Nissan Repair: 1997 Nissan Altima - engine hesitation, nissan altima gxe, mass airflow sensor

Question
My 97 Nissan Altima GXE has had a problem for some time with intermittent hesitation. The engine,while driving, will very briefly (< 2 sec) cut out, then come back. RPMs drop, lose power, almost stalls. Last summer fall, it would do this about once a month, now it does it several times a week. Usually this happens when I'm accelerating and in 2nd gear (auto transmission by the way). Again, there not a pattern, just happens randomly. I'll also say that back in Sept/Oct 2008, the check engine light came on and the code pointed to a Mass Airflow sensor. But, later that October, the hesitation happened and the check engine light cleared, and stayed off. Any ideas? Thanks very much.

Answer
Hi Paul -

When was the last time you had a tune up? This sounds like there is a spark plug miss, or a spark plug wire is defective, especially since you are not getting an engine code. Try also checking the distributor rotor and cap, there could be some carbon tracking.

Let me know -
Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin