NCSUpilot

I recently noticed a pretty heavy shuddering when I accelerate while at hwy speeds (60-75). If cruising straight and level, car is pretty smooth, however, as soon as I hit the gas - even a little bit - the whole front end shudders. Also when accelerating quickly from a stop, it shudders a little bit. Any thoughts on what this could be??

Thanks!

mightyMax95

iTrader: (5)

possibly some coils going bad. if it were brake related, you'd notice the shuddering when slowing. suspension related would be at or after a certain speed. if injectors, typically only while sitting at idle.

do a search on how to check your coils, however if they're intermittent like it seems, the bad coil(s) will be a little difficult to pinpoint. my .02

NetFurie

I had a simliar issue after i put copper plugs in the car. I replaced them with platinum and all was well.

And yes, I know some folks run fine with copper; my car just didn't like them.

ImmaSquashYou

iTrader: (7)

could be coils, could be plugs, or it could be that someone played a trick on you and put a tape weight to one of your axles. -= ) but then you would get it at lower speeds too and not just high speeds. damn, i'm just ranting kinda

NCSUpilot

Could axles cause this problem? I recently overhauled my front suspension with "new" axles from Advance (should have just paid the extra $$ and gotten Raxles.......). It does happen at slow speeds as well, but it is just VERY noticeable at hwy speeds.

AND if it is in fact the axles...would it be something that has to be fixed or just it really just affect ride quality and not safety.

95Maxima719

Sounds like your having the same problem i am

Someone also told me to look into the CV joints, i heard they are notorious for going bad on 4th gens

nismology

iTrader: (8)

Sounds like axles to me.

alset2

iTrader: (1)

vibration under acceleration could very well be axles(inner c.v. joint) especially if you didnt have the vibration until after you replaced the axles ,which are re-mans I am assuming. What happens is the bearing race(in the cv joint) gets cupped out and causes exactly what you are describing.You might want to take them out and go exchange them for two more.
Hope that helps

Leo_Koneval

iTrader: (4)

I've seen some old cars do that, whenever they accelerate the whole front end of the car just shakes... sorry not much help but it is most likely something that fails as the car ages.

OzarkSE

This is the same problem I have on my auto 99se. It also triggered the CEL to start flashing! I'm just getting an OBD code for the KS, and that is going to be changed out tomorrow - but also, the harmonic balancer is shot to h*ll - wobbling like granny on a mechanical bull.

hot_wax_tree

Clutch?

Joshzap87

Only during acceleration and around highway speeds... How does it idle? If it runs smooth, you should not have any air/fuel problems or timing or misfiring. I'm guessing you DO NOT have any "check engine" lights on... And you say it "shudders".... Do you mean the engine kinda dies out? Your idle throttle might be sticky and have a lag time ===> more fuel in the cylinder than air. Start at your air intake and work towards the engine. Have someone give your car a few revs while you scope it out. The next thing that comes to mind may be your fuel pump and/or fuel filter. A clogged filter wont feed fuel as quickly when you quickly accelerate. Same goes for the fuel pump...blah blah blah..... I would check in this order.... Air filter - throttle body - fuel injectors - fuel filter - fuel pump. I dont think it would be a cv joint or axle... cv joints tend to make a clicky noise when your wheels spin... especially in a turn. Suspension might be an issue, but you did not mention if it made this "shuddering" when you applied the brake. If not, then no suspension problem.

NCSUpilot

Nope...automatic.

NCSUpilot

It does shudder at lower speeds as well, just not nearly as noticable as at say 65. Car idles pretty well but I have noticed that it is a little "different" lately. Something very subtle, but I just know it doesn't feel right.

I replaced the fuel filter, so hopefully that is not the problem. Also, I recently replaced the IACV since the car virtually would not start and idled like crap. Now, it runs better but 1/5 times it will die right on start up. If I press the gas just even a little when it's about to stall it will catch and stay running just fine....

Joshzap87

Ya know what? Check if you have exhaust coming out your tailpipe... you may have a clogged catalic converter...

NCSUpilot

Exhaust flow seems normal and just had a rotate and balance and problem persists. I am going to try changing out the axles this week. I will probably just do one at a time which side (hopefully) is the culprit. Then she'll be ready to sell - and replaced with an '09!!

SinisterSntra91

If it feels like its suspension related, its your wheel bearings, Ill put money on it. I bet they fall apart as soon as you pull the shaft out of them. Its happened to me a million times. Jack your car up and yank back and forth on the tire if it feels like the tire is somewhat loose there is your problem.

z32drifter

Sounds like an inner CV jont to me. I've seen CVs do strange things over the years. I've had a similar vibration to your symptom that ended up being an inner joint. I've had a left inner joint make a clicking noise when turning right (normally that would be the right outer making noise) I've even had a outer joint explode under the massive power of the Maxima..lol

sharzonie

My 98 is shuddering/vibrating during heavy accleration. It doesn't matter how fast im driving. Also when im taking a corner on the highway at high speed. I can feel intermittent vibration in the steering wheel, especially if im on the pedal around the corner. Im going to try and check the CV Joints tomorrow and see if that could be the cause. Any other ideas on what this could be?

NCSUpilot

Well both bearings are virtually brand new so I don't think that is the problem. Virtually everyone I talk to says Axles....I think I'll do those tomorrow night and see where that gets me. Otherwise I'm going to be P.O.'d!

