Nissan Repair: 1996 Nissan Maxima, nissan maxima, cold mornings

Question
Hello,
I just purchased a well used 1996 Nissan Maxima.  The test drive went well and the car is in great shape.  The transmission shifts smoothly, but now I'm noticing that in the morning (cold mornings especially), the car sputters and shakes when trying to start it.  After a few bad starts, it starts up and revs in about the 1 1/2 rpm spot.  Wondering what it could be.  The other thing is that it seems to bounce around gears when driving between 25 and 40 mpgs (which is most of my driving since I bought it for local driving).  The dealer had given me a 4500 mile/3-month warranty on the drive train and trans which will end 12/29/09.  I'll never reach the mileage first since again, it's for local driving.  The trans seems to be fine.  Could anything else (like timing) cause that.  There is literally no issue moving through the gears.  BTW it has 162K on the odometer.

Thanks,
Pete

Answer
Hi Pete -

My first inclination is to recommend you take it back to where you purchased it and have them fix it since it is under warranty.

Looks like you have (perhaps) tune up issues, or carbon tracking in the dist cap. I do not think it is the timing belt.

Could be the fuel pump as well. Anyway, take advantage of the warranty and get it to the dealer.

Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin