poor driveability, need input!
 

Hi everyone,
I have a 2001 Sentra 1.8 w/auto, 86,000 miles.It had a small frontend wreck, popped the airbags and locked up the driverside seatbelt and has sat in a shop from last October till two weeks ago. All the damage has been repaired, I am in process of replacing the SRS computer, bags and belts. The engine starts right and idles perfectly, and it will drive fine until you try to get up to highway speed when the engine will bog down and stop accelerating. It doesn't die, it just acts like it is running out of fuel or air or both past half throttle. It will slooooowly gather up enough speed to hit 60 or so, and never misses at all, and thats about all you can coax out of it. It's codes stored were P0134, P0171, and P0731. We cleared them and I haven't re-read them after changing the air filter and spark plugs. Since I am still waiting on parts to fix the SRS, I haven't taken it to the dealer yet to reset the hard crash codes. My questions now are where should I look next? Fuel pressure, or could the cat converter be stopped up at this low mileage? I filled the tank with mid grade and added a can of seafoam for good measure. I'd like to get lucky and fix the problem before I have to give it upto the dealer techs...
Thanks to all for good advice~
Bobcat

RE: poor driveability, need input!
 

dude i had this same problem but it was like my car would just fall on its face .... when you tried to accelerate it would just bog ... it ended up being the fuel pressure regulator its worth a shot

RE: poor driveability, need input!
 

My brother (a mechanic, lives 1300 miles away from me) told me the same thing, to check the pressure at idle with vacuum and then without, should be 23psi and 43psi. Now I'm rigging up a tee for the fuel line and guage. What did you pay for the new reg? O'Rielly's says 120 bucks~ yikes!
Thanks for the response, it helps to bounce this off of someone who's shared the same prob.
Bobcat

RE: poor driveability, need input!
 

WELL ITS BEEN A FEW YEARS BACK BUT I DO BELEIVE IT WAS AROUND 80 DOLLARS OR SO

RE: poor driveability, need input!
 

OK, I did the check on the fuel press. and it is within spec. at idle and W.O.T. so that pretty much eliminates the regulator and pump, or not fuel related. Off to the stealership ~

RE: poor driveability, need input!
 

well good luck with it ... post back and let me know the diagnosis
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REPAIRED! poor driveability, need input!
 

Well, finally broke down and took it to a dealer mechanic who advised me to clean the MAF sensor and try it. I took it out and sprayed it with carb cleaner, reinstalled it, and it wouldn't run past an idle...I killed the MAF. But, found my problem! Nissan wanted $500 for it, Autozone and O'reilly's both wanted $250, found it on ebay for $89 plus $10 shipping, and located a guy on craigslist with a new one that he didn't use in his car (his was a dead ECU) for $80 and picked it up on my way home from work. 5 minutes to install it, turned the key, VIOLA! It runs like a swiss watch!
Thanks for your help topcopper, continued good luck to you.
Bobcat

RE: REPAIRED! poor driveability, need input!
 

so it was your maf sensor all along ....i thought about that ...if they get oil on them they will not run and the engine will act as if it is starving for fuel .... glad you found your problem