Hello,
I've had my Max for 2 years. It is at 69k right now. The engine is bone dry, does not burn oil. Just yesterday morning after I started the car, I notice that the steering wheel was shaking a lot (very abnormal). I open the hood and notice the engine shaking more than usual. I looked at the belts and notice the one around the alternator is sort of loose (?) because I can see it wiggle about 1/2". If anyone can give me some ideas, THANKS!

Note: I don't think the timing belts have ever been changed since new. I got the car at 45k now it is at 69k.

Thanks!!

 

i don't think that a loose alternator would make your engine shake. it's still not good though. you had better tighten the alternator so that the drive belt won't rip up.
as for your shake, i think it may be one of your fuel injectors (just a guess cuz it happened to me). use an ohm meter to check resistance on the injector terminals.

 

My Car shakes really bad when it's hott or the A/C is on, if it's in Drive and your stopped the idle will go up and down and when it goes down it shakes like it's starving, and once you let off the brake and barely push on the gas it still does it till you rev up some, then stops. And i have no idea what is causing it.. but it's pissing me off

 

I agree. I'm at 67k miles and three of my fuel injectors just broke in the last 3k. It can get to be an expensive problem. I'm just hoping the other 3 last me for a while.

The best way to check is to unplug one at a time and listen for the one that doesn't change the idle sound. Then you know which cylinder isn't working. After that it's just a matter of checking that long black thing (sorry, dont know what it's called) and if it's not that it's probably the injector.

 

dang! where did y'all get those 60sumpth k maximas??? Mine is at 176,880 and i havent done any injectors at all. "knock on wood"
get the belt tightened or if it's worn, replaced(check while car off)

 

do you mean the timing belt?

 

Injector problems are very common on Maximas, both VE and VG. I believe it's common for all Nissans too (at least of certain age) since my friend's Sentra occasionally had injectors that went kaput and had to be replaced. I just have one of mine replaced last Friday. It's pretty easy to diagnose: with the engine running, unplug the injector harness or the ignition wires one by one. When you found one that had no effect on the engine when you unplug it, that's the cylinder with the broken injector. Replace that injector and the engine will run normally once again.

 

Hey whats up, I have a 92 SE, I think its your engine mounts. if the car shakes when its in gear and doesn't shake when in neutral or park, then I think its the mounts. My car is starting to shake. have someone check your mounts. lata

 

i would have to agree here.. my max has 189k miles and i never once had to look at my injectors... i dont know what is up with every one else's.. bad gas maby?

 

I just finished checking my injectors. I remember reading somewhere on this forum that the resistances should read between 10 to 15 Ohms. I'm not sure if I got accurate readings or not, because when I took the harnesses off to check the resistance, the terminals were very dirty (had that greenish crud on it). But on a couple of the injectors, I got 24ohms, and some I got "open circuits".
The thing that's weird is that, with the engine on, when I unplug one of those injectors reading "open circuit", the idle decreases.

And by the way, how does anyone check the number 2 injector? I have the VG30E engine, and it's right under the intake manifold.

This is really making my wallet shake....

 

A bad injector would cause a loss of power (and smoothness). You havent mentioned whether or not you have a loss of power.

I have a 92 SE with 158K miles, and the motor mounts are starting to go bad. At 69K miles, I highly doubt your engine mounts are bad.

It sounds like a vacuum line might have come off. Check all your vacuum lines around the intake manifold. What were you doing just before this started happening? Were you messing around under the hood?

You could change the fuel filter. Its not an expensive part, and wouldnt do you any harm to change it out anyway.