1997 Nissan Maxima Dies in forward not in reverse

SR0570

MEMBER
1997 NISSAN MAXIMA
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

My 97 maxima dies in forward gears. It idles fine (no miss) when not in gear. When you put it in drive or any forward gears the rpms go up and down 2 or 3 times and then dies. If you put it in reverse you can drive it all over the place(no miss). When tou finally get it going in drive it runs fine (no miss) at cruising speeds until you stop at a light and go to start out again. Then the car stalls unless you accelerate very slowly(almost like it has a flat spot in acceleration). Sometimes it doesn't act up at all. I have changed the Knock senser, IAC valve, TPS, and ECM. I have checked for vac leaks, I've tried unplugging the transmission connections. Is there a system that is common with forward and not reverse? It acts like it's in the fuel system but not sure. Is there a procedure to follow to reprogram the ECM that I may not know about? The ECM was a used one. Would the EGR valve cause this kind of malfunction?

1 Reply

MIKE H R

MECHANIC
3,094 POSTS

Most times most manufactures say not to do it but you can reset the ecm, siconnect the plus side of the battery. Do not disconnect the neagtive. Leav off for a couple of minutes then reconnect. The car will have to be driven about 50 miles before the computer completly rests. With changing everything try using some throttle body cleaner in the throttle body. Don't do it with engine running. With 180,000 miles there could be some carbon had built up on some of the ports. Let sit for a little while then start the car. You may see some white smoke where the engine is cleaning out. If this helps the car running repeat after a few days.