# idle/acceleration problem 1987 stanza



## extreeme_48 (Apr 30, 2006)

Hello, I had just purchased a 1987 stanza for my daughter to learn in. The guy I bought it from said the car idles a little rough when cold but after a couple of minutes it smoothes out. He had the car checked out by a buddy of his who replaced to plugs, wires, etc. however when he checked the timing the timing plate was gone so he claimed to have it within a couple of degrees. When I picked up the car it did idle rough when cold and if you tried to put it into drive it would stall. But as he said, after a minute or two it idled fine. Backed it out of the driveway and put it in drive the tranny didn't seem to catch. Moved it to neutral the back to drive and everything was fine. Got out on the Interstate and car would lose speed going up even the slightest of inclines. On flat ground and declines car would get up to about 75mph but seemed to have trouble going faster. Car seemed to run smoother and accelerate better when I would ease off the pedal a little than it would floored. At first I just chalked it up to being a 4 cylinder but this can't be normal. I've never owned a nissan before and have no idea what I'm looking at under the hood. (big change from a bigblock chevy) I've heard anything from mafs to clogged injectors to well you name it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## altima8 (Apr 28, 2006)

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your problems...my 1992 Stanza idles really rough as well when cold, so combat that (temporarily) we adjusted the idle for an increase of about 400RPM over stock. At least now it doesn't stall, before I had to keep my foot on the gas for the first five minutes in winter.

As for the acceleration issue, it could be any number of things or a combination even...but here are some things you can check out...remember, ALWAYS start with the simplest solution (and/or least expensive) and go from there.

Keeping in mind that the car is automatic (mine is 5 speed so I can't replicate this excercise for you) the car will rarely reach peak horsepower, since it will almost always shift beforehand. Try putting the car in "2" and drive it at a steady pace around 6000RPM for a few hundred feet....does it do the same thing as it does in 4th gear/75mph? 

The car seems to be "starving", so inspect anything that could rob the car of fuel or air.

-air filter
-fuel filter
-dirty injectors
-LEAKY injectors
-corroded contacts in the engine bay on sensors
-plugged up transmission filter

I would recommend the following as "just a good idea" regardless of the problem...

1. put in some injector cleaner (in the gas tank) and rev the hell out of it
2. get the transmission flushed and filter changed
3. change the fuel filter ($15 and 15 minutes of work, need only pliers/screwdriver)
4. change the oil

Nissans are GREAT cars; I have over 200,000 miles on my 1993 Altima (the successor to the Stanza) and I drive it like it's a bloody F1 car. I have spent about $1000 in repairs over a 9 year period, and the car performs as it did 175,000 miles ago. These engines are BULLETPROOF! Don't give up on the car, I promise you whatever the issue is it will be a cheap fix and EASILY get your daughter from Point A to B for years.


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## extreeme_48 (Apr 30, 2006)

well i replaced the tps and it helped a bunch still idles rough right at startup when cold but only for 10-15 seconds now. Top end has improved also but still loses speed going up inclines and struggles to get over 75mph. On flat ground i can run 70-75 using very little pedal but even if I floor it the car just doesn't seem to want to run any faster it will just takes a while to get there.


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## extreeme_48 (Apr 30, 2006)

extreeme_48 said:


> well i replaced the tps and it helped a bunch still idles rough right at startup when cold but only for 10-15 seconds now. Top end has improved also but still loses speed going up inclines and struggles to get over 75mph. On flat ground i can run 70-75 using very little pedal but even if I floor it the car just doesn't seem to want to run any faster it will just takes a while to get there.



If I run the car in L2 is seems to rap out fine with good excelleration throughout. Even in drive the car seems to excellerate fine. But the problem definately is in OD almost feels like it shifts twice when it hits overdrive.


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