Hi scotty, first off thank you for making your videos they got me into working on cars years ago and still going strong today. But anyway back to the question. I just bought a 2005 nissan altima LS with 150,000 miles on it, I was driving home (after test driving it and buying it) and suddenly I went to hit the gas and NO response from the throttle. I was able to slowly creep into a parking lot where I shut the car off and restarted the car, then put it in drive drove about 150 ft and it did it again. I eventually had to tow it home. I started disassembling a few things and found there is some oil residue (still wet) in the intake manifold, and oil around the spark plugs, I took the spark plugs out they looked like the original ones. Also i checked the oil and its above the max line it dosent appear like any foreign substances mixed with it, I don't know if it has any significance but the idiot kid who owned it before cut the exhaust. Hopefully you can help, Thanks! {black}:cool:
I don't know if it has any significance but the idiot kid who owned it before cut the exhaust.
Buying cars from 'idiot kids' is generally not a good idea, who knows what was done to that car. Didn't anything suspicious show up during the pre-purchase inspection?
When you hit the gas does the engine rev up and the car doesn't move (bad transmission) or does the engine bog down? Have you scanned for codes and live data? See the FAQ troubleshooting section.
I'm new to buying used cars and honestly I did the pre inspection and it just looked rough cosmetically, no signs of engine problems, and test drive went fine. And no absolutely no throttle response, no rpm or sounds. Once I shut it off and started again like I said worked fine then did it again. There is a service engine soon light but no scan tool and don't live near a shop.
I'm new to buying used cars and honestly I did the pre inspection and it just looked rough cosmetically, no signs of engine problems, and test drive went fine.
We learn by making mistakes. Next time you'll know to have a used car checked out by a mechanic before buying.
The problem is that there are lots of things that can cause the symptoms you're experiencing. That's a 19-year-old car with fairly high mileage so a lot of things could have happened to it along the way. The simple stuff would be things like filters, spark plugs, fuel pressure. Clogged catalytic converter could cause those kind of symptoms. (Was there oil or excess carbon buildup on the plugs? That would be indicative of conditions that could damage the converter.) Bad sensor or sensors is another possibility. That's just a sampling of possibilities, there are more.
Being able to scan for codes and data would be helpful. You really need that to work on any computer-controlled car. There are inexpensive scan tools that you can buy if you don't have a parts store nearby that are good enough for reading generic OBD2 codes and viewing live data. See the FAQ for recommendations.
Wow that is a lot...the plugs did have some oil residue on them but valve cover gasket seems to have gone bad its slowly leaking and wet around the edges....
Oil on the outside of the plugs doesn't matter as far as power loss (unless so bad it damages coils), oil residue on the electrodes would be a problem.
no scan tool and don't live near a shop.
what about an autozone/oreilly/advance etc.
I live near a napa but that's it everything else is 20+ min drive
oh sweet baby Jesus 20 minutes. Lord have mercy on your soul.
Lol well 20 min would be sketchy with this car and the power loss o wouldn't feel comfortable taking it a total of 40 min highway driving losing power. Would you?
Not on the highway, no.
Unfortunately, there are too many things that could loss of power, so the diagnostic is really important to diagnose your issue.
Is your throttle cable actuated, or is it electronic?
The recall that Mr. Avalon posted sounds very relevant. You should look into it and read the fine print. It's possible that they might even cover towing your vehicle to the dealership to have it fixed.
Check out the website carcomplaints.com After you enter your vehicle information, click on the '2005' model year and then click on the 'engine problems' category. Then you will see multiple owner complaints regarding 'car shuts down when driving'. In reading the complaints you will discover that many frustrated owners of the 2005 Nissan Altima (you did not specify engine type) who have the identical problem that you describe have been informed that the problem is related to a faulty crankshaft position sensor and/or a faulty camshaft position sensor.
Additionally when you check under recalls it says:
"If the interruption in the signal from the crankshaft position sensor is so brief that the electronic control module (ECM) logic does not have time to diagnose the condition, the engine may stop running without warning while the vehicle is driven at a low speed increasing the risk of a crash."
"On certain passenger vehicles equipped with a 2.5L engine, the crankshaft position sensor can overheat causing a brief interruption in the signal output from the sensor."
BTW you still need to check into why there is oil inside of the intake manifold as well as addressing the engine oil overfill...the maximum fill line/mark is there for a reason. And since you did not have the vehicle inspected by a qualified mechanic pre-purchase, I think it is time to hire a mechanic to perform a post-purchase inspection and have the OBD computer properly scanned as @chucktobias advised.
is there gas in it?
There is gas in it, half a tank
is there gas in it?
oh sweet baby Jesus 20 minutes. Lord have mercy on your soul.
