random cutoffs...slowly going mad

General discussion forum for J30 and M30 owners!
Uncle Dirtnap
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2016 7:00 am
Car: 1991 M30 Convertible

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My m30 has some bad juju. I'm the 2nd owner - it has a 107k and was owned by an old lady.

The big problem right now is that after some period of driving (usually more than 30 minutes, sometimes over an hour), the card will just randomly shut off. It runs fine up till that point, with no missing, hesitation, anything. Sometimes it will go days without a problem.

I've run out of gas enough time in my life to recognize the symptoms, and this is completely different. It doesn't loose power and die, or sputter and die, it just.....stops, like you turned off the key. It will start again but die within seconds, sometimes longer. Sometimes it will run stop run stop, like someone is flipping a switch. If it sits for 5-10 minutes, it will usually run like there was never a problem. Sometimes it takes longer. No matter what, the car will always get home.

I've opened the hood while it was running and wiggled everything. No luck, but I did learn that my injector connectors were on their last leg and replaced them. I did all the normal tune up items - cap, rotor, plugs,etc. It runs fantastic now, but no change to the stopping problem. There is a usually vacuum released when I open the gas cap to fill up, but opening the venting the tank has no effect on the car when it is having an 'episode'.

I'm tempted to rule out fuel issues because of the lack of sputtering, but I don't know anymore.

Any ideas?

-rj


fourdrinie
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:23 am
Car: 97 J30

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these cars have issues with the MAF!
try cleaning the connectors (rubbing alcohol on a q-tip works) and spray the inside of the MAF with cleaner spray.

Uncle Dirtnap
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2016 7:00 am
Car: 1991 M30 Convertible

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MAF connector wasn't bad at all, but I cleaned it and the sensor itself. Still runs great, still shuts off once in a while. ARGH! I'm tempted to take it somewhere, but I have a feeling these vague problems are just going to be a waste of $$$ trying to have someone else fix....

gsf1200s
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:21 am
Car: 1993 J30 (no longer with us)
2012 Nissan Versa
2003 Chevy Silverado
2003 Suzuki Bandit
1971 Honda CB750k1

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since you already cleaned the MAF, the next thing i would suggest is to inspect all your ground connections.

fourdrinie
Posts: 537
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:23 am
Car: 97 J30

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User avatar
vonscorpio
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:16 pm
Car: Current:
15 Q50S
91 M30
Past:
16 QX50
11 G25x RIP
97 I30 RIP
01 QX4
11 G37 Sedan
07 Maxima
Location: WA, USA

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I know I'm about a year late to the party, but as a fellow M30 owner who doesn't drive it very often, and as someone who spent more than a few months with the same issue, I figured I would chime in with another vote for the MAF.

Doesn't hurt to check the grounds, but Occam's razor: it's the MAF.

In the early stages of it failing on my M30, I spent the $$$ at the dealership and the master mechanic suspected it was the MAF, but ultimately they weren't sure. I then replaced all the plugs, wires, alternator, cap, rotor, battery, checked all my grounds, and came close to sacrificing a goat to the angry car gods...

Turns out the MAF was only mostly dead-- and got worse as time went on. Cleaning it bought some time, but replacing it fixed the problem for good. Eventually the car would stall during freeway driving, not just at traffic lights, or when decelerating.

Pro-tip: if you look up "Infiniti M30 MAF" you'll find parts in the $100 used range, but if you look up by the Nissan model number or "91 Nissan Maxima MAF" they can be found for $40 used.


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