1996 Nissan Altima runs rough and stalls

[ahardb0dy]

Guy I work with has a 96 ( I think) altima, 108K miles auto transmission, he doesn't do maint. on it at all, The car has a very low idle when in park about 400-500 RPM ( 900 RPM with A/C on), and the engine stalls when sitting or when you stop at a traffic light etc. He said he put new plugs and wires ( aftermarket) in it recently, the fuel and air filter haven't been replaced in 9 YEARS!!!!, I replaced both of them for him yesterday. Oil and filter replaced yesterday also. I figured the car would run a lot better with the new filters but it still runs rough, low idle and stalls. I'm going to clean the throttle body tomorrow because I know it has to be filthy and will check voltage at MAF sensor. Another guy at work said his son has the same car and had the same problem and cleaning the TB fixed it. O2 sensors not replaced either. I looked in the FSM and it says PCV valve could cause this also? Have to ask him tomorrow if he did the cap and rotor and am going to check the gap on the plugs cause I know he didn't check the gap before he installed the plugs. Any other ideas on what to check? Thanks

[180fan]

timing, distributor cap/rotor, ignition wires, fuel and air filters, clean the pipings, change the transmission fluid, replace the vac lines, check the intake manifold for a sucked in gasket which can also make startup difficult, always a good idea to clean out the throttle body and intake manifold with carb cleaner and also seafoam. Don't forget the CTS, check the TPS position, IACV, and replace the PCV.

[ahardb0dy]

what I've done so far, replaced fuel and air filter, owner had oil and filter changed and replaced plugs and wires ( not OEM, I know I told him), cleaned throttle body and MAF sensor, replaced cap and rotor ( again not OEM, owner of car is cheap), checked vacumn lines all looked good. Wasn't sure but I did it anywayI cleaned the MAF sensor with electronic cleaner. The car ran a lot better after cleaning the TB but the owner said the next morning it started acting up again. and the engine light now stays on. Think it's time for him to take it to the dealer and have a diagnostic done to it.

[180fan]

could be an intake manifold gasket that gets sucked in. It can cause a hard start on the altimas. I've dealt with a 95 altima that had that gasket sucked in and caused it to have a really rough time to start. It could have gotten sucked in enough to cause a vac leak.

[struckinc]

i was a service advisor for 8 years....check to see of there is oi lcoming from the bottom of the dist...most likely the oil seals in the dist is leaking and causing a misfire

[jserrano]

I concur.

[ahardb0dy]

the owner of the car took it to the dealer to have diagnostic done, the service dept told him they were very busy and couldn't do it at the time but the service tech told him it sounded like an intake gasket problem, is this most likely the gasket between the intake manifold and the head or between the intake and the throttle body?

when I replaced the cap I didn't notice any oil, I'll check for an oil leak thru the distributor

Thanks

[180fan]

Ah yes, and the intake manifold gasket strikes again. Yeah it's a common problem with the mid 90's altimas.