So I get up at about 9 this morning, follow my bro to the muffler shop so he can get his new one, then him and I go to walmart. After that we go over to mcdonalds, eat, and then we left...I go out to my car and start it normally, and when it starts the steering wheel is shaking like a ****, felt like my car was having a seizure...I drive for about a block and realize I'm gonna stop before something blows up. My bro gets me and we go home...My cars sitting on the street now...I need you guys to tell me whats wrong, I've heard about distributor caps or something, it was a little wet out this morning, but this is the first time I've had this problem...It felt like the engine was kind of hesitating but I'm not sure if it's hesitating as you guys see it...Any help is greatly appreciated...if you need anymore info let me know, it's a VG Auto.

 

Also, After I stopped I stopped the last time I popped my hood and saw a part above my alternator that was completely white and frozen, I thought this might have been some a/c piece, but I wasnt using my AC

 

I don't think some of you guys realize this is my ONLY car and my ONLY way of transportation...when it doesn't work I don't do anything, someone help me out!

 

Yeah you guys, why aren't you up on a saturday morning with this mans solution???


Seriously though, was it your A/C compressor that was white/frozen? Was it cold to the touch? Is it still white?

To test if the A/C compressor is the problem, just pull the belt off for it.

 

it was cold to the touch, it wasnt white after a while, the covering of ice or whatever melted off a couple seconds after I opened up the hood, could the A/C compressor make my car shake like that? and why would it have gone bad

 

Went and got it, did the same thing on the way home, when I got out I smelled something burning, I'm gonna change the oil sometime this week...anyone know anything?

 

Ok I opened my hood and started my car, and my engine IS SHAKING LIKE CRAZY!!! Anyone know what I can try? Unplugging one of the cylinder things, spark plugs? what?

 

"Shaking like crazy" Not exactly giving us a good description here.

It could be any of about 20 things are a combination of 20-30 more.

If you want answers, you gotta give a good description.

 

Alright, Well I started my car with the hood open, and it just looked wierd to me so I put my hand on it to see if it was hot or something and the thing is just shaking out of control...I'll maybe try to get a video or something but I don't know how much more I can describe shaking?

 

IS there some code I can get off the ECU, and if there is please don't tell me to look in the FAQs on how to get it to throw codes because it's not in the FAQs anywhere, I've looked 3 times

 

Ok went and got the ECU to throw codes:
In Mode 1: the red and green lights were on the whole time
In Mode 2: the green light was on the whole time
In Mode 3: I was given a code 13
In Mode 4: Nothing
In Mode 5: Nothing

The haynes manual says I have Cylinder Head Temperature Sensor problem...would this cause my shaking problem?

EDIT: i checked the stickies and mtcookson said code 13 is coolant temperature...so what do i need to do?

 

did you have your defrost on? that would make the a/c run which is why that metal piece was frozen looking. if not then there might be some wiring problems that is making it run somehow.

it doesn't seem like the temperature sensor going bad would cause that kind of trouble but suppose it could be possible. there are two coolant sensor and they are both on the aluminum pipe that runs over the timing belt cover (it gets coolant from the pump and also runs coolant back to the radiator). the rear sensor with the large plug on it is the one that the ecu uses to tell the temperature of the engine. the front one is for the gauge. its possible that the one for the ecu went bad and if it did, you wouldn't notice the problem in the gauge since it has its own sensor.

to me, it sounds like your engine is missing very badly. that is what would cause your engine to shake like that. you might check your plugs and wires or change them and see if that helps. also, you should check your haynes manual and see if it tells you how to test the coolant temperature sensor. if the haynes book doesn't tell you how just let me know and i'll check the fsm for you. good luck!

