Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Autowirral Nissan Micra stalling and lumpy idle

Hi,

I've had my X reg Nissan Micra S 1.0 petrol car since new (2000) and recently have been experiencing some problems with it. Problems I've been having are a lumpy idle and stalling when pulling up to lights/junctions, and after reversing in a three point turn

If i start the car up in the driveway, the engine runs smoothly when 1st started. After about 30 sec the revs drop a little and the idle becomes erratic with the revs fluctuating between. I have no rev counter installed so am unable to give figures. It's almost as if the engine's about to stall and it then revs itself up. Some times while idling in the driveway the engine will cut out. The stalling happens when pulling up at junctions or traffic lights, when the clutch is pressed and held in the majority of times the engine will cut out. When this happens, the battery warning light comes on. I've had the battery checked and it's fully charged

Has anyone else experience this sort of problem? The car has done just over 80,000 miles and is serviced annually.

Thanks in advance for any info and advice

Could be the mass air flow meter. Try locating it and disconnecting it and seeing if it runs better on th drive.

Clean the Idle Control Valve.

Willo is probably right. I had this problem on a car and it was the idle control valve. I took it off, gave it a good dose of carb cleaner: problem solved.

If it has a distributor this can also cause this problem, the micra's up to about 04/2000 had a distributor they then progressed to individual coil packs.

Yours is a little too early for the can chain problem which produces a rattle but also due to the chain being slack alters the valve timing and ignition timing. has your engine check light (MIL) come on?

make sure your petrol cap is on properley ,i gave a micra away because i couldnt get it working .the guy came along noticed there wasnt a petrol cap so put a rag in it and it started up mad but true

Not sure but I may have a throttle body and distributor you could try if you wanted to rule those two components out of the equation. ley me know and I will take a look in my garage and try to locate them. the problem you are experiencing can be caused by the maf in the throttle body and is related to corrosion to the soldered electrical joints inside the throttle body housing; easy fix!

Thank you all for your replies. Unfortunately, I am clueless when it comes to cars, but I'm taking the car into the garage for it's MOT on Wednesday so will get them to look at the possible causes you have all listed.

It could also be the the temp sensor...

Very difficult to diagnose at is could be one of a few things, or a combination.

Im sure the MOT may give a clue when they do an emission test - that may confirm a problem, or even rule out a few things it could be.