Engines - Nissan - Sentra :: 1998 - Intermittently Lurches / Loses Speed And Power Then Dies?
Feb 26, 2011
My car (Nissan 1998) runs normally for miles. Then sometimes it just starts lurching while in motion when the gas is depressed and looses speed, as if not getting fuel. Previous times it dies after this. The last time I was on the highway going 70 and I pulled over before it lost power and died completely. Just had new brakes installed, new distributor, all new belts, and an oil leak fixed by a mechanic.
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Here's a little about the car before I start about the problem because my car is very custom. It is a 84 pontiac trans am with 305 H.O. code G engine V8. It was completely redone about three years ago and runs great. We did delete most of the computer control stuff and emissions. We now have a vacuum controlled distributor instead of the original computer controlled one. There is no engine light to check now and here's why. We have converted the car into K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, so the entire gauges on the dash have been turned into digital gauges including the speedometer.
The new gauges run off of the same power that the old ones did. But we have added a separate switch to turn just the dash on for car shows so we don't have to turn the key on. it goes to the fuse for the computer/ gauges and a few other little things. We also have two lcd screens installed and a computer.
Now for my problem. The car still runs great no issues with how it runs or sounds engine wise. It doesn't matter if it is cold,hot, wet, or dry. I can go down the road and all of the sudden all the power to the dash will flicker off and on. I usually lose my speedometer then and don't know how fast I'm going. It will not power up fully unless the car is started normal. The car has to have the gas pumped a few times before starting normal. No biggie. Now, the entire dash will flicker and sometimes when it goes out in the middle of driving, the car just dies. About a week ago everything lost power. No headlights, flashers, interior lights or power to start the car. After a few minutes, one by one the things starting to work.
Interior lights first, then headlights and five minutes later the dash lights come back and the ignition has power again.Went to town the other day and drove for an hour and no issues at all. Today, the lights flashed on the dash, get home, shut the car, turn it back on and fine. Waited a while and had the door open. Shut the car off and it lost power to the ignition. Interior lights were on but no power when you turned the key. The radio would flicker on/off real quick, but no power to the dash or to start the car. Turn the key to acc mode and the radio works but again no power in the on position to start the car or turn on the dash.Now, we can turn on the extra switch to power the dash and it will come on but not when I turn the key.About ten minutes later of just sitting and the car was back to normal. Turn the key and power was back and started right up.
Here's what I've done. Battery and alternator checked out fine, checked all ground cables to firewall, starter, etc, looked for lose wires or melted wires, took distributor cap off and check that area, clean battery cables wires, looked for any corroded or dirty wires, made sure all wires were tight. I even went under the dash and put in a new ignition switch ( I don't ever want to do that again. That was a pain in the neck and I really mean in the neck) Still the same issue. It seems like something is getting hot and causing power to be shut off to the ignition and keeping power from getting to the ignition/dash until it cools off. I hate these kind of issues because it is so hard to track down.
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I have a 1996 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.6L automatic. It fails to start intermittently. It does not matter if the engine is hot or cold. It does not turn over and it seems the whole car has lost power (no engine warning lights, no power locks, etc).
I have taken the battery to be tested and it comes out "good." Once I put the battery back in, the car starts and power is restored to the entire car. The starter (1-month-old) and alternator (1-year-old) test out good also. I changed the inhibitor relay, but the problem occurred again 2 weeks later.
I also noticed one time when I attempted to jump the car with the negative jumper cable attached to the engine block of the dead car or to the negative battery terminal of the dead car, the car would just click (as though attempting to turn over). However, when I connected the jumper cable to the exposed part of the dead car's negative battery cable (right next to the battery cable connector), it starts.
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After my 2005 Nissan Sentra check engine light came on I had the codes read. The code is indicating that there is a lean air/fuel ratio mixture. I'm thinking this may be a false positive(bad sensor), clogged fuel injector, etc. The light has gone off and come back on. I live in Utah where the cold weather may play a factor. How to diagnose the real problem, or where I should start?
