than going to a mechanic.

so far ive replaced spark plugs (needed to be done anyways) and 1 o2 sensor. im going to replace the other upstream o2 sensor next, and if that doesnt work, ill try the knock sensor.

the knock sensor checks to see if there are unusual vibrations in the engine, and adjusts the combustion timing accordingly to save the engine from combusting too soon (which is very bad!). if the knock sensor goes bad, it goes into limp mode, so basically it retards the timing so that it combusts late (early will cause damage, late wont) as a precaution, which causes the engine to run like s*it.

ill let you know when i do something that fixes the prob.

Thanks for the input. It seems like these are such common symptoms with the Nissan engines, you would think that someone would know THE answer. Please let us know how your changes work for you.

I would add one more item to your potential problems list, and that would be the fuel pump. Otherwise, you have come up with pretty much the same list that I have...:p

I haven't had the money to-date to do much of anything, but have had the same thoughts...(i.e. that I could replace parts cheaper than a mechanic and save the $85/hr diagnostic time). Recently got a copy of the FSM to help with troubleshooting and to know what the operational specs are for various sensors, etc., but haven't had a lot of time to spend with this either.

Now I've got some money, hope to find some time and to be able to report back as well. I figured to start with the knock sensor and MAF sensor, myself.

Did you find a reasonable source for parts, other than the dealer, on those sensors?

This is all kind of funny to me becuse i also own an maxima besides my civic. I am also having the same problems that you all are talking about EXEPT once the car starts sputtering the check engine light comes on and the exhaust blows large amounts of white smoke in perfect donuts.
I attend lincoln tech and have had the car analyzed twice and no trouble codes stoer in the ecu. ive had it at two nissan dealers and no help, whatever they fix is only a temporary fix. the problem comes back and ive also had a technitian from nissan motor corp. come out and look at it. ive boiled everything down to two things.

1. the ecu has an ignition glitch that isnt being detected which keeps blowing coil's

2. nissan coil packs are shit and their diagnostic team sucks.

I love nissan. im in the market for a 91 240sx but this maxima is getting traded for a scion tc.
good luck finding the problem if i find out anything else ill post it.

To Anyone,

Brought my baby 95 Max to the shop who prev changed the EGR Valve, Solenoid, etc. They hooked it up to the diagnostics machine, chocked the wheels and let car idle while in gear, but nothing. Yup, the mechanics could not "reproduce" this intermittent problem with engine.

I give up. Im at wits end on this. By the way, I had mentioned sometime ago that the headcover gaskets were replaced before this problem with the engine began. To do this, the mechanics had to pull off the intake manifold and such located above the head covers.

Now, I got a question. If the head cover or the intake manifold just by chance had a mounting nut loose by some reason, causing a small leak to begin within the gasket area of the loose nut, could that be creating a problem?

If so, how can I go about ruling this out or finding out if this could be the problem? Someone suggested I spray carb cleaner around the intake manifold mounting area and head cover area while the car was in idle to see if it would make the engine idle roughly. Is this a safe way of seeing if there was a leak in these areas?

Before I undertake another avenue of seek and fix, does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks all :uhoh:

I know ur frustrated, don't give up. Did u ever get the air flow meter checked out/replaced? This is NOT the mass air flow sensor, around the same price but it is chip like.

All,

Just got the car back from the same shop who replaced my EGR Valve/Selonoid. I had to take it in to replace the antennae unit which went out on me. The part alone was $245.00 and labor @ $100.00 easy.... yikes, the mechanic told me that once most cars reach about 10 years that I can expect more to happen and more $ to be spent getting it fixed. Bummer, its starting to impact the funds if you know what I mean.

Perhaps I may as well consider it on its last leg and let it go before something major goes out. Any thoughts on how I can lengthen the longevity of my baby Max, currently with 127k miles? She doesn't leak oil nor trans fluid yet. I've resorted to annually flushing radiator system annually since reaching 70k miles. I'm using high mileage oil (3 qts) with 1 qt Lucas Oil Stabilizer.
Already replaced my EIC Valve, Starter, Power Steering Unit, Brakes, all within the last 3 years.

