# Newbie here-- HELP!!! 91 Sentra loses power while driving...



## sydneym76 (Jan 26, 2007)

Hello everyone thanks in advance for any advice. 

I am at my wits end over here, my 91 sentra recently started acting up on me. I have always kept up with regular maintenance (oil, fluids etc.) About 2 months ago while driving down the highway the car lost power for a short (1 sec) period. Felt almost as if I took my foot off of the gas pedal, it caught back and I went about my drive thinking it was a fluke. I was wrong.

After about 3 more times of this happening, I figured something was really wrong. I am not a mechanic myself so I took it to a repair shop and was told I needed a tune up that would include changing the spark plugs which they deemed to be the problem. Fine by me as long they fix my baby (I depend on this car).

Anyway it drove perfectly fine for a day, then the problem came again same thing losing power while driving. Took it back to the shop and they then recommended a fuel induction cleaning, because maybe carbon buildup was blocking the fuel injectors and that could cause the hesitation. Was told to drive the car until the gas tank was empty so that all the chemicals would do the job of cleaning. Fine again just fix my baby!! 

After driving steady with intermittant problems of hesitation (which I figured was due to the cleaning process) I had filled the tank again thinking problem should be solved. Again I was wrong. Now at this point I was frustrated and decided to take it to another repair shop (I wish I knew how to repair this car because it is getting costly) Anyway this shop keeps my car for a day to experience the problem for themselves and lo and behold it does. This shop diagnosed the problem as the ignition trigger getting hot and leading it to misfire. They replaced the distributor assembly and adjusted the ignition timing. And again I thought it was fixed. 

Wrong!!! I drove it and the problem is still there so either I am getting screwed by every shop I go to or there is a problem that even these trained mechanics can't figure out.

Please help with any info. I know this was lengthy but thanks for your patience if you made it this far. If you have questions for me regarding this to clear up the problem's details please ask away. 

Again thank you.

sydneym76:newbie:


----------



## fleck (Jan 12, 2007)

This could be a lotta stuff dude... it could even be as simple as a bad fuel pump... anything... have fun.


----------



## sydneym76 (Jan 26, 2007)

Thanks for the reply I'll have to have them check it out unless there is a way I can test it myself. 

Thanks again and please keep the replies or suggestions coming 

sydneym76


----------



## dreww (Sep 28, 2006)

is the check engine light on? get an older scanner (OBDI I) and see what codes come up. Helps to narrow down the problem as much as possible.


----------



## fleck (Jan 12, 2007)

he's taken it to shops. these problems with cars shutting down or not responding to throttle while driving happen very often. and very often people struggle to fix the issue and go from shop to shop. if it was a check engine light or something that was readable as a computer code i think they would have fixed it already.


----------



## sydneym76 (Jan 26, 2007)

update 

Took it back to the shop and will let them tinker with it until they fix it. My mechanic is cool enough since he has already charged me plenty he won't charge me anything extra. He has taken it upon himself to try to solve the issue (almost mission like) I will keep you up to date.

PS fleck i see you are in the DC area I'm in PG county if my guys can't figure it out I'm heading your way. cool?


----------



## mattsan (May 10, 2005)

I have that problem every now and again, and all I have to do is sqeeze and wiggle the wires connecting to the rubber piece going from the air filter to the intake. The car than runs fine.


----------



## fleck (Jan 12, 2007)

haha sydney that's very flattering and i _am _in bowie but i am also just a novice mechanic myself. i do know a couple of people who are better than i am though. many street mechanics would say if you're losing power while driving, replace your MAF and fuel pump+filter first.


----------



## oliverr87 (Sep 23, 2005)

sounds like a MAF issue.


----------



## sydneym76 (Jan 26, 2007)

OK now I have not driven or test drove it yet but apparently the problem is solved. According to the shop I had a bad ground. This was showing itself while in fourth gear, (1st 2nd and 3rd No problem) and causing the car to lose power momentarily. This caused the hesitation. Now because the problem was not found immediately this shorted the distributor system making the problem even worse. 

But now The ground has been fixed so problem averted (hopefully). Thanks for the tips given here, I mentioned the MAF issue and my guy said that was one of the first things he looked into. 

Again I have not driven it myself but I will in the AM and I will update you guys. 

Thanks 
syd


----------



## sydneym76 (Jan 26, 2007)

So far so good.

Car is driving fine absolutely no hesitation what so ever. 

Thanks again for all your help and info.

Syd


----------



## fleck (Jan 12, 2007)

hey, good to know man... see how it was something simple and small!? i believe what they say about the GA16s being badly grounded more and more, my car defenitely needs a grounding kit, any little thing makes the electrical system choke.


----------

