Engine drops to idle while driving

[prioret]

Today my Murano quit on me. While driving through the neighborhood, the engine dropped to idle, about 600 RPM and the car stopped responding to throttle input. About 10s later, it came back. It did this a few time.

About the 5th time, I coasted to a stop, the engine would just sit at 600RPM and not respond to any throttle input. There was no alarm light or anything.

I turned it off, then tried to restart it. It would turn over for a second, then I would get clicks from the selinoid like the battery was dead.

I dont think its the battery though. Any ideas?

[njjoe]

What year is your MO and how many miles are on it? Do you recall any warning lights coming on when this was occurring? Are you sure the Check Engine light did not come on?

-njjoe

[folgersoldier]

I had this exact same problem a few times over the last few years. It can be very disconcerting, especially when in traffic. It actually happened to me at about 35 mph one time and it is very dangerous. It feels like the car has gone into limp mode. It is because the voltage has dropped too low for the computer to function.

The reason is the alternator was not charging the battery but it does not throw the trouble light because of the way the system checks the alternator. Put the battery on a charger and give it a full charge. When you go to start your car turn the key to the spot before you turn the starter over. You should see the battery light come on and go back off before you start the car. Keep an eye on this every time you go to start the car. This means the charging circuit has passed the self test which is the ability to control the output of the alternator - not the actual output of the alternator. If it fails this test the car still starts and runs but it wont throw the indicator for a bad alternator (brake light on and battery light on) at the same time.

If it is not coming on check the quick connect that plugs into the back of the alternator. If it is coming on you will not be able to find the problem because the system will be working until the next time it quits on you. I had issues with alternators since getting mine (4 total I think) and I'm pretty sure this is going to be an issue down the road as more and more have miles on them. I just fiddled with mine and it is working now but I keep an eye on it and will have to replace the connector down the road if it stops working. There is a flowchart in the service manual that tells you about checking the light. Basically I had to rig up a test wire to ground out the plug to check if it was the plug or the control module, but if yours is like mine the issue is somewhere in the harness/connector in that area.