# 1996 Altima Stalls when Idling



## indoboard (Mar 20, 2011)

My altima stalls randomly while idling, say at a stop or red light. I then have to wait a few minutes before it starts again. The starter is one year old and sounds good. My RPMs are very stready at ~750 RPMs while idling. At random, the engine will just shut off/stall. I have a check engine light on which is giving the knock sensor failure message. I have had this for about four years and have ignored it. Except for the stalling, the car runs great. If I give it gas, it will not stall. I replaced the distributor cap, rotor, plugs, wires, air filter, crank sensor (I had an error code for that) and cleaned the EGR valve. I noticed a small wear hole in the rectangular electronic's? box on the side of the MAF sensor. It is the small box with the harness plugged into it. However, I don't think a faulty MAF would cause the engine to just shut off the way my car does, considering that it idles smooth. When I unplug the MAF sensor, it idles rough so it seems to be doing its job. I think I am going to seal the small wear hole in this housing to keep moisture out. One other thing, the stalls do not start until after at least 10 to 15 minutes. Any thought on what else I can try?

Thanks!!!


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## indoboard (Mar 20, 2011)

I let the car idle in my driveway today and it stopped running after about 15 minutes. It was idling smooth and then I heard a solenoid-like click and the car turned off. Any thoughts? When I tried it re-start it, I could not get ignition. I waited ten minutes and then it started fine again!!!


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## Bluejays (Dec 11, 2011)

Did you ever find the solution? I've got the same car, same problem.
Thanks.


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## altimanum1 (Jun 19, 2009)

I had a 95 altima with the same problem i actually posted it here in the forum. I replaced all the parts indoboard did an also the fuel pump an fuel injectors. An still had the problem. After reading on other websites i decided to replace the IAC valve and i went to a local junk yard bought a used complete distriburator and replaced both the AIC valve and distriburator. After replacing both parts the Car ran Great! It didnt turn off no more. But i aint sure if it was the distriburator or IAC valve that were bad.

If you noticed the car starts shutting off when the car warms up/reaches normal temperature. An it turn back on after you let cool down.


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## MontanaAltima (Dec 30, 2011)

Just had the same thing happen the other night to a guys 93 Eclipse. You start it, runs fine for a minute then shuts off. They thought it was the fuel pump at first so they replaced it and same thing. Checked his codes and it was the Mass Airflow code, however we haven't found a used one to try to make sure that is what it is. I have seen the IAC do the same thing also, another symptom of the IAC seems to be up and down RPMs at idle also. My cousin had to replace his Mass Airflow on a Tiburon which would die on him, he'd have to pull over, waited a bit then it would start again, once replaced everything worked great.

I wouldn't ignore any check engine light for sure. I hope you get it figured out. Them darn MAF sensors are spending though.


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