# 91 maxima shuts down with no warning



## boppolis (Feb 10, 2016)

So first and foremost, hiii!

So i joined this forum to troubleshoot my 91 max. its the 4dsc model.
the car will randomly shut down with no real warning. No bucking, no sputtering, just pfft dead. if i am driving and it does this, i can sometimes save her by either stomping or tapping the gas. regardless of whether i bring her back or not, she WILL shut down eventually.
She seems to just shut down whenever. i can be accelerating, slowing down, shifting into drive, or even sitting still in park. its the damndest thing, but i wont give up on my baby, it was my grandmas car and i bought it from her a month before she passed unexpectedly.

I have done some basic troubleshooting as follows:
I have ran with the MAF unplugged, and plugged in, same thing happens regardless.
I have Removed the IACV and cleaned the thing thouroughly, it was fairly dirty, but no real difference except i was able to get her to idle smoother.
I have replaced the ignition control module, no difference
I have checked the knock sensor, it had came unplugged and been unplugged for a while. repaired connector, reattached, made a difference for a day, then came unplugged again (my fault) and started acting up again. limped home, it would act strange at 2k+ rpms and then straightened out and smooth sailing, til i pulled in the drive and she started acting funny again. at this point, she threw a MAF code and a Knock Sensor code. Properly fixed the knock sensor connector this time, both codes went away, still shuts down randomly as before.
Checked o2 sensor by unplugging, still randomly shuts down with or without.
removed the only ground i could find (passenger side engine bay near headlight) cleaned, reconnected, no difference.
Tested fuel pressure. Starts at 30, when running wiggles at 39-40 mark, when she shuts down drops back to 30 and holds. changed fuel filter as well.
Cleaned MAF with cleaner, no difference.
Have wiggled and jiggled all connections and harnesses, as well as ran with battery dc'ed, no difference.

Someone please give me some guidance on the tests and checks that i should perform. im pretty mechanically inclined, so no ideas will be too extreme! just help me resurrect my baby i hate driving my camaro all over hell and back!


----------



## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Play with the ignition switch at all?
Jiggle the key to try to duplicate the problem?


----------



## boppolis (Feb 10, 2016)

i have indeed, no solution. good advice though i had this happen in an S10 once!


----------



## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

boppolis said:


> i have indeed, no solution. good advice though i had this happen in an S10 once!


DOH! Me too! '88 S-10 base. Go figure.
Didn't help that I was messing around up under there trying to tap into a wire to hook up a tach though...on a 2.5L.
Who 'really' needs a tach on a 2.5L anyways?


----------

