Sentra 1.6L stalling problem

[TomMonger]

I have a 5-speed 1993 Nissan Sentra SE (which I bought brand new). My car has NEVER failed me in all these years, and I owe it absolutely nothing. However, I have a stalling issue and need some help/advice.

When it's hot outside (+70 degF), the car's idle gets a bit erratic after I start the car. It will eventually sabilize after a few minutes while I watch the tch go up and down.

Then when I'm at speeds above say 25-30 MPH and get ready to come to a stop (as soon as I depress the clutch), the car's idle will drop so low that it dies instantly, although sometimes the idle picks right up and the car remains running, with the idle bouncing up and down a bit and then stabilizing around 700 RPM.

Also, when I'm on the highway, cruising, the car will let out an occasional "jerk", as if it was missing (or stalling?). Once in a blue moon, it will start kicking a little when I would accelerate at highway speeds, kinda like it was "choking" for a second. Then it would be OK.

I've had my fuel injector cleaned last year, so I don't think that is the problem. Could it be a MAF sensor problem? Or an IACV problem? Or vacuum problem?

On a side note, my cruise control no longer works, and if I leave my car sit longer than 2 days, the brake pedal becomes very hard (as though I was pumping the pedal with the car off). The brake pedal is fine once I start the car again.Keep in mind that this only happens when it's very warm outside. In the cooler fall and winter, the problem is nonexistant.

Thank you for any help!-Tom in Scranton, PA USA

[nametakennow]

My '01 2.0 has the exact same symptoms (except the brake pedal stuff), though they do happen in the cold as well, but to a lesser degree. I've narrowed it down to the purge valve in the evap canister sticking, but I don't think '93s had that kind of emissions equipment. I'm interested to see the results of this.

[pradoman84]

what brand of gas are you using? the intake manifold could be full of carbon deposits. my car was suffering fromthe same symptoms. i would start it and the rpm's would drop. i would have to push the accelerator down and slowly let go in order for it to idle right. also when coming to a stop, it would die when i disengaged the clutch. i took off my iac motor, cleaned it with carb cleaner, and also sprayed inside the manifold. it cleared it up right away. try that.

[TomMonger]

OK, I took off the IACV and cleaned it with carb cleaner. I also replaced the distributor cap and rotor, and replaced the spark plugs. Car is running very nicely now, and no stalling, however I still have a residual problem:

When I start the car up after it's been sitting a long time (overnight)... it starts immediately and runs nicely. If I park it and turn of the engine, let it sit 1/2 hour or so and go to start it again, I'm getting a strange idle, like it's spitting and sputtering, but the RPMs are up between 800-900. It's not stalling, but it's a rough idle. Lasts for almost exactly a minute and then run perfectly. This started happening about a month ago.

Thanks,-Tom in PA
Modified by TomMonger at 7:54 PM 8/29/2007

[TomMonger]

Bump?

[psalm]

I have the same problem in the summer months only. When it gets real bad I make sure and change the air filter and it usually fixes it, at least for a couple of months.

[TomMonger]

I just want to thank everyone for their help with my Sentra! It is now running great again! My spittin' and sputterin' problem got bad... so bad that it was doing it full-time... like what happened several years ago from a cracked distributor cap. So I decided to check it again, along with the plugs.

When I pulled the first two spark plug wires out, I heard the usual "pop" sound, but the third one didn't make that sound. I looked into the wire and didn't see the metal contact. When I looked into the spark plug well, lo and behold, it was still attached to the tip of the plug! So I immediately walked down to Autozone and got me a new set of wires.

And the rest is history! The car is now running great! All the spittin' and sputterin' and vibration was because of a bad wire. I imagine I was only running on 3 cyclinders!

I have one question:

I monkeyed around with the idle adjustment on the IACV. What should my idle be set to after the car is warm (RMPs)? Is 850 too high?

Thanks,-Tom in Scranton, PA USA

[Classic Style]

I don't know about for emissions, and I'm referencing a totally different beast (LS-1 engine), but I have my idle down around 600-650 and it runs fine.

Also something has me a bit perturbed - you mentioned that the rough idling went away after almost exactly one minute. That's about how long it takes for most engines (not necessarily the 1.6 engine) to go from open loop status to closed loop. Fixing the wires may have masked another problem. Your original post sounded like a vacuum leak. Again, my experience with an LS-1 that did the same thing.

Anyway, grats on fixing the problem and hope it stays fixed.

[gazu]

i had d same prob. i clean d idle air control valve with cab cleaner & i spray it inside d manifold. all prob stop. so u should try dat. it might work