NCSUpilot

Problem Solved.....it was the passenger axle. Piece of crap "new" axle from Advance Auto... I ended up swapping both out lastnight.

Thanks for all the help!

mitchxtoledo

I'm driving a 3rd gen and have the same exact problem - at hwy speeds it vibrates far more noticeably than at a speed of around 45mph. I've had axles, struts, and tires replaced since the problem began (these were necessary replacements for other problems) and am now trying to tackle the High Speed Farting problem. Just got back from a tranny shop and was told that a bad torque converter could definitely cause the problem, offered to fix it (replace it, which entails removing the tranny) for $585 on eastern Long Island in NY. I'm not sure if this is a good price, so I'm trying to get some research done on this stuff.

I'd loot and pillage for a decent garage. I want to strip that whole machine down to her bolts and put her all back together again.

ChiknNutz

I, too, am having this issue. I just stripped down the top end of the engine and cleaned it all up (started just doing the injectors). The engine runs XLNT now, but now I notice this shudder on acceleration. It doesn't SEEM like it is the engine doing this, I'd say more in the suspension/axles/transaxle if I had to guess. The tranny shifts fine and the clutch was replaced about a year ago. Supposedly, the CVs were replaced about a year ago too, but that doesn't mean it can't still be a CV joint (I just got this car). I get none of the "usual" CV joint noises, and they do seem to be in good shape from what I can tell. Based on the solution found on this one, looks like I need to check the CV axles.

How did you find out it was the CV axle...what was bad about it? Thanks!

sharzonie

I had the same problem (note above post) and my axels had no signs of trouble whether it be sight or sound. I inspected the boots, and felt for play in the axel. Luckily my brother-in-law has a Maxima too and i checked his axels to see how much play was in his axels. There was alot more play in my axel so i decided to change it. Problem fixed no more shuddering/vibrating when im accelerating.

my 2 cents

alset2

iTrader: (1)

Well what I found was that the race (bearing) in the cv joint get "cupped". meaning the surface of the race gets kinda uneven . most of the time it would be the inner joint that causes the vibration iirc.

just FYI...

NCSUpilot

I just replaced both axles when mine started to shudder so I just assumed it had to be one of those. I read some older posts with similar problems and realized I probably had the same issue. Also, the engine and transmission sounded and ran great, so I was pretty sure it was not that.

There were no other signs of damage in the CV or anything else...

ChiknNutz

Great, thanks for the feedback!

ChiknNutz

Okay, so I just tore all this down and have pulled out both axles. I've personally never replaced axles before, but these don't SEEM bad to me...as in there are no obvious signs of damage. The boots are all good, and I've not pulled those off to inspect, but just grabbing ahold of them and turning them in all directions gives no obvious signs of failure. However, that sure doesn't mean there isn't any that I'm not aware of. Just wanted some reassurance before I go get new ones that this is at least 75% chance of being the issue. I had hoped to see or feel something obvious.

Also, what is the recommended manual transaxle fluid to top this off with after replacing the axles since quite a bit came out? Thanks a bunch.

ChiknNutz

Sorry for the BUMP, just looking for a little feedback. Thanks.

FYI, I just "overhauled" the fuel system too...new injectors; manually cleaned the intake, plenum, TB, EGR and IACV and new platinum plugs as well as installed slightly used struts all around. The car seemed to have this before all of this work was done, but I attributed it to it not running right (had two codes before, which are now gone). I just got this car and performed all this work in short order to get it road-ready. The previous owner said the CVs were replaced "a while back" so not sure what that really means and that owner didn't seem to take the best care of the car.

sharzonie

My driver side axel had no real signs of damage. The only thing i noticed was there was a good amount of play in the axel.

moweryc@gmail.com

I have experienced the same issue for the last several months on my 96se. Specifically, heavy front end shaking (shuddering) when accelarating which is most intense bewtween 50-70mph. If I take my foot of the gas to return to cruise speed (no accelaration) or if I put it in neutral there's no symptoms. Also, revving the engine to similar rpms does produce any shaking. The curious thing is that under heavy accelaration from 0-40 there are no symptoms, it just kicks in when you reach 45-50.

I replaced the axles four years ago, front struts the following year, new tires recently. I thought maybe clutch, maybe transmission, but the fact that it only happens at a specific speed range would seem to suggest otherwise (it happens whether I'm in 3rd/4th or 5th).

I've read a lot of possibilities on this thread, did anyone find a solution/cause? Thanks.

gtr_rider

iTrader: (50)

I have this same problem and I already replaced the new DS advance axle, I am going to see if the new PS axle is the culprit.

JerseyDrape

I'm having a similar problem as well. If it's in a high gear (3, 4, 5) with little momentum, and I apply a lot of gas, it starts shuttering, almost like a misfire, but its not engine related. There's also some rotary type noise in one of the wheels (whirling type sound)
I inspected the wheels with the car off the ground and noticed no play in the drivers wheel, but the passenger has 3 and 9 play. I suppose it's the tie rod but I have to dig deeper. There's also a lot of oil splatter in the passenger side rear of engine, around the control arms and back of block. Could this be a bad steering rack? Or could it leak from just a bad tie rod alone?