 

Hi mtcookson,

iam in the same condition as him,

evertime i start my car and let it warm it shake very badly,

it shake like you couldn't believe it,

could the egr system cause this?

because i read in the haynes manual,

and it says that a most common driveability symptom of a malfunctioning egr system is a rough engine idle?

could this be the cause?

can you check in the fsm and see if this would cause the shaking?

thanks mtcookson,

sincerely maximagxe90

 

if it is the egr, you can mess with the little plunger thing on it and if you notice an improvement in the way the engine idles then that would be the problem. by messing with the plunger i mean pushing it back and forth with your fingers. you should definitely notice a change in the idle when you mess with it.

 

Well I think I did have the defroster on, but the blower was on OFF so I just said I had everything off, you were talking about sensors around the timing chain, do you think my timing chain could be on its way out? I don't know when it was last done and am gonna try to get it done soon....also anyone know what it costs?

 

Alright, where do I get plugs, what kind, how many, what tools will I need to install them, and is there a write-up somewhere? I really no nothing about engines

 

you have a timing belt, not a chain. The only thing that "might" have happened is it slipped and now your car is out of time.

My first guess is that it's your spark plugs/wires/distributor cap.

I would look over all of your plugs to see if any are fouled (probably replace them for good measure), check your wires for cracks/cuts and then look at your distributor cap to see if the contacts are all dirty. You can clean them in a pinch with an eraser.

Also, if the weather has been cool, damp, rainy, etc. sometimes you can get moisture in your dist. cap.

I haven't had a car with distributor problems since about 1992, so that is a little fuzzy to me. I do recall going through a puddle and my car ran really rough (engine was shaking bad) for a couple of days. Finally, my dad told me to open up the cap and see if it was damp. Sure enough it was...I took it off, brought it in the house and put the hair dryer to it. After that, it was fine.

I don't know if that's your problem, because there are lots of other possibilities. It could be injectors, fuel filter, and on and on...

 

good posibility it could be an injector but it would only vibrate at idle and should smooth out above 3k

 

I have noticed it has been smoother at higher RPMs...im gonna go rev it in park and see what it does...just went and did it, sure enough it was practically gonna at about 2200...would a fuel injector just quit one day? and how are they to replace...also read it has been raining the last couple weeks and has beenreal humid, how do i take the cap off...ill go check it out

 

well I pulled the plugs while it was running, and #2 didnt change anything, internetautomar says its most likely and injector, i don't have any money right now, will like fuel injector cleaner work?

 

everyone always says injector ??? and thers alot thats goes into replacing em not to mention how much they are$$$$$ you could try the cleaner but it would have to run/idle or drive alot to run it through.... start with the easy stuff first then work your way to injectors since thats like the last thing you wanna do on a hunch ...........read my reply in "car sputtering " from "yourself"-ya-heard

 

I say injector because Nissan uses a junk design on the injector and suffers the highest failure rate of ANY make on those injectors with the worst culprit being the 89-91 maxima VG motor.

BTW nissan does not recommend using cleaner on the injectors.

 

DMad8724 you pulled the belt off the A/C compressor and the problem still exists?

 

I havnt pulled the belt off? Why should I...will this prove anything?

 

Why doesnt this surprize me????

If you look at the 4th post (first one that wasnt you) I tell you that to try taking off your belt to eliminate you A/C compressor as the culprit. It freezes over at the same time your engine started shaking and you dont think that it could have SOMETHING to do with your problem? If your compressor has locked up, it could easily cause this shaking (and the burning smell, since the belt cant move).

 

Ok, I'm looking in the owners manual about the belts, and it looks like the belt goes around the crank pulley too...take the whole thing off all 3 circles it goes around...could I just start the car and see if the belt isnt moving?
Also, how do I take off the belt...I'm looking around for a tension nut but am not seeing anything, and there's nothing in my Chilton's I can find about the belt

 

"At the top of the idler pulley for the air conditioner, there is a bolt which is used to either raise of lower the pulley. To free the bolt for adjustment, it is necessary to loosen the locknut in the face of the idler pulley"

Would you believe I looked in the Chiltons index under "BELTS" and came up with this????????? (page 1-18)

 

well in my chiltons index there's no "BELTS"
it goes from "Battery Electrolyte, level check, 36" to "Blower unit, removal and installation, 129"
and I don't have a page "1-18"...I'll go look at it according to the quote that you gave me.

