My car stalls at stop lights and stop signs

Jul 29th, 2003, 09:42 PM

95 Altima GXE.
whenever I stop for the stop lights and stop signs and then try to accelerate, it stalls. When I put the gear to PARKING or NEUTRAL, the engine speed is around 1000rpm, which is normal, but once I put it on DRIVE and not accelerate, I can see the engine is vibrating between 300rpm to 800rpm and I can feel the vibration from the car. Anybody knows what is wrong with it? Thank you very much.

niky · Jul 29th, 2003, 10:10 PM

hmmm... have you searched (button up top?) for related threads on the board?

sounds like it might be the idle air controller... anytime it fluctuates like that, it's either the IAC or your MAF... could be any of a number of other things, but those come to mind first.

3.5SE Auto · Aug 5th, 2003, 03:10 PM

if it stalls at stop signs and red lights, just DON"T STOP

but seriously, check fuel filter, plugs and all your basic tuneup stuff
: plugs, wires.

On my 95 Nissan Pickup same engine as you, they say not to adjust the timing but the thing was having a hard time keeping a steady idle. I turned the distributor advancing the timing just a smidge. that made all the difference in the world. I never had the timing actually checked, just bumped it a bit.

Oxygen sensor could also cause it

Everything above is cheaper than most any engine sensor, so be damn sure it isn't one of the cheap problems above before you spend 80 or 100 or more dollars on a sensor such as the O2, MAF or the controller.

The oxygen sensor usually goes around 80,000 miles in the KA24DE? I had two but am no expert, that is when I noticed mine were going due to very low fuel economy.

Aug 5th, 2003, 07:19 PM

I tried to replace the fuel filter, distrubtor, spark plugs. They don't work. I am trying to adjust the idle speed, but I could not find the screw. Anybody knows where it it?
Also I tried to measure the voltage from the TPS. It's always zero even I accerelate the engine. I believe it is wrong. Is it difficult to replace?
Thank you for all suggestions!

panic_mechanic · Aug 5th, 2003, 07:42 PM

I think u should look at the throttle position sensor cause I have the same problem on my car and one of my freinds had the same problem on his car

Aug 5th, 2003, 07:56 PM

You mean you and your friend got it fixed with a new TPS?

dragan · Sep 4th, 2003, 05:29 PM

Did you get this fixed? My Dodge Caravan had the same problem as did my Sentra. I got some advice from a Chrysler web site about first checking the throttle body intake because carbon builds up there and causes problem with the throttle plate moving. In both cases, cleaning the throttle body intake with carbureator cleaner did the trick beautifully. It took all of 15 minutes to do. Just remove the clamp holding the rubber boot, remove the boot, spray and use a clean lint-free cloth to wipe off the carbon.

tkvtec · Oct 1st, 2003, 07:47 PM

this is a big issue with the ka24de, I had the problem on my 96 altima til i blew the tranny. Also check altimas.net. this issue has been discussed extensively many times on there.