# Help, I'm Stalling!!!



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

this is a problem i've had for about a month. it started off very random and over time has gotten worse. it stalled twice today. it's usually whenever i come to a stop or take my car out of gear to slow down. pretty much whenever i'm idling. could it be the fuel filter or something similar, or is something more sinister afoot...


----------



## Kindfiend (Oct 13, 2004)

BRizzleSentra said:


> this is a problem i've had for about a month. it started off very random and over time has gotten worse. it stalled twice today. it's usually whenever i come to a stop or take my car out of gear to slow down. pretty much whenever i'm idling. could it be the fuel filter or something similar, or is something more sinister afoot...


Check your recalls... maybe Chimmike will know something more about it.


----------



## Sanguinius (Mar 3, 2005)

BRizzleSentra said:


> this is a problem i've had for about a month. it started off very random and over time has gotten worse. it stalled twice today. it's usually whenever i come to a stop or take my car out of gear to slow down. pretty much whenever i'm idling. could it be the fuel filter or something similar, or is something more sinister afoot...


Could be a clogged feul filter or possibly needs the idle readjusted. If you keep the gas on a bit when you take it out of gear will it stay running or does it stall then too?


----------



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

Sanguinius said:


> Could be a clogged feul filter or possibly needs the idle readjusted. If you keep the gas on a bit when you take it out of gear will it stay running or does it stall then too?


the thing is, i never know when it will do it. my car is so quiet, it's hard to tell. it's really random.


----------



## Sanguinius (Mar 3, 2005)

The check engine light doesn't come on before it stalls? If it does the computer stores the code that it threw before stalling.


----------



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

nope, no cel.


----------



## leicachris (Apr 12, 2005)

*Same boat here*

Same problem here. My 2000 Sentra is at Nissan right now. Stalled on us last Thursday. Took it in Monday morning. After 3 hrs they could find nothing wrong. Told us to drive it home, never made it. It stalled 3 times on the way back to Nissan, ended up having to get it towed 1 miles away from Nissan. Called Nissan here in New Orleans, and they at first did not want to help, but finally after a few calls sent a tow. 

It's now Tuesday night and the car is still at Nissan. They changed the computer board? out, still stalls. Now they say it might be the throttle system? IMHO, they have no clue what is it. I asked about the MAF and crank sensors. All test out fine according to Nissan. Throttle system costs $600 fromo what I'm told. To me it sounds like they are just guessing now. 

Even if the crank sensor recall was replaced, could it still have problems?


----------



## Sanguinius (Mar 3, 2005)

Sounds like a process of elimination now. Replace things until it works right LOL.


----------



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

i never have problems starting back up after it stalls. it's just an annoyance at this point. i just don't want it to get to be a major problem.


----------



## leicachris (Apr 12, 2005)

Same here, car wil start back up again but this can be dangerous on interstates which I travel allot.

First Nissan said nothing was wrong with it, sent us home and we nearly got rearended on a off-ramp. 

On Monday it finally stalled on them(Nissan) so now they believe us!


----------



## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

The crank sensor can cause this but if they already checked, I would imagine it is not related to this. If your fuel system was extremely clogged, it can too. Running a good cleaner such as Techron or Redline can't hurt although you can reach a point where a cleaner won't do all that much. How many miles do you have on the car? I believe water in a gas tank can cause this too. What brand gas are you using?


----------



## Sanguinius (Mar 3, 2005)

If it were water in the gas it'd sputter before stalling and likely not start back up at all (We had a gas station that had sewage leak into thier tanks people weren't making it out of the parking lot LOL)


----------



## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

Sanguinius said:


> If it were water in the gas it'd sputter before stalling and likely not start back up at all (We had a gas station that had sewage leak into thier tanks people weren't making it out of the parking lot LOL)


That sounds like a semi-solid problem more than a liquid...

Customer: "So what's the problem with my car?"
Mechanic: "Lotta shit."
Customer: "No kiddin', the car won't start now what is the actual problem?"
Mechanic: "Lots of shit."
Customer: "I know my car has shit wrong with it, but describe the problem for me!!!"
Mechanic: "You're not following...you literally have shit inside of your engine."
Customer: "Oh my..."


