ok boys. Here is one for you. I've taken great care to try and explain
this, as I know a good description is a must to get help from the
thoughtful folks on this forum. This is a 93 Altima, 5 speed with 140K
miles on it.

I hit the dreaded o-ring failure/oil in the distributor and broke down.
The tech put in a new distributor, wires, cap, rotor. Car ran fine for
a few days and then I started getting a slipping/jerking sensation. The
symptom is erratic RPM's and is most pronounced when I clutch in or am
idling. Car will stall occasionally when this happens, but turns right
over fine and I'm on my way again. Back to the shop, and the tech
replaced the O2 sensor, but that didn't fix the problem. This is a
problem even on the open highway, but not nearly as bad as lower RPM in
city traffic. At highway speed, I feel a slipping/jerking and then all
is ok. At lower RPM and clutching in, it is much more pronounced and
stalls sometimes.

Through all this, the car has not thrown a code. No service engine
light at all. I'm driving this car up to the boonies in Maine next
week and I *don't* want to break down up there... believe me! If you've
never been there, it's *baren* and desolate. Maybe I'll hit a moose and
total 'er out and be done with it. lol.

Thanks so much for your insights, they are appreciated and have a great
'06!

Bill

Here is some more data.

* I have not yet been able to reproduce the problem when the engine is
cold . I've only had it out two times so far though.

* On the open highway, flat surface, if If I keep my foot on the gas
peddle and don't move it, I don't get the rpm drop. However, if I come
up to a grade and start to slow down, I get the rpm drop.

Help me out here guys. From my research right here on usenet, I'm
thinking the following could be the culprits:

* The well known problem with the mass air flow and ground wire
* The coolant temperature sensor
* throttle position sensor
* vehicle speed switch
* the distributor that was replaced is bad (not likely according to
tech, but who knows). It is an aftermarket part for sure, but he
assures me that he strongly suspects the distributor is ok (based on
the symptoms).

Just to follow up on this for the poor dopes who are like me reading
these posts 3 years from now. The problem turned out to be the crappy
aftermarket distributor that the garage put in. The camshaft position
sensor was bad, and threw a code on CONSULT, even though the boneheads
at the original repair shop couldn't get a code. I paid the garage to
put in a nissan OEM part, he put in a cheap aftermarket part instead.
This caused enormous pain and torture with 3 repeated trips until I
finally gave up on him making good on the reapair. Once it was replaced
(by Nissan), it was resolved. The original charge is now in dispute and
I am persuing legal action for the incompetence and not providing a
refund.

Hi Buck. My guy charged me $414 and told me it was genuine Nissan part.
I am pissed and spent days writing my legal stuff up for dispute. As it
turns out, the OEM refurbished parts are done by Hitachi, it says right
on a sticker on the distributor I paid $463 to Nissan. So you could, in
theory just buy the Hitachi aftermarket brand name and save say another
$150 from the dealer who will sell you the same thing, but that of
course assumes that's the end of the story. As with anything
electrical, it's better to let someone that specializes in it do the
repair. For me I would pay the extra $150 and let the dealer do it.