Strange engine problem

Hi All,

My wife had a strange problem with her 2000 Sentra tonight. I thought I'd ask your advice first, before I take the car to a mechanic.

She was driving from work and stopped on a red light. The car is automatic and she did not touch the shift, which was on "Drive". On green light she stepped on gas, but the car would not go, instead it rolled gently backward (downhill). The engine was working, all the internal electronics, headlights and brakes were fine. Three lights came on the dashboard: "Check engine", "Check battery" and "Check brakes". She put the car on "Park", then shifted back to "Drive", but that did not help. She turned the car off and back on and then it was fine - she got home without a problem.

Now, do you think this is a serious problem? Any ideas on what this might be? How likely is it to come back?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

I looked at buying a 2000 sentra until the seller (a friend of mine) told me that the car had a rare habbit of shifing into neutral randomly. They had to restart the car to get it back into drive. The dealership always told them the car was fine because they never could reproduce the problem. What a lemmon....

Well, aside from than this single case, I have not had any major problems with this car. I actually recommend Sentras to my friends, because this is the second Sentra I have and the previous one never had major problems either (it was 1996).

My 94 sentra is still running great. Other than the engine problems I other thread.

sounds like the car died and she didnt know it. i wouldnt worry about it.

What do you mean "died"? As in stalled? Yeah, I was trying to figure out if the engine was indeed running, but she could not tell me for sure. She is 99% sure it was, but not 100%.

What do you mean "died"? As in stalled? Yeah, I was trying to figure out if the engine was indeed running, but she could not tell me for sure. She is 99% sure it was, but not 100%.

these cars are so damn quite (especially without exhaust mods) that its hard to tell its running. Mine doesnt have a tach, so I have to literally turn the radio all the way down to tell its running. If its running good, you cant even feel it idle.

exactly

Hey Sharvz,

What kind of tires do you have? brand,size?
Do you have a smooth and quiet ride?
Just curious. I have a '98 200sx. Just looking for
smoother and quieter ride.

Thanks, Danny

sounds like the car died and she didnt know it. i wouldnt worry about it.


But if it's automatic then it shouldn't've died. Sounds like an idling problem.