But I originally thought water because RX-8s are prone to it and sometimes they will stall at idle...


----------



## leicachris (Apr 12, 2005)

Finally! After basically checking everything again- I think they finally checked it real good- the problem came down to the IAC Valve being clogged. Nissan fixed this without cost, though I did end up paying for tests+labor because my 3 yr 36,000 mile warranty expired 1,000 miles ago!

Cost was $300.

Drove for 4 hrs today so it seems to be fixed.

Let's hope.

I always put the high grade gas in, never the cheap stuff.


----------



## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

fuel filter is gonna be a no in most cases on our car because it's a maintenance-free unit in the tank.


----------



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

i just hit 50,000 miles today. i use 93 octane.


----------



## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

there is no reason why you should be using 93 octane gas in the QG...................you should be using 87.


----------



## Zac (Mar 10, 2004)

You guys run 93 in a stock QG?!


----------



## Sanguinius (Mar 3, 2005)

NickZac said:


> That sounds like a semi-solid problem more than a liquid...
> 
> Customer: "So what's the problem with my car?"
> Mechanic: "Lotta shit."
> ...


----------



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

well i tried switching back a while ago and it ran like shit,sluggish and slow(er)


----------



## matt123 (Dec 2, 2004)

BRizzleSentra said:


> this is a problem i've had for about a month. it started off very random and over time has gotten worse. it stalled twice today. it's usually whenever i come to a stop or take my car out of gear to slow down. pretty much whenever i'm idling. could it be the fuel filter or something similar, or is something more sinister afoot...


I had a problem like this with one of my cars in the past. The idle had to be re-set.


----------



## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

BRizzleSentra said:


> well i tried switching back a while ago and it ran like shit,sluggish and slow(er)


uh, that's wrong. 

higher octane gas doesn't give more power. If anything, it makes LESS power on your stock engine than 87 octane would, because high octane gas burns slower.

So, like your manual says, use 87 octane. You're doing nothing but wasting your money.


----------



## matt123 (Dec 2, 2004)

chimmike said:


> uh, that's wrong.
> 
> higher octane gas doesn't give more power. If anything, it makes LESS power on your stock engine than 87 octane would, because high octane gas burns slower.
> 
> So, like your manual says, use 87 octane. You're doing nothing but wasting your money.


This is a good example of bad science.

High octane and low octane fuels combust at the same rate. Higher octane fuel combusts at a higher TEMPERATURE...but the rate of reaction is no different, thus it's not correct to say that one burns slower or faster because that is not the case.

So depending on the compression ratio of your engine, different octane fuels will be warranted (higher compression = higher temperature). Pre-ignition, or pinging, occurs when the temperature rise due to the engine's compression surpasses the flash point of the fuel. In such a case the fuel spontaneously combusts, instead of being ignited by the plug's spark.


----------



## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

matt123 said:


> So depending on the compression ratio of your engine, different octane fuels will be warranted (higher compression = higher temperature). Pre-ignition, or pinging, occurs when the temperature rise due to the engine's compression surpasses the flash point of the fuel. In such a case the fuel spontaneously combusts, instead of being ignited by the plug's spark.


this is not necessarily true either due to the fact that the Spec V QR25DE is the same compression as the QG (9.5:1) while the QR is recommended 93 octane (premium) while the QG is recommended 87 octane. This is based on the ignition tuning of the ECU mainly, how aggressive it is and the performance bias of the engine.

It's proven high octane gains you no power, all it does is aid in the prevention of detonation....and with the QG being a relatively mild tune aimed at fuel economy, he's probably getting worse mileage with 93 octane than he would with 87 octane due to the tuning of the ECU and the essential physics of the engine design and purpose.


----------



## Sanguinius (Mar 3, 2005)

Glad I learned all this before spending the $ anymore on higher octane. Though I was always told you should run a tank of higher octane every few tanks to keep the engine healthy. Dunno how true that is though from what I'm reading there is NO basis scientifically for that reasoning.


----------



## BRizzleSentra (Jan 23, 2005)

thanks for the info. anymore ideas why my f&#^ing car is stalling?


----------



## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

crank position sensor.....if that hasn't for sure been checked, have it replaced via the recall


----------

