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Hello!

New to the group but REALLY need your assistance! Bought my '90 Maxima a year ago, 160,000 miles. Runs fine, gas mileage ok, burns some oil, nothing major. Injectors were replaced before I bought it, replaced rack and pinion, and muffler right after I bought it.

In March I was on the highway and it started chugging and died. Would not restart. Replaced fuel pump, fuel filter, spark plugs and plug wires. The battery was dead when I went to start it so I jumped it. Unfortunately my son was helping and accidently crossed the cables. New fusible link, new jump and it started right up! A week later I was driving and it chugs and dies.

Fuel pump is fine, pump relay is fine, ECU tested out no problems, Eng. Cont. relay tests no problems. Replaced battery, replaced distributor and crank angle sensor, replaced ignition coil / starter coil, checked fuel filter for fuel clarity, checked hoses, checked plug wires and firing order, checked plugs for proper gap, checked air flow meter, etc.

The engine will turn over but rarely catches. Have gotten it to catch in Park and Neutral but if it starts it dies after a couple seconds. Usually have to let it sit awhile before I can get it to start again. Usually smells of fuel when attempting to start whether it catches or not.

My fun-meter is pegged! I don't know what else to try except start replacing parts ***** nilly to see if I can find the right one, which I can't afford to do. If I could, I would have taken (pushed) it to a mechanic a LONG time ago.

PLEASE HELP!

Stephani

 

1. Fuel on time
2. Spark on time
3. Air (no intake leaks allowed)

1+2+3 = purring


- Install extra plug on wire, ground it and tst for good spark. New distr caps are known to be dead on arrivall... see page12 below

- Check distributor groundings, eg. bad cam pos signal will keep from startin...

- MAF may hang ECU, disconnect to test. IF MAF is the problem, it will start and run -in safe mode- = 2k rpm ceiling.

- Read all pages through, start from p14., see below

 

Thank you for the info!

I replaced the Emmisions Control Relay last night...no go, and was planning to look at the MAF tonight.

I know the ECU isn't completely reliable 100% of the time but I ran a diagnostic on it on Sunday and it came back good.

I'll let you know what I find with the MAF.

Thanks again,

Stephani

 

3gen OBDI ECU is a lottery machine givin winnin tickets to everyone - dont trust. However, it has good O2 sensor tst feature (not your current problem).

Any relay with same color may be swapped to find possibly fault.

If spark is good and on time, then I'd start to check for intake air leaks. If a seal or rubberhose is semi blown, nasty intermittent symptoms will follow. On intake one cannot see them... it has to be taken out for inspection. Leak Troubleshooting: givin start gas around suspect areas (will start sputtering) or water/oil flowing to temporarily block leak (will start).