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My girlfriend's 2000 Nissan Sentra has about 130k on it. The car has a lot of issues to say the least. The catalytic converter needs to be replaced, the car barely passed inspection, and it periodically stalls out at stop lights and in traffic. Those issues aside, the car has been running well until this week. On monday, the car suddenly died when stopped at a light and the ABS and other lights all went on. Now the car only starts with a jump and will not stay running if the jumper cables are disconnected. Additionally, all of the electronics in the car are nor working. The radio will not work and the windows and power locks barely work.
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I have a 2005 Nissan Sentra with 65k miles. After having the "routine" 60k tune up, my heat stopped working. Not great timing as it is winter. Searching this board and several others, I narrowed it down to a thermostat or a clogged heater core. I have replaced the thermostat, and flushed the heater core. Now, the heater works occasionally. This is way better than it not working but how to make it work all the time. I flushed the core for about 5 minutes. I have heard that you should flush it for longer, but everything was coming out clear and easy after 5 minutes so I assumed it had done the trick.
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I own a 1993 Nissan Sentra (2 Dr, SE, red:-). I've owned it for 17 years and has been a fantastic car. until March of this year when I had to replace the transmission at odometer reading of 121,xxx. Everything has been fine up until about a month ago when I returned to my car after working out at the gym...and it refused to start. No clicking, no hemming or hawwing, just nothing. The lights worked, the seat belt alarm worked, all dashboard lights worked. But absolutely no connection to anything. I tried moving the steering wheel, juggled the key, etc. but nothing.
So I called a tow truck. Thirty minutes later, he arrived, sat down in my driver's seat and magically, it started with no problems. It has happened again only once since that time, but I can never trust that she will start when I need to go to work, etc. I took it to a garage..they told me that they couldn't fix it or find anything wrong unless it was "in the throes" of not working. ...which is ridiculous because it could very possibly not start, have it towed, arrive at the garage, and she might start right up.
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I have a 98 Nissan Sentra every now and then when I get in it to start it I get nothing but if I hold it or turn it to the off position a few times it will start, what this could be....
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I’ve been having a bit of a problem with my 99 Nissan Sentra that is becoming more and more costly every day. It started with my airbag light flashing, so I pulled over to see what might be wrong. I turned the car off, and when I went to start it again it wouldn’t start. I had the battery checked out and it was fine; I ended up changing the starter and the ignition switch. This worked for a week. Later I left my car running in the morning to warm it up, and it did the same thing, the airbag light came on and the battery went dead.
I jumped it and the battery wore itself out again, so this time I took it to the mechanic to replace the alternator. This worked for a week. This time my wife was driving down the highway, the airbag light came on again, and the battery went dead. After a costly tow from the police impound to my home, it will jump, but the battery slowly dies. The only noticeable problems the car has (aside from the obvious battery going dead) is that there is a belt that squeals when I have the air conditioner turned on and I have an oil leak somewhere.
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Recently leased a 2014 Nissan Sentra SL It has 800 miles on it now. Immediately I felt a slight vibration when coming to a stop. It is intermittent happens about 50% of the time. Brought it to my dealer and he said he couldn't feel the problem on the test drive, if it persists come back to him.I plan on going back to service next week. As I apply the brakes it slows down smoothly but just before coming to a complete stop is when it vibrates. Most people say my car has warped rotors causing this,My question is: How can a brand new car with 10 miles on it have warped rotors?
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Today I drove this car to my wife's work to change cars with her, everything seemed fine. Later this evening when my wife went to drive home, the car had trouble starting. Once she got it started, pushing the accelerator did very little. She kept the car running, I went to see her and drove the care basically a couple of hundred of feet. When you push the accelerator, the car does not speed up or rev up. The accelerator feels as it normally does, not sticking, not loose. When I switch the car into second, it continues to operate but no speed up however, you can sense that it is not comfortable being in second gear. My feeling is that it is a fuel injection problem, but might there be something else?
