Stalling out in wet weather
Asked by pickupchick Sep 13, 2008 at 10:43 PM about the 1996 Nissan Pickup 2 Dr XE Standard Cab SB
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
This has been an issue of mine for a long time -- my 96 Nissan pickup stalls out in wet weather. (Bought the truck
new in 96 and I've put 217,000 miles on it.) It used to just happen after a good rain, but lately being really humid is
enough to bring on symptoms. Tonight I fueled up and ran it for a couple miles, and it stalled out completely. I got it
running again and sputtered my way home, checked under the distributor cap and it was completely dry. All the spark
plug connectors seemed dry (dark out when I checked) and my wiring is less than a year old. My mechanic has
suggested that I need my valves reground. Has anyone else had this done, and did it help? Any other possibilities?
6 Answers
I wonder if the ignition module is going bad, gets damp then dies? When I worked at the nissan dealer, we had a customer who has a 98 pickup, 4cyl, 5spd with over a million kms on it, and it's never done anything like that before.
I would inspect all sensor plugs, spark plug wires, ignition coil, and distributer cap. Sounds alot like an ignition issue to me, so I would work through the typical things (wires, cap, coil, etc). If you have not recently replaced the distributer cap, I would try replacing it first. Typically if you get any moisture in the ignition system it will not run, and if it does it will run very poorly. If the problem persists, I would look at sensors like air/idle control valve valve, knock sensor, map/maf sensor, etc. All would cause your problem. I had a coil pack in my cavalier with a hairline crack that was not visible when cool, but it gave me the same problem you are experiencing with your truck early dew mornings or when it rained. Your truck is fairly bullet-proof so I would look at the simple things first.
minihedgehog answered 13 years ago
my 96 always stalls out and i still havent figured out the problem we just had the motor rebuilt so its brand new and it also sounds like its sucking alot of air. Any suggestion??
Have you ever found an answer to your problem? I have the same pickup, same year, same problem. Bought it used last year w/74000 miles. Other than that it runs great.
My 1997 did this and it was the fuel pump going out. Replaced that and no more problems
