My daughter's 1992 maxima idles up and down. When at a stop light it some times with die when in drive, I have to put it in neutral so it does not die. When accelerating from the stop light some times it chugs.
My 1993 Maxima had roughly the same problems. I took it in to the Nissan dealer where an outstanding mechanic (who said he loved working on these old ones) said that there was a sensor in the exhaust system (tailpipe area?) that measured how well the engine was burning gas. This sensor was bad. He replaced it, and the trouble disappeared. Something to do with adjusting the gas/air mixture when the engine was cold, or something like that. Sorry I can't remember more - it's been a while. Hope this helps.