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I recently picked up a 2001 Nissan sentra. This car sat since around 2010. I guess the previous owner had a lot of work done by the dealer a year or so ago and it looks it, brake pads etc. are brand new, a couple other things look new but he's not a car guy in the slightest and can't find the receipt nor will the dealer give him one due to computer system change and I actually tried with them myself, that's correct.
Anyway, the check engine light is on and bringing it home we had reports of black smoke out the exhaust. It also felt like it wanted to stall at times when stopped but it never did. Well, I ran it a while and at times it seemed like it wanted to clear up, at others it didn't but the light stayed on and what not. I scanned it and it claimed the O2 sensor 1 bank 2 was bad so I replaced it.
It didn't make any difference so I cleaned the Mass Air flow sensor. Again no good it's the same. Here's the funny thing though, it's great first thing in the morning usually. As the day goes on and as we drive it, it gets worse. What I can try/change next?
I'm almost leaning on electrical issue where it gets worse as the day goes on and dew dries off. I'm new to Nissan's, I like the car and really want to work this issue out. I did replace the fuel pump when I got the car, and have run sea foam through and actually on that tank of gas it ran pretty good but that's worked itself out now.
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After driving for about 15 minutes the car starts to lurch. regardless of the speed. it gets worse if and when i accelerate. If i rev up the engine, it feels like a lose in power and also like something in the engine is skipping. I changed fuel filter under the hood and the strainer on the fuel pump (not the fuel pump) thinking they might have been clogged up and the engine wasn't getting enough fuel.
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My 1998 Nissan Pathfinder dies randomly while driving. There is no consistency to when it dies. I will be driving down the road and then all of a sudden the car will not accelerate and it eventually dies. The other issue is it won't start from time to time. It sounds like it wants to go, but it won't. Eventually it will turn over. It has been to many mechanics. The crank shaft sensor has been replaced and the mass air flow sensor. Neither one of these were the problem. They now think it is the distributor possibly. There are no codes saved. It has been sitting at the shop now for 9 weeks.
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My '78 245 drives just fine around the (flat) city but when I try to take it to the mountains it seems to struggle. It makes it fine up the hills for the first 30 minutes or so but eventually it starts to chug and will lose power and die. If I give it 10 minutes to rest it will start up just fine and drive fine for a while but if I continue to go uphill it will die again. It doesn't overheat too much, it just seems like it's not getting enough of something? And it doesn't seem like it's a fuel pump because i've replaced those before and it seems different this time. After returning home from the mountains, it's like nothing happened and it drives fine?
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I have a 2005 Subaru Outback. I will be driving and lose all power to the car and it dies. I will try to restart the car and all the battery power will be on (lights, radio, power windows, etc.) however there is no sound when trying to crank the key. If I wait a little while or push the car, it will start back up with the check engine light on and cruise light blinking. I can drive it a block or so with decreased acceleration and it will die again. Brought it to my local shop and they could not recreate the issue (sat overnight). They cleaned the battery terminals and cleaned the throttle body. I drove it for about 3 weeks with no issues and the same exact thing happened again.
The shop told me the codes they got from the check engine were all communication codes (??). The only thing know about the two days the car broke down 3 weeks apart is I filled up the tank with gas on those days (but that doesnt seem like it would matter).
After sitting for an hour waiting for the tow truck. The car started up and he was able to drive it off the truck with no issue. I am totally lost here.
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I have had a 2005 f150 v6 5 speed for a little over two years. Got about 153k on it. Last night was sitting in a parking lot idling about 20-25 minutes, went to leave and she started sputtering hard, lost all power and died. Started back up, idled fine, as soon as i put it in gear same thing then the check engine light came on.
