So car shut off on me tonight?

[str33tprintz]

As the title says I was on my way home getting off of the highway when my car just shut off. I don't down shift to slow down so I wasn't in gear. Actually I didn't even notice until I realized I had no power steering . I had just put my car through it paces as I usually do on the way home and it never hesitated once. And it started right back up and was fine then stalled in my driveway and is fine now. I'm just confused.

Vehicle is a 96 Nissan 240sx SE KA24DE 174,XXX milesRam Air Intake and Electric fans - no other mods.

It has been idling weird lately but has never shut off. So far i have ruled out the battery because it starts right up again though I'm not sure of the alternator. It does seem like an electrical issue because when the idle gets interrupted I can tell the voltage and amperage throughout the car drops dramatically. Or maybe its the EGR I had a similar problem on my previous vehicle.

But anyway please Help I am baffled by this.

Thank you in advance Nico GODS.

[Kelbizzle]

This happened to me once. The car just shut off one time. After scratching my head for a few minutes I realized I ran over a huge puddle of water. It sucked into the intake, hitting the MAFS and sending the car into fail-safe.

After that it would always have this problem but intermittently. I explained it just the way you did to my mechanic minus the Huge puddle story. He told me to check MAFS, FPR, Injectors, ECTS, O2, or EGR.

In the end I found it was a faulty MAFS. It could have been an EGR, I'm just glad my problem was the first test he told me to try. :-/

[NISSAN240SX12]

could be a bad crankshaft sensor. If they go bad it will cause the car to shut off at random. check for any codes in the ECU.

[Dattebayo]

You guys are crazy. I mean listen to these responses, lol

It's something in the IACV/TPS/Oxygen sensor loop most likely, Check your ECU codes first.

If it was the MAFS your engine would not rev above a certain number and it would run like absolute crap. If you had sucked a lot of water into your intake tube, none of you would have the symptoms you said you had and your car would not run anymore, so that's not it either. If it was the FPR, the engine wouldn't start when it was hot, so that's not it as well.

[str33tprintz]

Son of a b****, a few months ago during the begining of the rainy season I sucked in alot of water with my cold air intake (now ram). My dad and I had to take blow driers to the electronics. But I never changed it and I think my car has thrown a cam code for sure. FML

But thank you I knew I would find an answer on here. it Just scared the s*** out of me last night.

[str33tprintz]

I am definitely going to check the codes my ecu is throwing. Both the MAF and the Cams is a possibility especially because there was a cup of water in the MAF and I never swapped it out.

I drove it to work and it drove beautifully the whole way. Just don't trust it any more.

[Dattebayo]

Both the MAF and the Cams is a possibility especially because there was a cup of water in the MAF and I never swapped it out.

What do you mean by the "cams" could be it and also "cup of water in the MAF"? It's not a container so it can't hold water...

[str33tprintz]

lol... Yeah well my old cold air intake sucked in some water and I had to literally open up the MAF and pour the water out, maybe not a cup but definetly a few teaspoons worth.

And by cams I ment the crankshaft and cams. When I first bought the car it was throwing up a cam code. gotta get that checked out

[Dattebayo]

lol... Yeah well my old cold air intake sucked in some water and I had to literally open up the MAF and pour the water out, maybe not a cup but definetly a few teaspoons worth.

Okay, Maybe I didn't explain myself enough. You can't really "open up" a MAF sensor, it's a tube with a little wire thing hanging down inside of the tube. SO maybe you could explain a little better?

And by cams I ment the crankshaft and cams. When I first bought the car it was throwing up a cam code. gotta get that checked out

This doesn't make sense. DO you mean it was showing a camshaft sensor code?

[str33tprintz]

yeah I ment camshaft code sorry for the confusion. And yes your mass air flow sensor does come apart. Trust me it does... doesn't look like it does and I thought I broke it when it did, but it still works.

[Dattebayo]

This is a MAF sensor.



The thing on the left. It is attached to the filter box and the air tube. It does not come apart.

[str33tprintz]

well do you see the screws on the side of the maf well they come out, then that piece comes off.... Sooooo you can pour water out. well at least that is what I did.

