Rough idle at start up.

Recently my cars been hard to start in the morning and when cold it has a lag in power which is occasional more often when the car is still a bit cold. When the car gets warmed up it feels like the car is normal and has a lot of power but still after sitting at a traffic light it occasionally gets rough idle and dies out. After I restart the car it runs great until it wants to die again. Cleaned the MAF twice in the past month and didn't really change anything.

The background: I was about to buy an '01 Nissan Sentra with 120K miles but decided to think about it after the test drive. It drove ok except the idle was a little rough and it stalled a couple of times. The sellers had let it sit for months without starting it so I thought maybe the gas had gone bad so I decided to wait a few days then give it another test drive. Good thing I waited because the sellers couldn't get it started. They said it drove fine when they used to drive it regularly so I thought the problem would be simple so asked them to get it to my neighbor who is a retired mechanic. They finally got it started but had a really hard time driving it 10 miles to my neighbor's house.

The problem: It starts but then quickly stalls. You have to keep the RPMs high to keep it going, but that only lasts several seconds. The check engine light is on. My neighbor-mechanic has determined it is not the fuel filter, fuel pump, fuses, or gas. He's stumped but thinks it is electrical. He's trying to get a mechanic friend to do an electrical diagnostic test.

Any ideas?

Engine Performance problem
1998 Nissan Sentra 4 cyl Front Wheel Drive Automatic

My Sentra has a very rough idle and has stalled twice in the past week. The weather has been very cold here and I am not sure that has anything to do with it. I had a power steering belt adjusted and the mechanic who checked the car over didn't find anything major. The engine was rebuilt a year ago (broken timing belt), it has a new battery.

When I am driving it runs perfectly with no signs it will stall, expect when I am waiting at a light etc. Someone suggested I try a fuel line deicer.

Any advice?

98 Nissan Sentra 1.6 (stock). Car idles very rough, to the point where it will shut off sporadically. At speed car drives fine. No difference in idling whether car is cold or warm. No check engine lights have turned on. Any idea what it might be?

Thanks for responding. No check engine light on. It's been over 3 years since it was tuned up.

My 97 Sentra is running rough, just out of no where started. Feels like an o2 sensor or timing but Im not sure. My friend pulled the cap off and said there was build up on the aluminum points and rotor, and the spark plug wires have white lines on the sides that were touching each other. The diagnostics center is closed today or I would take it. Also aside from the rough idle and run, it has very very little power to get up and go. You have to get the engine to kick down to get up to speed(55). Can you help?

Thank you

Ok thank you Roy, is there an urgency to do this right away or can it wait til Monday when the shop is open?

Done deal, thanks very much for your time Roy.