My 1996 Nissan Maxima will just **** violently as though it is going to stall. I have taken the car to 2 mechanics who cannot find anything wrong with it. It occurs randomly. I thought only in hot weather but the other day I drove it 40 miles and at the top of a steep hill it did the herky jerky?

Greg, if the check engine light is on there will be a diagnostic code set in the cars on-board computer. This code, or codes, need to be retrieved using a scan tool. Some shops/parts retailers will check your codes for free. Your daughter's year of Maxima are known for bad mass air flow sensors. When these sensors go bad they cause stalling, erratic acceleration and general rough running.

Sounds like you may have a wire heating up and grounding out or a wire loosing contact.

Could be a number of things, firstly i would look for some vacuum leaks, faulty fuel injector/s, faulty fuel pump or fuel regulator, blocked fuel filter, spark plugs/ leads. if problem is still occurring i would highly recommend to take it to the mechanics. there would be nothing worse than your car stalling in the middle of a busy intersection or stalling at high speed ( brakes and power steering stops working).

I also have 1996 Maxima SE and had same problem. After several months of searching and asking around, I was able to fix the problem by replacing the Mass Air Flow sensor. I replaced with aftermarket MAF and paid $80 with lifetime warranty and the car runs better with better gas milage.
To replace the part takes less than 30 mins., I would recommend replacing the part as maintenance. Otherwise, you can take it to a mechanic and they may spend hours trying to troubleshoot your problem. During my research, there are so many different things that could cause the car to stall and ride rough. I am NOT a mechanic and take my advice for what it is worth and replace the part. It will be less expense if it fixes the problem otherwise you'll need to take to mechanic. They will charge you at least $400 to $500 for an half-hour job.

Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be with repairing the car cost more than it is cost.

I'm not a mechanic and I know this is an old post but I have the same car and in my research trying to figure out what's wrong with mine I have found in several posts that the MAF Sensor is bad because if it is bad the cars computer will NOT let it go past 2000 rpm's. When I saw that number in your post I KNEW that was the answer.

check for any vacuum leaks , thats what normally causes stalling at idle or low speeds

Check your fuses first.

Have a mechanic check that. If you try yourself, might competely mess up the entire timing.

Try the Throttle Positioning Sensor. It's located on the throttle body. Make sure you get a genuine Nissan part though. I believe it's about 120 dollars at the dealer. But this fixed the issue for me.

1.Could be a torq converter or a vacuum leak.2Also could be the converter or a tune up or both.3Sounds like a wire shorted behind the stereo.4It could be the power steering pump going out.