Can any of your experts help me? I have an old 95 Maxima. It sometimes stalls at the stop light only. Since it only stops sometimes, and starts back up in a few seconds machanics have given up because it hardly stalls for them, and not long enough for them to run any tests. It does have 230,000 miles on it. The machanics think it is not the “time” for the car just yet. It might live for a while longer. Any suggestions as to what could be wrong with the car?
Low fuel pressure? Dirty Idle Air Control Valve? Clogged fuel filter?
Did the mechanic test anything? When was the last time the car had new spark plugs? You really aren’t giving us much information.
Also has anyone checked to see if there are any stored error codes in the car’s computer?
Most likely, Idle Air Control Valve. It could be vacuum leak also. I just had my Idle Air Control Valve changed today at Toyota dealer. It fixed the problem. First, it was stopping at the highway tolls and exits all of a sudden (once every several weeks). Then, started doing same thing occasionally at the stop signs and lights. Recently, it started idling very low at stop lights, and died almost at every stop sign and red light. Check engine light never came on, and there was no error code stored in on board computer. I had wasted money on throttle positioning control and brand new distributor before I found the real problem.
There is a tool which can help, a lot, for this type of problem. The mechanics needs to determine which major system failed. Every shop should have this (relatively) inexpensive tool. It’s proper use can save them a lot of diagnostic time, and customers time, money, and frustration (AND, the mechanics will get a lot of positive reviews for their genuine “can-do” work). It will reveal if fuel flow quit (even momentarily), OR, ignition (spark) quit, OR, fuel injection quit. The tool is What Quits First? http://www.lenehanresearch.com/what_quits_first.htm
PS,
Is there a mechanic reading this, who has this tool and uses it? If so, tell us about it, your experience using it.