Questions and Answers

Nissan Altima Jerks And Dies, No Restart
Q. Hi Vincent, I have some problem with my Nissan Altima... I hope you will be able to guide me through it. Let me know if you need some more information. I have 1996 Nissan Altima.

When I bought this car it had transmission rebuilt. Car was running fine for almost 1 year. I had a small accident where the body on passenger side fender was damaged. Nothing else was damaged as per the mechanic. After that fixed the Oxygen sensor.

After that this car use to stop after driving for around 40-50 miles and after that it will have jerks and then all the lights will be on and then the car will stop. Midas suggested that the distributor is gone so I changed that. Then it was running fine.

Again after few days this car started giving same problem. So one mechanic suggested to change the spark plugs and fuel injector. So I changed that, still the car has problem. It will stop after few miles giving some jerks and then all the lights will be on and car won't start. But after 3 or 4 hours this car starts again. But then again after running for few miles it will stop.

Till now nobody is able to find what's the problem. Now Midas has asked me to change the belts and also the axle shaft which is really in bad condition. Could you please suggest what could be the problem with this car???

A. You didn't say which fender was damaged, but if it were the right front fender, there is a body ground there that may have been damaged in the accident. You should be able to see it if you look straight down the washer bottle neck.

I'm going to assume you're losing spark when the engine dies. If that is indeed the case, then you probably have a bad Ignition Coil/Power Transistor assembly. What happens is it gets hot and just stops working. When it cools off, it will start working again until it gets too hot again.

It is easy enough to test, but it must be tested right after it dies or it will always check out good.

When it does die confirm that there is no spark. Then perform the following test.

1. Disconnect power transistor harness connector.
2. Check power transistor resistance between terminals (a) and (b).

If it is not within specifications, replace it.