 

Well pulled the belt, no change, might actually be shaking a little more now...
here's a new question...sometimes before when I was driving, maybe in a drive thru or something or sittin at a red light, I heard clicking in my engine, similar to what it sounded like when I pulled the plugs one at a time...could I maybe just have a bad plug in cylinder 2?

 

Put the belt back on, started her up, and I don't think that #2 didnt change anything, it seemed like it was the same last night, but now pulling all the plugs seems to change the engines shaking...I walked around the car and I noticed a "chug chug chug" sound coming from my muffler and noticed it was shaking a lot, I don't know if this is just from the engine shaking or maybe a probable cause?

 

im 99% positive that you have a bad injector and trust me i know from experience

but you may want to pull the plug and see if its firing befor you assume it definitly the injector because it could be the ignition system

 

Next time your watching the engine run : if you dont have a mechanics "stethascope" use a long screwdriver w/a plastic handle and touch the metal tip of it to the plastic body of each injector (close to the harness) and put the screwdriver handle to your ear (carefully ,dont let your platinum chain get caught in the belts!,bling,bling,CRUNCH ....OUCH!) and you can hear each injector open (clicking )click click click etc.(the sound travels through the screwdriver) now this wont show a clogged injector but if they aint all clicking quickly,and consistintly it could be not getting the signal or dead?

 

Well I'm a little weary about jamming a screw driver in my ear and hooking it up to something electrical, but here goes...

Brian and I were talking and he thinks it's an injector, so I figure I'll have to drive it like this because I have no money...but I drove it to work today, and it was the same on the way there, but on the way home, about half way there the engine seemed fine, my steering wheel wasnt shaking. Then I drove it after that and it was fine, I was coming home and my cd player shut off (same problem I had when my alt was out) So I get home and the batterys @ 25%. I'm charging it now, could the injector possibly have been clogged and worked itself out? It kinda seems to me that injector symptons could be induced by the engine not having enough power. I'm gonna find out why my battery is dying (reman alt. dying?) and get back to you guys

 

could be the alt failing,
failing alternators cause some wierd problems

 

This is exactly what mine did when I had a bad injector that caused one cylinder not to fire. The chug chug sound is from that cylinder. Doesn't mean for sure that the injector is bad, but I'm 99% sure you have at least one cylinder not firing. This could also be caused by bad plugs, bad wires, or a bad distributor cap.

The "ticking" sound you were hearing could also be from a bad plug wire "arcing"...like if it were cracked and the spark was jumping to another metal source instead of the plug....(see above-bad plug wires)

Pick a place to start, and then systematically eliminate possibilities as you go. That's the only real way to troubleshoot.

 

I think your timing belt has slipped. I had a volkswagen and when this happened it ran like total crap, it was off by 3 teeth. This doesn't sound like much but it advanced the timing by 20 degrees. Try all the other stuff first, a new timing belt and labor is about $300.

 

Well, I got it all going last night, even got my subs working and stuff, and went to go cruising to test the engine but my tail light fuse kept blowing so I couldn't. I drove it to work today and it was shaking again. Went home on break and it was running fine, ran fine back to work, and ran fine home...what's the freaking deal!? This morning I thought maybe that my subs were draining my power and my engine wasn't getting enough, but I had the subs going the same when it was running fine, this is getting real old...

 

my $ is still on injector.

 

Well, after the 2nd day, the engine has been running fine since? I don't know.

I've been looking at it like this, somehow I got a short while installing my subs, and it was messing up my alt. fixed the alt and then the engine was getting enough power, but ended up exploding my TCU...makes sense to me!