I drive a 2010 Nissan Altima 3.5L V6 SL Coupe with the CVT, just ticked over 130,000 miles and I’m having a bit of an issue.
When starting from a dead stop or around the time it should shift into 2nd gear the acceleration will cut out completely. It doesn’t rev pointlessly, the acceleration just stops. I can get the engine to rev momentarily and jerk forward but actual acceleration is only possible by completely flooring the gas pedal and “powering through” the issue.
I’ve taken it to a mechanic twice, the first time they replaced the Mass Airflow Sensor and told me that there had been too many old codes to get a clear picture of what was happening for certain and to bring it back in a few days to see what new codes had appeared. I bought it back three days later after experiencing the issue again. When they attatched the sensor it brought back no relevant codes, and the only sign of any issue with the car was the battery was .4 volts below the expected output.
The mechanic said that the codes told them nothing relevant but even if it probably wouldn’t help they’d be happy to fix the battery issue. I can’t afford to make repairs in the hope that it might possibly help. So I guess what I’m asking is what could be causing this issue and is it likely to kill my car if I don’t get a repair quickly?
0.4 volts low, I would disregard, it could be voltmeter error, or temperature shift, of something else. Possibly the battery is a bit old. How old is the battery?
The acceleration issues may be caused by a problem with the drive-by-wire throttle system.
Instead of having a throttle cable between the throttle pedal and throttle body, your vehicle has a throttle pedal position sensor, which sends a signal to the computer, and then the computer operates the electronic throttle body
it sounds to me that they only offered to replace the battery because of the low voltage…not that it would help with your initial problem with acceleration.
Personally, I don’t really think that .4 volts is anything to worry about.
I would be looking at the throttle linkage for binding or a kinked cable.
And test that the Throttle position sensor is within range.
Has anyone been under the hood just prior to this problem arising? If so, maybe a part was not put back on properly aligned , and this is causing the throttle cable binding.
It’s possible I replaced the battery almost a year ago, but I think it’s been far longer than that. Could an old battery be causing acceleration issues?
The only work done on the car in multiple weeks was a replaced wheel and tire done about a week ago, and I would be slightly concerned if the wheel guys screwed up badly enough to mess with the accelerator.
Is checking the throttle linkage something that I can do at home (with the few tools I have) or would I need to take it to a shop?