Nissan Repair: 97 Altima very rough idle/stalling, fan motors, fuel line

Question
I have a 97 Altima with 175,000 miles.  It started to run a little rough the other day, cutting out and missing, but not too bad.  This morning when it was cool out it ran OK.  Tonight when it was hot out it ran good for about 5 minutes then quit.  I could get it to start again by pumping the gas alot, but it would not stay running.  After sitting about 10 minutes it started and ran for another couple minutes before quiting again.  I pulled the fuel line after the filter and I get a good stream coming out when turning over.  The only thing I noticed is that the fans aren't running and it smells hot.  Temp gauge stays in normal range.  Could it be getting too hot to run? Does the same sensor go to the fans and the temp gauge?  Thanks for your help.  Ryan

Answer
Ryan,

I would not think that it would get too hot in juet five minutes of running.  I would check the distributor for oil on the optics first as this is a known problem that causes them to die.  Now, if the fans do not come on, even with the airconditioner on that could cause a problem.  The temperature sensor would be defective if they both come on with the airconditioning.  If they do nto come on either way then you have burnt up fan motors, highly unlikely that both would fail at the same time, or the fan relays are gone.  Much more probable that the fan relays are gone than the fans both being bad.  Yes, if the car was hot, really hot, it could cause the engine to sputter and shut down.