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Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager Starting & Stalling Problems

511 messages,  Last post on Jan 08, 2012 at 8:34 PM

You are in the Nissan Quest Forum.

What is this discussion about? Nissan Quest, Mercury Villager, Van

Messages Page 48 of 52

#462 of 511 Re: I finally changed my oil and oil filter at Valvoline ... [rockmobile] by jwooden

Aug 01, 2011 (8:04 am)

Replying to: rockmobile (Aug 01, 2011 6:40 am)
just 2 cents worth on running your gas down until the light goes on - the fuel in the tank helps to keep the fuel pump cool, when you run it down that low most of it is out of the fuel so it gets hot - and wears out quicker.
Replaceing the fuel pump isn't cheap even if you do it yourself - and is a lot of work. I fill my tank up when it hits 1/4 tank just to keep it cool - doesn't cost any more to fill up sooner and in my mind - saves me money.

#463 of 511 Re: I finally changed my oil and oil filter at Valvoline ... [jwooden] by steve_ HOST

Aug 01, 2011 (8:29 am)

Replying to: jwooden (Aug 01, 2011 8:04 am)
Yeah, but note the Quest is a 20 gallon tank and I've never been able to put more than 19 gallons in (probably even had some in the tank when I ran out of gas). Per Wiki, it's more common for the relay to oxidize and cause failure than the pump itself actually dying.
 
My fuel pump is the original one, going on 158,000 miles now.
 
Carrying extra gas around hurts your mileage and costs you money.

#464 of 511 Re: I finally changed my oil and oil filter at Valvoline ... [rockmobile] by nissanquest94

Aug 01, 2011 (10:28 am)

Replying to: rockmobile (Aug 01, 2011 6:40 am)
I was at Barnes & Noble at Willow Grove Shopping Center in PA, but I could not find the Nissan Quest Repair Manuel; I saw a Pep Boy in that area but did not have time to check the manual.
 
What I was so surprised was that the hotel I stayed, a 2* Horshan Homestead that I got at $32, met a gentleman who stayed there for over 7 years of this 10 year new 3 story hotel, and he NEVER had problem with his car.
 
This time I did not add gas till after over 300 miles, but still I am kind of not feeling safe when gas tank run low.
 
I think change oil should make engine run smoother, especially, after 3 years, but Engine Restorer also make engine run smoother, and quiet the engine, and make smell great, no smoke, higher mileage.
 
I kept on emphasize Engine Restorer is because I could NOT have changed my engine oil nor oil filter this time, after 3 years because I found the fantasy of Engine Restorer. I changed it just was curious if oil change has anything to do with oil line hesitation problem, after all 3 year experiment is kind of unusual. Anyway, it has nothing to do with the problem I had, it is still the "water" problem, and I throw in Heet 12oz $1.37 at Horshan Walmart to treat it.
 
I now use Iso-Heet 12oz $1.99 because it removes water 5 times more, and I want to see if all the water in my "fuel filter" can be removed so that I do not need to replace fuel filter.
 
I think my philosophy is very different from many of others. For one thing, I am on the road all the time, and I do not want to leave my Nissan Quest 94 with auto repairs, or I would be waiting there for the service. So, I often want to use Lube Express like Valvoline if I really need to change oil or oil filter.
 
Most of the time, I would just pick up a bottle and added it to gas tank or crankcase and throw out the empty bottle like getting gas from gas station.
 
In the past when I bought my Nissan Quest 94 new, I was always wondering why gas station has many additives, as time goes, I finally realize many people with used car and high mileage maintain their cars this way.
 
For example, you may drive and drive and never check your engine oil till one day the "low oil" light on and, at that time, the car is still driving fine, just like your "low fuel" light on, till you go get gas, and at gas station, you also get a quart of 5w30 and ask the service guy to add into your crankcase, and both "low oil light" and "low fuel light" off.
 
I used to meet someone from India IBM whose brand new van was a lease $600 a month, and he did almost nothing on the van. One winter day, he told me he was going to go far away, and I saw his lights all on "low fuel light", "low oil light", "low air pressure" ...etc. So, I took him to a nearby gas station to fill the gas, engine oil, pump air in tires, ...etc. Light all GONE afterwards.

#465 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [archtrek] by tcriet

Aug 02, 2011 (12:18 pm)

Replying to: archtrek (Aug 16, 2009 3:50 pm)
About this random motor behavior, my van is doing the exact same things you described a couple of years ago. Did you ever find out what the problem was? I will gladly pay consulting fees if necessary.
 
Thanks!
Villager Two

#466 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [tcriet] by nissanquest94

Aug 02, 2011 (12:48 pm)

Replying to: tcriet (Aug 02, 2011 12:18 pm)
When was last time you replace your "fuel filter" ?
 
-----------------------------------------------
The van starts and runs fine, but intermittently just dies. It will run fine for weeks with no problem then just shut off while going down the road. Sometimes it will happen only once and at other times it will occur multiple in a day. It seems to be worse in summer. After the van has cooled down in as little as 10-15 minutes, it will restart. At times there will be a slight shudder and others it isn't noticeable, it just quits.

#467 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [nissanquest94] by rockmobile

Aug 02, 2011 (4:51 pm)

Replying to: nissanquest94 (Aug 02, 2011 12:48 pm)
I used to have an old Corolla that would die going down the road when the engine was really hot. It happened to be the coil.

#468 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [tcriet] by vangonebad

Aug 03, 2011 (9:56 am)

Replying to: tcriet (Aug 02, 2011 12:18 pm)
After doing everything under the sun from cleaning the gas tank to changing out coils and plugs, it turned out to be the distributer! Hasn't had problems since! Also, a new battery on occassion will make it run like new -- any problems that seem electrical, change the battery! Good luck!
 
Judy
 
P.S. The mercury tech that finally figured out said the distributer is a common thing to go bad on these early model vans -- he was right on!

#469 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [rockmobile] by nissanquest94

Aug 03, 2011 (10:43 am)

Replying to: rockmobile (Aug 02, 2011 4:51 pm)
Which year was your old Corolla? Mine is 1990, bought new, and still running very well ...

#470 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [vangonebad] by nissanquest94

Aug 03, 2011 (10:57 am)

Replying to: vangonebad (Aug 03, 2011 9:56 am)
I totally agree that "...a new battery on occassion will make it run like new -- any problems that seem electrical, change the battery!" This is in particular important if your battery ever died and need jump.
 
On the other hand, my Nissan Quest 94's battery died and I just used electric charger to charged it, and it runs great! What I did was to put it on charge every morning for an hour or two getting 6amp, 5amp, 4amp, ...etc down to 1amp and done. It eventually dropped down to just 5 to 10 minutes to charge good.
 
I started to also charge my Toyota Corolla 90, and it runs even better when I started, just crank like a soft touch and it will just start like a new car. Since its battery never died before and last for close to 9 years, so when I charged it with electric charger, it only take a few minutes to go from 6amp down to 1amp, trickle charge.
 
I saw this brand new Toyota Prius 2011 has solar panel on the roof to constantly trickle charge the battery; this will sure to save lots of effort on maintenance battery and less likely for battery to be died and need replacement, not to mention every few years when battery aging and getting died to cause all sorts of non deterministic problems like mentioned in the forum.

#471 of 511 Re: 98 Villager - randomly dies worse during summer [nissanquest94] by rockmobile

Aug 03, 2011 (1:21 pm)

Replying to: nissanquest94 (Aug 03, 2011 10:43 am)
When I say old Corolla I mean OLD Corolla, mine was a 1973, which I bought used in 1977 for $500.

Messages Page 48 of 52

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