[Dattebayo]

haha It's not supposed to be serviceable like that. What in the world possessed you to open it up? A lucky guess? You may have compromised something in there and definitely affected the seal. How the eff did you manage to get water in there?

[str33tprintz]

Well I live in Florida and it rains here... like alot and in low areas like where I live certain spots can have standing water more than 9 inches deep + cold air intake = having to open your MAF.

Dude I removed it from the vehicle and shook it and it sounded like when you shake a juice container. So I really didn't have a choice. But yeah I definitely might have compromised something in there.

But im getting back to work and will post if anything changes.

Edit: I think I came as close Hydro-locking as possible without destroying the engine. Hense no more cold air.

[Hoffman5982]

Does your car ever shudder or have like a hickup or anything while your cruising? Both of my s14 have had this problem. I bought my current one and it was doing the same thing. Actually, on the way home it shut off while I was getting onto the interstate and again when I was stopping at a red light.

anyways, both times it was the same thing. There was a break in the wiring harness. And both time it was around the same exact area, which was where it bends at the firewall and goes along the side of the valve cover. After having it happen on 2 different s14s, I assumed it was one of those common problems that ever s14 has(like the paint on the sunroof chipping and the trim on the bottom corners of the rear window raising.

I would try checking that. and don't just unwrap it and see if you can see anything. The wire that had the break in mine looked fine, it was broken inside. good luck

[Dattebayo]

Well I live in Florida and it rains here... like alot and in low areas like where I live certain spots can have standing water more than 9 inches deep + cold air intake = having to open your MAF.

Dude, I know. I have a place in Miami. But where are you putting the MAF so that it gets immersed in 9 inches of water? It's supposed to be inside the engine compartment!

If you sucked up that much water, I would suggest you change the oil and flush the engine with seafoam.

[str33tprintz]

This also sounds very likely and will be on by list to check. Do you know what wire it was or at least the color of said wire.

- Also as an update my S14 stalled 3 times on my way to work once off of the highway but still pulls beautifully to redline. Idle is still iffy sometimes though.

- And to answer your question Dattebayo It wasn't submerged in 9 inches of water just the intake filter was and that was enough to drown the (mass air flow) sensor.

- Tomorrow I will be off and will try switching the MAF with a friends old one, and ill try wiggling the harness while the car is at idle to see if it stalls.

I do have one question if it is the MAF and I swap it with a z32 MAF is it just a plug and play affair.

Thank you in advance.

[Hoffman5982]

mine was a white wire. I'm not exactly sure what it went to though. All you have to do is get the harness uncovered, start the car, and then start pulling and twisting a few wires at a time(I grabbed like 5-10 at a time). if your car ever tries to die, start going through each wire in that bunch until you find which wire it is. If you can see a break then that's easy, but if it's like mine you have to go up and down the wire until you can locate it or possibly feel it. then, it's just a matter of stripping and soldering to fix it. It took me a few hours, so be patient. Like i said before, on both cars it was where it curved up along the engine, so I would start from there

[str33tprintz]

Thank you I will be checking the harness tomorrow if I have further problems.

- But as an update tonight I barely made it home and tried to go to the gym and couldn't make it down the block without it stalling and bogging down. So I went and bought some brake cleaner and went to town on the MAF and attached sensor. Aaaaand voila somewhat drivable again. I dont know if this was my issue or not but she is back if only temporarily.

- It even holds a nice idle now. Hopefully this really does fix my issue and (a new MAF and harness is in the mail). If the shenanigans continue I will just go through the suggestions from least to most expensive.

Thanks again.

[Dattebayo]

Look, you aren't supposed to use brake cleaner on electronic parts. That was a really dumb move. That's what they make "MAF" cleaner for. Now you really do need another sensor.

Also, you haven't even TRIED to check any other issue with your car yet. At least try and troubleshoot your car rather than throw parts at it and use solvents that are incorrect just because you "think" they will work.

A Z32 maf will not just "plug and play" with your stock engine. You need to buy a SAFC or an older AFC to make it work.
Modified by Dattebayo at 9:21 AM 4/1/2010