LovedMyNissan

Help! I am obviously new to this forum, and my brother sent me the link to it. I own a 97 Nissan Altima. I fear it may be time to put her out to pasture but my brother said to try here before doing so. SHE, (My car lol), has been giving me I think, some warning signs, she was near deaths door.

I DID! put oil in it and the other fluids too! Today however when I drove 7 miles away from home, when I turned it on it seemed to COUGH/JUMP/STUTTER and when I put it in gear, it DIED!!!!!!!. (Meaning the motor stopped running.)

I had to restart and again with the agonizing coughing. IN gear, again... immediate stop. I have NO clue AND VERY little FUNDS to take her into a dealer and could use advice. Brother can try to help but needs a point into which direction to look at... ANY advice would be deeply appreciated. Thank you.....
Signed,
LOVEDMYNISSAN

mrnoname

does it die only when you put it in gear or does it die just after you start it too??

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LovedMyNissan

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HI mrnonname,

Thank you for replying, IT dies ONLY when you put it in gear. IT makes a horrible jumping rumbling/ coughing/ sputtering when cranked.ONce in gear it dies.. Had to tow it home as it would not stay turned on when put in gear. Hope this helps.

Thanks.
LovedMyNissan

mrnoname

when you start it where does it idle???

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spccarstens

Funny... when I refer to my 97 Altima I refer it as her...
Ok. you said that you filled all the fluids, if she still sounds sick there are some other things that you can do to make her feel better. Electronic parts wear on all cars. Have you taken a look at your spark plugs, pull each one out and make shore that there is nothing wet on the ends (oil/water) Some times watter gets in to the deep sleeves that the spark plugs go into (at the end of the spark plug wire) make shore the spark end is clean, if there is oil on it or carbon (will appear like a white or black chalk) it they are good look at the distributor remove the cap and look on the side of it (on the contact points) make shore they are not worn down. WARNING don't remove the rotor inside unless you know what you are doing {you could throw your timing off} find some one that knows what to do and look at the rotor, look for the same...wear... if those are ok and you still have a problem tell us a little more about what she does... is it an automatic or standard (they respond different) / does she sputter when you "ponch it" from an idle position/ if left idle-ling will she stall out/ if driving and you "get on it" will she hesitate/ if you start her cold, will she turn off more than once..... tell us as much as you can

gfriedman

Do a tuneup then take it from there