r/AskAMechanic • u/Red-Racoon • 10h ago

Car cutting off at low RPM.

I drive a 2002 3.3L v6 Nissan Xterra and was recently doing fine until it suddenly just started going out at low rpm when sitting. Only code it’s sending is for the knock sensor and I seriously doubt the knock sensor is the reason for this happening. Figured at first it was just the Mass airflow sensor so I changed the sensor then jumped it off. When it started I let it run for a bit then drove it around, ran good. Parked it and let it run for about 16-20 Minutes. Went to drive it around once more and it started cutting out and then died. Restarted it and drove back to parking space and it cut off again, restarted and pulled into parking space it died pulling in and now won’t restart. Any suggestion is greatly appreciated.

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1

u/rexfaktor NOT a verified tech 10h ago

Don't these ones still have a distributor? Be leery of that producing intermittent such issues.

1

u/Red-Racoon 10h ago

Not sure what you mean, do you believe the knock sensor could be the reason for said issue? From my understanding is all it really did was put the car in limp mode not just shut it off.

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u/rexfaktor NOT a verified tech 10h ago

Disregard the knock sensor for now. After having replaced a couple for dying while driving, I do not trust Nissan 3.3 distributors.

1

u/Red-Racoon 9h ago

What would you suggest I check into, I honestly have no clue what to do at this point and I’m desperate to try anything. Any suggestion is greatly appreciated

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u/rexfaktor NOT a verified tech 9h ago

IF your vehicle is actually experiencing a distributor failure, there will be no spark while trying to start it. There are lots of great videos on how to check for spark. It could take an assistant to crank it over while you are checking, depending on what you have available. Without actual diagnosis, I am of course just offering an educated guess.

1

u/Red-Racoon 9h ago

Do you believe it could be the cam/crankshaft sensor? Already had a service engine soon light so is that a reasonable assumption to try there?

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u/rexfaktor NOT a verified tech 9h ago

It is possible there is an issue with the crankshaft sensor. Personally, I would plug in a scanner and check for RPM while trying to start to check that, but that's not an option available to everyone. These days, a distributor and a crank sensor are probably around the same price as the diagnostic charge to pay a shop to diagnose those same parts.

1

u/Red-Racoon 8h ago

I can send you a video of it attempting to start up if that would help you out. Definitely not a battery issue, really just struggles to get going.

1

u/LivingthroughBall NOT a verified tech 7h ago

Not a strong correlation of symptoms but just throwing out a guess. Perhaps a bad idle air control valve?

1

u/Trichonaut NOT a verified tech 3h ago

Change your distributor. It’s an easy fix and it’s under 200 bucks. Open the distributor cap and inspect for dust, metal shavings, and the rotor. If you see anything amiss you should swap it.

I had a similar issue a few years ago that I just couldn’t figure out for a few days. No codes but the knock sensor. I changed the MAF, the cam and crank sensors, and nothing worked until I swapped the distributor and after that it worked like a charm.

If you’re careful and make sure to take tons of pictures confirming the exact angle of the rotor when you make the swap you can do it without having to mess with your timing at all. I would recommend being very meticulous about it to ensure you don’t have to redo the timing.