02PearlSE

Hey guys, I did my best searching for these issues and didn't find what I was looking for. I picked up an 02 6spd about a week ago with 159k on it. Previous owner took good care of it.

I noticed when I first got it a very aggressive wobble under acceleration, any acceleration, above about 60mph or around 40 if I really get on it, that stops the second you take your foot off the gas. I replaced the lower control arms today along with new ball joints and it felt great...for about 10 minutes and immediately came back. Haven't gotten it aligned yet but I don't think that's related to this particular issue.

Aside from that, after performing the free sts mod, I started having a real sticky first gear after the car warms up, to the point that I have to really really muscle it into second upon take off.

This is my first max, coming from a mustang so I'm not very familiar with FWD. Any info would be awesome, thanks.

george__

iTrader: (1)

transmission mount?

maxiiiboy

Yes, check out all your engine mounts. There are four - front (by the radiator), rear (by the firewall), passenger side, and driver side (also called transmission mount).

02PearlSE

Well the previous owner (mechanical engineer and 3x maxima owner) apparently replaced them with polyurethane mounts. There is no wheel hop and I attributed that to the mounts but I haven't checked them.

TheMafia

im not 100% sure, but alignment could be off, especially since front end work was done

but that being said, you should be more descriptive about your wobble, where do you feel it, steering wheel? body? engine?

02PearlSE

So, I got it aligned and I thought it helped but to no avail. The wobble is intense at freeway speeds with almost any throttle use. It's the whole car, I feel it in the steering wheel but the interior shakes violently as well. Still lost.

TheMafia

again, what kind of wobble? does the steering wheel wobble back and forth?

02PearlSE

Maybe wobble was an incorrect term to use. There is no directional bias whatsoever, more so it's shake. The steering wheel and floor boards are the most noticeable, but it causes the door panels to shake as well. Only under acceleration, like I said the second I let off it goes away.

Turbonut

Stock height? If lowered or if the CV joints are shot, you'll get a vibration under acceleration.
Also check the intermediate shaft bearing.

02PearlSE

Not familiar with FWD, and a [removed good] google search didn't help much. What's an intermediate shaft bearing? It's lowered.

Turbonut

When cars are lowered, especially with FWD, the lower the more problems, they put an undo amount of strain on the CV joints. Some cars will vibrate as soon as they are lowered even if the joints were good before the drop. It changes the angle of the half-shafts.
Intermediate shaft bearing is on the passenger side of the car and it is where the right shaft is attached. The right shaft does not go into the trans.

02PearlSE

Awesome information, I appreciate it Turbo. Is there a way to improve that angle for future use, or am I going to eat up CV joints quicker for the remanding life of the car?

Turbonut

Some replace the axles with good results, some still have the vibration. The bigger the drop, the more problems.
No guarantees that if the axles were replaced there wouldn't be a continuing problem, but for @ $100 might want to give them a try.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

+1 on the axles. I have a similar setup. Solid mounts and a subtle drop, not slammed.

I was getting the same vibration. It was just under acceleration and everything else was in good shape. The axle boots weren't torn and there was no clicking to indicate bad axles. Once I pulled one out I could feel the play in it. A new set cured the problem.

It shouldn't eat the axles unless the car is slammed really low. My car's been dropped since about 07. I had this issue with the axles in 2012 and they were already a few years old when I dropped. I doubt it was even related to the drop.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

Also, I'd change the tranny fluid with some Redline MT90 to see if it improves the shifting.

It's important to know that you CAN'T put any GL5 or GL5 blend in the tranny.
ONLY straight GL4.