Car died...........????

[Daniel B. Martin]

Originally posted by NISMOPower
We took it to a shop and they said that one of the three O2 sensors went out...Is that a possibility????

Yes, you may have a bad Oxygen Sensor. No, that would not explain why the engine "just died" as you said in your first description of symptoms.

The Engine Control Module (the computer) relies on signals from the two front Oxygen Sensors to control the fuel mixture. The ECM continually monitors the signals from these sensors. If one of them "dies", the ECM does three things simultaneously ...
1) Turns on the Service Engine Soon light.
2) Stores one or more Diagnostic Trouble Codes for subsequent retrieval.
3) Commences to use a default signal value in place of the defective sensor's signal.

The default signal is never as accurate as the signal from a healthy sensor, but it is good enough to run the engine. Besides, one bad sensor affects only three cylinders, and the other three are running normally.

A bad Oxygen Sensor will not cause the engine to "die". There is more to this story.

[TomTom06]

I would say Mass air flow sensor the same thing happend to me in my 03 maxima while entering onto a highway!! Dead on the side of the road wit the NO codes being indicated. Towed 2 Nissan $800 for new sensor.. Try getting one at a junkyard and give it a shot. Easy part to replace, expensive part new.

[Leo_Koneval]

This thread is from nine years ago

But yeah to anyone wondering the same thing, I also think its the MAF. I mean just ONE stall is the start of a long line of headaches you will encounter. This... is only the beginning....

For me all it was... was one little innocent stall, then it started stalling more and more frequently. Then I got a lean condition in one bank, then on the other. It kept alternating as I cleared the CEL. Next came hesitation, like I would step on the gas, and nothing, I mean absolutely NOTHING happened no RPM change, nothing... and all of a sudden my car would jerk forward and this scared the crap out of me while turning right at these lights with lots of fast moving traffic and while all this is happening my car started stalling at stops, at lights, and basically if I let off the gas, it dies. Finally my car wouldn't start anymore and I got a new CEL for running rich in both banks and I could see it in the smoke too, black as night.

So about a month or two or three, went by with these problems and now my car is dead. Since I saw the code for a lean condition in one bank I thought it was a O2 sensor, since if it was the MAF it would be lean in both banks at the same time. So replaced those suckers... nothing. And me running super rich probably ruined the new ones so next on the line was the ECTS I unplugged the ECTS while the car was sputtering and stalling and nothing changed so then came intake leaks and faulty injectors. Finally one day while the car was started and sputtering and choking basically I unplugged sensor after sensor to see if a change would happen, when I got to the MAF my car suddenly ran normal. I thought I was going high from the smoke inhalation but I ran behind and saw normal smoke, and looked at the RPM and it was stable. I plugged the MAF back in and it stalled immediately.

So there we go! Got a new MAF and car has been running fine ever since. But thanks to the rich condition I might have to check out the spark plugs and O2 sensors to make sure they didn't get fouled but as of now I am just going to enjoy my car.

[GT74]

Leo, is your problem totally solved or still any issue, particularly for lean bank and stalling? did you put in new MAF or used one? bought from where and how much it cost? I have the same issue

Thanks

[teriblo]

Had the same problem last year i was my distributor i changed it and everyhing went back 2 normal