Nissan Repair: 93 Altima hesitates, stalls, and ultimately dies, radiator cap, different gear

Question
Hi Von,

About a year ago, I encountered the same problem with my car; it seems to be a pattern that happens only when the weather is the hottest.  Here's the problem:  after driving my car and allowing the engine to warm up (between 10-20 minutes), my car hesitates, stalls, and ultimately dies; it becomes very sensitive to when I shift and accelerate into a different gear.  Last year when it happened, I took it to a mechanic and they told me the distributor was bad.  I replaced the distributor and cap, spark plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, and even the battery and thought that did the trick.  Here I am in the same boat as about a year ago.  I get a code 34 from my OBD and know that has to do with the knock sensor which in turn controls timing, but also considered the possibility that my ignition coil may malfunction in the hot weather which would cause it to stall and die.  I am not sure what to replace first or how to go about checking possible culprits.  Any advice you would have for me would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Tim

Answer
Tim,

If the problem is heat related I would first try to get the temperature down. That is, replace the thermostat and radiator cap.  Then, see if that helps.  If not, use a thermal gun to check temperaure and see if the fans are coming on.  You could start replacing things like the coil.  But, I would like to see the temperature go down.