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I have a 2006 Nissan Murano with 122,000 miles on it. It's been a good car, but recently it has had a few episodes of losing power. Here's an example:
I had been driving the car here and there all day, and in the afternoon I swung by my mom's house to pick her up. When she got in the car (I had just been idling while waiting), I went to make a U-turn and the car outright died. I started it right back up and was able to drive to the end of the block before it lost power. It didn't die this time -- the engine was still on -- but all my electrical components went out -- radio, dashboard lights, AC -- and I couldn't get it to go more than 20 mph. That was flooring it. It wasn't giving me a high-pitched whine, just a low hum like it was trying really hard to go but couldn't. I turned it around and barely made it back up the hill to my mom's to park it. It just had no get-up-and-go. An hour or so later my dad came home and checked it out and of course it was fine. Started right up, drove fine.
This has happened twice since, both times I was driving on the freeway when I felt the loss of get-up-and-go and saw the electrical components go out. These times it only lasted maybe 10 seconds, after which it just came back to life in the middle of driving and drove fine the rest of the day.
It makes me think there must be some sort of loose connection somewhere? I'm frustrated by the issue because it's not repeatable. So when I took it to my mechanic, they said they couldn't find anything wrong. They hooked it up to a code reader and nothing came up, and they drove it around and around and it was fine. The idea that it could maybe strand me on the side of the road (I drive my kids around all day) scares me, so I've swapped cars with my husband for the time being. But I want my Murano back!
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My 1999 Mazda Protegé has the hiccups ...every now and then it loses power for a fraction of a second. It lasts just long enough to feel it clearly, but it's gone before I can think about it. Very distinct sensation, but it certainly doesn't push me against the seat belt. It's been doing this for over a year (about 5-7,000 miles). No Check Engine Light has appeared at any time. The timing belt was replaced a few thousand miles back.
Yes, I've had it to a mechanic, a trusted local one. I even left it with him for several days. The car won't hiccup for him. I sometimes notice it around town, but I notice it more when driving on the highway (which has probably been over half my mileage in the past year), but I'm still disappointed that it won't do it for him. He suspects a spark plug wire -- he says it's probably only one cylinder based on my description -- but doesn't want to start replacing the wires if he can't diagnose it.
Recommendations? Should I just replace the wires and figure if that doesn't do it, it's part of the cost of diagnosis? (This much I should be able to do myself.) Should I try something else? Actually, as I think about it, he could have been encouraging me to replace the wires myself.
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I have a 1998 Nissan Maxima. I just had both top and bottom valve gaskets replaced due to oil seepage. About a week prior to this repair, I noticed the car would have trouble starting, but it was very intermittent.Now I am experiencing the starting issue 50% or more of the time when trying to start.I'm horrible at describing the actual issue, but I am going to try. I turn the key and it has trouble turning over quickly. No tinking or clicking or anything like that. I have had the battery and alternator checked and both are fine. When i had the valve gaskets replaced, the shop i used checked the starter and told me it was o.k. I'm really having a tough time figuring this out and don't want to get "taken for a ride" money wise.
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I purchased my 2001 Nissan Sentra about 4 weeks ago and the check engine light came on about a week into owning it. I scheduled an appointment to get it checked, but continued to drive it without issue until one day I started it and as soon as I began driving it lost power. The more gas I gave it, the worse it got. It just wouldn't let me go anywhere. So I parked the car and let it sit for about an hour. Then when I went back to show someone else the problem, the car started and drove again like nothing was wrong. Since then, this has been happening frequently. I will start the car, it will spit and sputter and lose power, I will turn the car off and wait a while, it will start up again no problem.
My local mechanic told me the computer was throwing a bunch of different codes, including the one for the catalytic converters. They also told me that since the problem seems electrical (the car seems to reset itself when I turn it off) it could be that the computer is going and that’s what needs to be replaced. I've taken the car back to the dealership where I bought it, they replaced the oxygen sensors, thinking that would fix the problem. I just got the car back yesterday and drove it for about 60 miles without any problems, then that check engine light came back on and the same old problem is back. My question is, how do I know if the problem is mechanical or electrical? What if I replace the catalytic converters when it’s actually the computer that was the problem all along or vice versa?
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