2005 Nissan Altima

[leanne]

I bought a used 2005 Nissan Altima a little over year ago from an Infiniti dealership. For the past 3 months my car has been in and out of Infiniti and Nissan dealerships, the car keeps stalling when driven at a low speed or even while stopped at a stop sign or a red light. The first time they replaced my mass airflow meter and a week later it started stalling again, each time they give my car back to me they tell me that they couldn't duplicate the stall so they can't find out what's wrong with it. I brought it back again last week after the car stalled on me in traffic and today they told me it is the ipdm and it is going to cost me about $300 to fix it and it isn't covered under my 3 year extended warranty. I am just nervous that this isn't the problem and I am going to pay the $300 and then next week my car is going to stall on me again. Has anybody else had this problem?

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard, leanne.

The IPDM issues on ertain Nissans are well-documented, unfortunately... Here's a discussion of one such issue:

zer...15398

Typically, it's not the whole module but one of the relays that goes bad. I'd recommend finding one from a junkyard to test (www.car-part.com is a good start).

Alternatively, let's see if we have someone local that may have one you can test. I'm betting you just have a single bad relay in the IPDM.

Post up in the regional forum for your area and see if there's a local who might help you pinpoint the problem.

zeroforum?id=155

[leanne]

I just don't understand how or why it took them so long to figure out what the problem is. I don't mind paying to get the car fixed, but I just want to make sure that have pinpointed the problem. It has gotten to the point that I am actually scared to drive my car because I don't know when or if it is going to stall out on me.

[pm_page6776]

Slight chance it is the IPDM but it is MUCH more likely that you have a bad crankshaft position sensor. I have seen your problem a thousand times. There is an updated sensor from Nissan. It runs about $50. Trust me!

[leanne]

Thanks for your response. I actually mentioned that to them and they told me that the sensor had nothing to do with the problem. I still insist it has something to do with the sensor. Where can I purchase the updated sensor? Is it difficult to install?

[pm_page6776]

This is on the assumption that you have a QR 2.5L 4 cylinder. You can buy the sensor from a Nissan parts dealer. They are not very hard to install. It is located on the back of the engine next to the rear motor mount. If you set a flashlight on top of the motor mount facing the engine, you will see it. It is a bit hard to reach but if you have long arms it will not be an issue. The connector has a green tab which has to be pushed in to release from the sensor. One 10 mm bolt holds the sensor to the block. Once you remove the sensor look for oil in the connector. They tend to leak through the sensor onto the pins. The new sensor looks different from the old one, don't worry. When installing the new sensor, it is easiest to plug the sensor in first then bolt it to the engine. If you have a VQ 3.5L 6 cylinder, disregard these instructions.

[pm_page6776]

BTW... do you have an extended warranty through Nissan. I can check to see if your part is covered if you have a security plus plan.

[carmo]

I kinda like the IPDM idea. Only because the customer never mentioned anything about a check engine light. Every time I've seen those things cause stalling problems there is a code stored. I've seen the cam sensors leak and stall a car out too. Just a thought. Leanne, maybe you can have a mechanically inclined friend move those little relays around. We've had some success with that. Purely for diag. of course. Maybe move them around and see if the stall problem goes away and an A/C problem starts, or something like that. Good luck

[pm_page6776]

I have had several crank position sensors cause a stalling issue that have not had a check engine light. Not saying it isn't the IPDM, but why make a $300 repair when you can pull the crank sensor out and see if there is oil leaking onto the pins.

[leanne]

Hi thank you for your response. Yes I bought the 3 year extended warranty. I thought it would be covered under the warranty but according to the dealer it isn't covered.

[pm_page6776]

Which plan do you have? Gold? Silver? Pre-owned? Pre-owned plus? If you tell me which plan you have, I will check to see if it is covered.

[leanne]

I have The Quality Guard +Plus- Deluxe.

[carmo]

Yea no doubt check the obvious places. Crank pos. sensor is a butt load cheaper than the IPDM. Accessibility is an issue unless you have been there several times before unfortunately.

[rotorolla]

tell the dealer to pull your vin against the recall for ecu reprogram .Ive only seen a few but there is 2 recalls for your car req reprogram one being for the catlysts and the other which is much less common but the only symptom once affected is stalling .the recall is free .If they give you the run around I'll post up the campaign ID tomorrow .If an ipdm stalls a car it usually wont last as long as you're saying without replacing a fuse or something .It will usually stall a couple times in a row and then not work again period .I have had a few I couldnt get but I urge you to push the issue of cause if you do replace the ipdm .Meaning what caused it to blow .Loose grounds etc because if you have a loose connection somewhere that is not corrected you will be buying another one soon