1997 Nissan Altima

[mrsrosie022870]

I need some help PLEASE!!! My mom left her car to my daughter before she passed away and the only thing wrong with it is that sometimes when you drive it, it will stutter and stall out. So I had a muffler guy look at it to see if it was the catalac converter, nope, so he sent me to another mechanic, he said it was the intake gasket and knock sensor, that he didn't work on that so he sent me to another mechanic that works on forgien cars. He charged me $676.00 to change the gasket, replace the knock sensor and another $100.00 to change the drive belts. I picked the car up on Wednesday, no problems till today, Monday. SAME problem. The mechanic says its not the same problem that it's something else. Now he wants me to bring it in so he can look at it again and see what else is the problem. I'm at my witts end with this car. I think I have put too much money into it as it is. Please help. The car sputters like its flooding or something and when you stop or slow down, it will stall.

Thanks,

Kym

[Rev_D21]

Welcome to NICO Kym. As a former tech let me say that if you asked the third mechanic to replace the parts that the second tech guessed might have needed replacing then I am going to side with the thrid tech that those parts weren't the problem, something else is at fault and needs to be diagnosed. Now if you brought the car to the thrid tech and said , "fix it, I'm not sure what is wrong" then the problem falls on the third tech because what he fixed was wrong. It's all in what you say to a tech, most will only do what you ask so be careful what you ask for.

As for the knock sensor, if it is faulty (mine was before I traded my Alty) it won't stutter or stall but rather lack power because the computer goes into a protective mode so you don't blow the motor up. Mine drove fine with the bad sensor.

The intake gasket is not unheard of going bad on these cars. Depending on how bad it is I venture to guess that the intake leak could have triggered the Knock sensor code. Long shot but possible.

Too many hands in the pie. I know you don't want to hear this but if I were in your shoes I would spring to have the car DIAGNOSED at the dealer. The reason is that $767 is still cheaper than going out and buying another head ache. Altimas are awesome cars and yours sounds like it just needs to be with the right tech to solve it. The car will give you years of reliable driving.

I'd take it to the dealer for DIAGNOSES only at this point. Hear what they have to say, get a quote on any repairs the car might need. It's hard to diagnose over the internet without having the car right in front of me. Get a quote if you can then post the results here for some of our Altima guys to look at. Also we have an excellent Online Mechanic section on the NICO main boards where you can ask real Nissan techs about your car.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[mrsrosie022870]

Thank you so much for your advise. I did ask the third mechanic to diagnose the vehicle also. He did say the same as the 2nd mechanic. Although, I did take it to him with a diagnosis from the 2nd mechanic. I haven't considered taking it to the dealer, maybe that's what I'll do. I limited myself to $1,000.00 to fix the car. I have a couple of hunderd left maybe it won't cost so much. Thanks for the help. By the way, for about 6 months before my mom died, she had it at the same mechanic about 4 times. He could never say what was wrong with it because it don't do it all the time. Now it does it more, but still not all the time. I have my 17 year old driving, so it's a big deal that it stalls on her, not so much if I'm driving, I'm a LITTLE more experienced and won't freak out like I feel she will if it stalls crossing an intersection. Thanks again

[Rev_D21]

Are there any lights on on the dash? Is the check engine light on or anything like that? Does the weather have anything to do with when it stalls? When do you find the car stalling the most? If the third mechanic confirmed what the second mechanic said then they are both wrong and they should both do something to win your confidence back. They said it was blah but it wasn't blah so you are up the same creek while they have your money. Try explaining it to them and see what they say, if they are respectable and really care about what they do and they want to keep you as a customer they should work with you on this one.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[mrsrosie022870]

Hello Reverend D,Thanks for your input. I called both the mechanics, they both seemed not interested in what I had to say. I am driving the car and my daughter is driving mine. I will bring it to them when it starts acting up again. We are hoping that it's because of maybe bad gas. I drove it today, no problems. But see the problem is, when we (first my mom then me) the car never acts up. LOL The 3rd mechanic is down the road from where I work so it would only take a few minutes to get there while the car is not running right. If they can't do anything without charging me an arm and a leg, I will bring it to the Nissan place and let them LOOK at it. Can't afford to pay the Nissan people to fix it, but maybe they could give me a few thoughts as to what they might think. So basicly, it's a waiting game and I'm prepared to wait it out. Thanks again for your help. I will definately let you know when I get it fixed.