96 Maxima stalls in traffic/steering wheel & gas pedal lock up

[rhcpgirlaji]

My friend recently bought my 1996 Maxima. It was always a great car for me and had no major problems, but recently it has been doing some odd things. My friend has taken it to 2 shops (one of which was Nissan), and after having run a bunch of tests and kept the car for 5 days, no one could replicate the problem or find anything wrong with the car. I can't witness it for myself because my friend and I are in different cities.

The first time it happened, she said she felt two strange jerks, then slowed down at a stoplight and noticed all the interior lights were on (steadily, not flashing). She tried to go once the light turned green, but could not. The wheel and the gas pedal had both locked up. She restarted the car and got home.

Since that first incident, this has happened probably a dozen more times. Usually when it happens it's several times in a day, but then most other days are problem-free. Usually restarting the car works for a while, but one time she had to wait a couple of hours to get it to go anywhere. While it doesn't always run, she can always at least start it up.

Key Facts:-Always happens at slow speeds/RPMs (when the car is in reverse and after coming to a stop and trying to accelerate again)-Car's interior lights come on-Steering wheel locks up and won't move more than an inch or two in either direction-The gas pedal also locks up. It simply cannot be pushed down (rather than acting like it's out of gas where it could be depressed but nothing would happen).-No one else (mechanics, my mom, friends) can seem to make this happen, which makes it hard to diagnose & fix.

The car:-1996 Nissan Maxima GLE-Approximately 150,000 miles-Automatic transmission

Aside from this, the car is in good shape. Because it's an automatic, my friend hasn't really been paying attention to the RPMs it's at when this occurs, but I told her to look next time.

It's bad enough that it's stalling out in traffic, but the fact that she can't steer when this happens makes me even more worried. I offered to take it back and just let her find another car but she really wants this one, so we'd like to figure out what the problem is.

If anyone can offer any advice or a direction to go, it would be sincerely appreciated.

Thank you!

[Beancooker]

The stalling, I'd say it sounds like the MAF (mass airflow sensor). Locking of the wheel and gas??? I'll see what I can find.

[rhcpgirlaji]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I've done some research but I haven't found anyone experiencing all the lock-ups this car is having, especially on an automatic. Most threads I saw were problems that made sense for a stick...

[Beancooker]

Is this your car, or her car? Have you ever been driving it when it "locks up"? The steering will get stiff once power is cut, because it is power steering. It should not lock though. The gas pedal has me lost. I'll look.

[DjNikos]

I honestly would think alternator or battery, but thats impossible since you said the lights stay steady and the car restarts fine. This isn't your average problem and it shouldn't be acting up at 150,000 miles at least like this.

I was looking online and found a QA on a site. Im going to quote it now because it sounds very very similar to this maxima even though its not nissan.

"Question: 1998 Isuzu Trooper, mileage: 62,000. After cruising 100+ miles on the highway using the cruise control, I slow down at a traffic light and the car stalls. It restarts without problem but the idle is poor and sometimes quits. This morning the car started great, but after I came out of the store and restarted, it would not idle unless I pump the gas or maintained RPM\'s above 1000. Made it home and checked all hoses and connections and started ok with good idle. Is this an IAC valve problem?

Answer: Your problem may be an IAC (idle air control) valve. Also, check for a faulty EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve that may be sticking open."

I mean, I can't say this will be the answer thats in the quote, but it might be somewhere to begin. I've been reading up here by the way http://www.2carpros.com/topics/stalls.htm

[rhcpgirlaji]

Well, it's her car now. It was my car for 6 years until I got my Altima. My good friend bought it from my mom recently. The friend and my mom both live in Florida, but I am in South Carolina.

It's never done anything of this nature when I drove it, nor when my mom has driven it. They only recently switched the title, so my mom drove it around quite a bit trying to see if anything happened, but nothing did.

My friend said the steering wheel isn't quite as locked as it would be if, say, you tried to start the car while it wasn't in park. But she says it only moves a little bit (less than 25 degrees, she estimated) and that the tires don't move.

At first I thought she meant she was giving it gas and it wouldn't go, but after I talked her tonight I found out she just can't push the pedal down at all. I've never heard of that problem either.

My guess is that it's some kind of electronic sensor problem, but I really don't know. Neither my mom nor my friend knows much about cars, so they keep taking it to the shop but they can't find anything wrong...

[rhcpgirlaji]

Thanks, DjNikos. That does sound fairly similar (minus the gas pedal locking up). I'll mention those things to the mechanic. Mostly I'm trying to put together a list of possibilities for them to check out because they're at a loss for what could be going on. They've checked all the obvious things. Thanks again.

[jltibbs]

The stalling, I'd say it sounds like the MAF (mass airflow sensor). Locking of the wheel and gas??? I'll see what I can find.

I had the same problem in my 95, it was the wires going into the MAF. a little solder and all is well. (hopefully)

[rhcpgirlaji]

Thanks a bunch.

[Beancooker]

Check back tomorrow, by then some of the east coast guys will have seen it and may know.

[IrishTbag33]

The stalling could be caused by a number of things really:

1. MAF (mass airflow sensor)

2. crank sensor

3. internal fuel pump

4. knock sensor

Steering wheel locking is common when engine shuts off because of it having power steering, like was said.

Locking of the gas pedal would have to do something with the MAF because of it being connected with the throttle body.

But I can only guess because of different things that have happened with my 96 maxima se. Good luck and hopefully I am of some help.

Oh, and if the engine light hasn't come on yet it's just going to have to be a waiting game until it does. And if it blinks instead of coming on and staying on, count the number of times it blinks and write them down.

Again, good luck.

[missmeliss169]

The same thing just happened to me 2 days ago with my 2000 Nissan Maxima GLE, it has 128,000 miles on it and the engine just shut down and the inside lights and radio remained on. The steering wheel locked up due to loss of power I assume and it took a good 20 minutes before it would restart. I guess this must be a recurring problem with Nissan's with fairly high mileage