# My car stutters when I accelerate from (0-15) then accelerates fine



## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

Hi everyone. This is my first post on the forum. Please beat me up if I do anything wrong.

My car just recently started to take a second longer to crank than normal. It idles at around 4-5000 rpm/s. Then when I go to accelerate, it almost feels like it's about to die and stutters a lot from 0-15. Then once I get past 15 it drives fine, like nothing is even wrong with it.

Before this it was accelerating terribly all around, but then I did a tune up and one of the fuel injectors was bad, so I replaced it. It was driving fine once I did that with randomly just a slight note of hesitation every now and then when I first started to accelerate, but now it's gotten really bad.

Do you think it's because I need to replace all of the fuel injectors? I didn't really want to do that, as I'm broke, but if that's 100% what it is, I will definitely change them all. I wasn't sure if that would be the problem since it only does it from 0-15 mph.

Also, I definitely have some exhaust issues going on, but I'm not sure if they could be causing that?

Thanks for any advice!


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Idles at 4000 rpms?
How do you get it into gear?


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

*Reply*

Oops. That should have been 4-600. Normally it's a around 500. It feels really shaky, feels like its about to die and then somehow drives though it.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

5000 rpms...
Five - THOUSAND rpms...


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

jdg said:


> 5000 rpms...
> Five - THOUSAND rpms...


Haha. Damnit. 500. I was on my iPhone. I dont know why it autocorrects me to 1000s.


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

Anyone know what could be causing this?


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

When you say you gave it a tune up (when you noticed the injector wasn't working), what exactly did you 'tune up'? Is it possible something happened then?

Have you tried cleaning out the throttle body and spraying some carb cleaner in there? Distributor and plugs looks good? No oil or anything?


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

Also, http://www.nissanforums.com/u13-1993-1997-altima/86393-95-altima-stalling-idling-issue.html is a thread that may help.


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

wilburk said:


> When you say you gave it a tune up (when you noticed the injector wasn't working), what exactly did you 'tune up'? Is it possible something happened then?
> 
> Have you tried cleaning out the throttle body and spraying some carb cleaner in there? Distributor and plugs looks good? No oil or anything?


No, I don't think it's because of the tune up. I replaced the one bad fuel injector, the plugs, sparks, distributor cap, rotor button and changed my oil and oil filter.

I'm reading that thread now. Thanks for posting.


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

Definitely. Keep us posted. It's interesting for me to hear about because I've just been solving a hardbody truck cut out at high rpms. Been checking some of the same things as you.


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

I read this while googling: "Bad ignition timing can cause bogging in a certain RPM range but clear up in another RPM range."

So possibly bad ignition timing? 

Could a bad distributor cause being bogged down in a certain RPM range? What about the pickup coil connector being cracked? I unplugged the connector when I replaced the distributor cap to look at it and part of the plastic chipped off. I don't know if that could effect anything if it there is a bad connection there.


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

Interesting that you mention the ignition coil. I think that I solved my own problem with the '87 hardbody by fixing that same cable from coil to distributor. Assuming that it was preventing coil from delivering necessary power to plugs, injectors (just a guess--I really don't know enough about the coil to say that with any certainty). But it's not cutting out anymore at sudden acceleration. 

I know that's not your same problem. But replace it! It could absolutely affect it. Maybe your fix is that easy.


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

wilburk said:


> Interesting that you mention the ignition coil. I think that I solved my own problem with the '87 hardbody by fixing that same cable from coil to distributor. Assuming that it was preventing coil from delivering necessary power to plugs, injectors (just a guess--I really don't know enough about the coil to say that with any certainty). But it's not cutting out anymore at sudden acceleration.
> 
> I know that's not your same problem. But replace it! It could absolutely affect it. Maybe your fix is that easy.


I was saying the pickup coil connector on the distributor, not the ignition coil to the distributor cap. Sorry, if I got you mixed up. I replaced the ignition coil about two years ago, it should be fine.

I appreciate your replies. Hopefully I can figure this out soon.


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

I just cranked it to evaluate it. It was smoking around the back of the engine around the EGR valve.

I took the EGR valve off and cranked it and black smoke was coming out of the hole closest to the engine. I imagine that much smoke isn't supposed to be circulating through there.. :X

Well, I don't think that had anything to do with it. I put some carb cleaner in it and let it run for a few minutes. It was still idling bad with the EGR valve off.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

1995NissanAltima said:


> I was saying the pickup coil connector on the distributor, not the ignition coil to the distributor cap.


I assume that you're referring to the 'camshaft position sensor' harness connection on the side of the distributor. If the connector is not locked in place, it could be causing some of your problems. Perform an ECU code readout to see if any fault codes are set. If the fuel filter and air filter hasn't been changed in a long time, replace them. Test the fuel pressure.

Always use Nissan OEM distributor cap/rotor and spark plugs; aftermarket items can cause driveability problems.


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

rogoman said:


> I assume that you're referring to the 'camshaft position sensor' harness connection on the side of the distributor. If the connector is not locked in place, it could be causing some of your problems. Perform an ECU code readout to see if any fault codes are set. If the fuel filter and air filter hasn't been changed in a long time, replace them. Test the fuel pressure.
> 
> Always use Nissan OEM distributor cap/rotor and spark plugs; aftermarket items can cause driveability problems.


Both the air filter and fuel filter are relatively new. They should be fine. And I wouldn't think it would be either of those since the car drives fine once it gets past 15 miles per hour.

The codes I get back are O2 sensor and knock sensor. -They have come and gone for the past 3 years. :/


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

Both relatively fast and easy fixes!


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## 1995NissanAltima (Jan 19, 2013)

wilburk said:


> Both relatively fast and easy fixes!


Yeah, I don't think it's either of those. I believe it might be one of the other fuel injectors. I did the "screwdriver test" to listen to them. I think one of them sounds a little off, but it's hard to tell. I guess I'm going to replace the other 3 and hope it fixes the problem.

Thanks for keeping in touch! Did you find out what was wrong with your car?


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

I did! So it was the ignition coil--but just the connection. The wire between the coil and distributor was super loose. Loose enough to break the circuit, but not enough to come off entirely and make it obvious. Noticed it after some forum members had recommended to check this component. Cleaned out the contact points, squeezed it back on, and threw a hose clamp on there. 

This seems to have fixed the problem for the time being, but I'm going to replace the coil anyways since it's rusty and has a big crack down the side! It was right next to the AIV that had to get replaced because it was 100% rusted through.


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## wilburk (Dec 29, 2012)

So I already put this on another post but I wanted to update you guys who have been helping me on this thread...

Replaced the coil and it fixed the bogging/loss of power problem. Threw in the new coil (after scraping all the rust out from EVERYWHERE) and ran the truck into normal operating temperature, then took it out and accelerated hard, etc. and it seems to be totally fixed. 

When I took out the coils to do the ohms resistance test I saw the case on the primary coil was totally cracked through. Guessing that water had gotten in and rusted it and the spark wasn't able to power the distributor, plugs, etc. Take a look!

Cracked coil compared to new.










Rusted out brackets and compartment where coils were sitting. I scraped a ton of it out.


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