bct1192

My first post as a new maxima owner. I've driven my girlfriend's maxima for over a year so I am very familiar and impressed with the car. I found a 1995 GLE for $3,850 with 144k miles. The front bumper looks a little beat up, there is a dent in the door, and the gas cap is bent, but other than that the car is in excellent condition. The black leather interior looks brand new, all the eletronics work, it has the auto climate control, sunroof (a plus in California) and in general it was a sweet deal. I do have one problem. The car has a tendency to hiccup, kinda like a little glitch that slightly shakes the car, when idle at a stop light. It has not died on me, and does not seem to affect anything else while driving, but it is somewhat nerve racking. I was wondering if anyone knows possible areas to troubleshoot. The symptom is very similar to another car I had that did the same thing. In that case the o2 sensor had to be replaced, and the car worked fine. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks.

Capitone

iTrader: (1)

Whats happin'n bct1192, Welcome to the Org.
Sounds like you got a pretty good deal IMO. Congrats! Now, reading the symptoms your wrote, your 02 sensor could be the problem, but its not the first thing I would tag as the culprit. There a few other things to check as well.
1st Off, does the car shake as if it's about to cut off?
Does it do this when you cut the car on?
When you give it gas does the shaking stop?

killcrap

iTrader: (3)

your ignition coils are probably to blame or the fuel injectors. if your cel(check engine light) is on and it says Multiple Misfires than its the injectors. but other than that just check out the coil packs. watch out for knock sensor though, u might need one of thoes. i bought my car thinking it was all good. later found out my knock sensor was cracked...

BlueC

iTrader: (5)

sounds like coilpacks are going, not too bad.

nismology

iTrader: (8)

I think it has to do with your auto tranny. I know exactly what you're talking about. The only time you feel it is when your foot is on the brakes at a dead stop with the car still in Drive.

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

It could be something as simple as the idle being set too low - check the FAQs on how to adjust the idle...

What does the car idle at when you are experiencing this "shudder" ? Do you see the RPMs go up/down when you feel the hiccup?

Jatan

iTrader: (3)

Tuneup time?

Terran

iTrader: (6)

Here's how to check the ECU for codes http://vbxmaxima.8m.com/ecu.html. Your car might already know what's wrong .

njmodi

iTrader: (4)

good point amazing how we forget to check the obvious in our quest to make the problem as complex as possible!

njm

nismology

iTrader: (8)

This is a tranny issue.

Does it happen while it is in Park? While in neutral?

killcrap

iTrader: (3)

how can it be a tranny issue when the vehical is not in motion when this occurs? anyway. ohm out ur coil packs and make sure you get an infinite reading.

nismology

iTrader: (8)

Are you serious? The tranny is still trying to move the car but it can't because the brakes are applied. That's how. It's still transmitting torque to the front wheels, just not enough to overcome the brakes. If it was a coilpack issue, or anything else engine related it would happen all the time, even with the car in park or neutral. Why does it only happen when the car is in drive??...Tranny.

If it happens independant of whether it's in drive or not, you may be correct.

DAVE Sz

iTrader: (2)

Check the free stuff first. Adjust the black screw on top of the IACV first to raise the idle rpms a bit. I had this problem and adjusting it just a little got rif of the shakes. The IACV is to the right of the Throttle body. Look at your intake resonator(black, small box right BEFORE the throttle body) It has a big hose going to the right into a metal thing with colored connectors on it. The screw is right there.

bct1192

Thanks for all the quick replies, I really appreciate it. The problem can happen while moving and accelerating, but it is much less frequent. When the problem occurs, the RPMs fluctuate, generally dropping for an instant and then rising back up. I am unable to play with the idle or check the ecu codes right now, but I will do that as soon as I get a chance. Today, I noticed that when I first started driving the car, it did not hiccup. After maybe 10 mins, the problem started, and my friend who says he has seen something similar before told me to turn off the AC. The symptom stopped immediately. As I drove the car longer, this eventually had no effect, and the car would hiccup with the AC on or off. I don't know if it could be something with the alternator or the car not producing enough power. This might be directly related to setting the idle. I'll check it out later tonight.

MustangX

I have the same problem...it is nerve racking.......
I ended up putting a K&N filter in my stock box
new plugs, new battery and I tried adjusting my idle to 900 and nothing seemed to help at all. I took it to Nissan and had my 100 pt inspection done and I mentioned to them that this was happening and if they could check it out (test the coil packs) and they told me that nothing was wrong with my car...oh well... shows what they really know. But I have a feeling that it is the coil packs but then again, like you said, it drives fine, so I just blast the the radio and DRIVE it!! =) Good luck and keep us posted cuz I am dying to know too

mkbehbeh

I had/have the same problem with my max. It was doing it for weeks until finally it set a code for MAF. I have done several things to fix it.

Cleaned TB (didnt fix the hiccup but car idles much smoother)
Replaced knock sensor (extra power, car still hiccuped)

I thought about actually replacing the MAF but they are $480 for the part.

Took the MAF out and cleaned the element with electronics cleaner
Replaced the crapo-made-in-god-knows-where air filter that jiffy lube put on it.
(Come to think of it the problem started after jiffy lube changed the oil.)

I did the last two a week and a half ago and havent seen the problem since. Ive got my fingers crossed.

Good luck and let me know what you find.

Mark

bct1192

Whats a TB? Where is the MAF located? Is it just a chip that i can pull out? Thanks for the help.

bigx323

i had the same problem on my altima,, turned out one of the small hosses collepsed. cost me $5 to fix it. sorry dont kno the name of the hose to where it is connected

Terran

iTrader: (6)

TB=throttle body

Chickan

iTrader: (12)

sounds kinda like your Mass Air Flow Sensor to me. It is right before your Throttle Body, in your intact tract. Try taking the connector off and seeing if the contacts are corroded (green/nasty). If so, get a contact cleaner pen from radioshack ($3) and clean them up properly. Had the same problem on my 90 300ZX, cleaning hte maf connectors fixed it immediately.

mkbehbeh

I did some searching around and a cheap filter can relase small pieces of filtering material into the airstream. If one of them hits the sensor it will cause problems.
I did clean the electrical contacts on mine and they looked fine. The hot wire is a little harder to get to. I ended up spraying the electronic cleaner into the MAF and blew it dry.

Mark

maximus_pr

iTrader: (3)

my advice is to do a tune up to eliminate the obvious then check for codes if there are no codes buy the haynes manual there you find great info and tell you how to check almost everything because for what you described it can be one thing or a combination of different things like coils, fast idle air control, pcv valve, spark plugs, injectors, fuel filter,gas pump or simply lacks of maintenance some are very expensive some cost you few bucks ok so good luck and let us know