Perhaps I need to try out those new quad cab pickups, probably Nissan Frontier or Toy Tacoma. But god, the payments I'll have to endure, not to mention the laxed mileage I'll be getting. Currently, with both highway and city driving, my baby 95 Max averages 22 miles per gallon with premium fuel. Not bad if I say so myself.

:confused:

Folks,

I forgot to ask some questions regarding the MAF Sensor(Meter)? HOw can I non mechanically tooled owner such as myself go about getting the MAF Sensor checked out? Does it require shop exclusive tools/monitors to get its function checked out? For replacement, do I need to turn in the old bad one before getting it replaced with a new one?

I'd like to keep from going to the dealer but since having spent over $1000 :2cents: in the past 3 months on various issues on top of the fact that I need to get new tires to replace the current ones which are getting close to bald (like muh head), anyone have any suggestions for me to keep it for another year or so?

Thanks one and all for your help once again. For Knight4, your inputs have been very helpful, unfortunately, I haven't the personal resources nor mechanical background to do any of what you suggested on my own. I do appreciate your assistance along with everyone elses. :crying:

Did replacing the MAF Sensor fix your problem. I have been having the same problem for months and went through the same steps as ya'll and the problem still exists.

I don't know if this post fits in here, but I'm having very simular problems with the stalling and what not. For me it depends on the amount of gas is in my tank. If my gas tank is at one quarter of a tank it will stall when I come to a stop. That also depends on how fast I stop. (This has only happend once,)but when i get under a quarter of tank my car stalls while moving down the road. If I slam on my brakes even when i have a full tank of gas it has a problem staying running. It almost seems as if there are no baffels in my gas tank, but that is implausible. Probably a sensor, damn it! or maybe the airflow meter from what I've read so far in this forum. Well does my symptoms match. If so I'm all ears.

Folks,

With my 95 Max (125k miles odometer) warmed up after driving a few miles I experience the following intermittent problem.

When stopped at a stop light with brakes depressed and engine idle @ 650 rpm, engine will suddenly shudder, exhaust will sputter, and the idle will fluctuate up and down between 650 down to 450 rpm as if it wants to stall a couple of seconds and then resume normal idle. The same thing happens intermittently when stopping after driving into a parking stall or when placing car in reverse while attempting to correct parking into stall.

Car will otherwise accelerate normal and driving is unaffected. Itll only happen intermittently when idle returns to 650 rpm at a stop.

Plugs have been changed last year. I don't know what else to do but take it into the Dealer's Service. Anyone have any helpful ideas? Help!!





Hi, my name is Adam and a couple of things come to mind when I read your description of problems with you maxima. You said that it started to happen once the car was warm correct? Well, I did go to school for auto mechanics and I know that some ignition coils can short out once they are hot, they will be fine when at room temp and then pose a problem once hot, which could cause this problem at idle. Maybe you just don't notice the engine missing off of idle at higher engine speeds.

The second and more likely thing that immediately come to mind in this instance is your EGR valve. If your EGR is open at all, or stuck open at idle it would only cause a problem at idle, but as soon as you touch the gas the engine would run normally and this is because it is normal to have some EGR valve open off of idle at higher engine speeds.

Lastly and stay with me here on this one, I don't know if your mechanic has has the capability or not, but running a car on a propane tank while the idle problem is happening can prove whether or not the problem is fuel related or not. What they do is hook up a propane tank to the intake on the engine and start adding propane to the incoming engine air, if the car smooths out and runs fine then they know that the car is not getting enought fuel from the injectors because once the propane is introduced then the problem goes away, problem located! Please let me know if any of this has helped you out at all.

hmm. thread date lidl bit ... Old 12-20-2004, 03:09 AM