Everyone,

I have a 2K3 6-speed, and whether I'm in 1st or 2nd without my foot on the gas pedal the car slightly lunges forward until it speeds up over 15mph. Is this normal??? For instance, when I'm driving around the parking lot in my apartment complex in 1st or 2nd at these low speeds, the car is always swaying back and forth or jerking until I pull out and speed up. This is my first 6-speed, so I'm not sure if this is normal or not. Any insight is greatly appreciated... Thank you in advance.

 

We all have the same issue. It's engine braking. I wish it wasn't so pronounced myself.

 

Brian Fellows would say it's fuel cut. When the tranny doesnt 'see' a load, it cuts the fuel.. as soon as it does, it comes back with throttle and theres your jerk..

its really an emissions thing, Nissan will have to wait a year before issuing new ECU code. Law requires 12 months after certification before the emissions code can be altered. Or something like that.

 

5spd, 6spd. Makes little difference in those gears. Is this your 1st stick?

 

This is my first stick. Other who have driven stick before claim this is not normal. I'm not sure though...

 

i say the exact opposite. ive asked all of my friends who drive sticm cars and they say it is perfectly normal. "all stick cars do that" is what they tell me.

 

its *normal* because all new cars have fuel cut... its just that Nissan's is VERY aggressive programming. it kicks in much sooner than Toyota or Honda, and it comes back with much more power ('cause it can )

 

I'm not sure if its just a fuel cut issue. I have had the same problem since day one on my 95 Escort. It had something to do with the fuel curve at or near idle in the lower 2 gears. Damn I can't remember the exact specs. Anyway, the problem in that case was corrected when I bought the Superchip ECU ROM. There claim was they "smoothed out the factory fuel curve" thus eliminating this bucking crap. Either way there isn't much you can do short of ECU updates.

 

my auto feels like that.

 

Tim, fuel cut is when your driving say 40mph in 3rd and punch the gas and you get that bogg feeling like an auto when it down shifts or any 4 barrel carb when the second butter fly opens.

This is just simply driving slow in 1st or 2nd @ 2-2.5k rpms or less and lightly getting on or off the gas and the car lurches.

pjonkheer this is normal and the longer you drive the car the more you'll get a feel for it. When your driving at slow speeds like that try using slow and smooth gas pedal movements. Or even coasting. Go to an empty parking lot and practice using the cluch and gas pedals at low speeds. This will help when your in bumper to bumper trific so you don't look like your in a rodeo.

Good luck and enjoy your new car.

 

no... fuel cut is (as it applies to TSBs issued by Nissan so far) when you try to maintain a throttle position and the ECU decides there is no load, hence no reason for fuel and decides to totally cut power until *it* decides you need more throttle.

 

Tim is dead on here - the "Fuel Cut" TSB reduced the problem in my '01. My '03 has the same issue but there will be no fix until the '02 is twelve months old. Which should be pretty soon???

The delay in acceleration when you floor it is a whole different problem (the car kind of stutters like an automatic hunting for a gear). Hopefully when the new TSB is out, the ECU reprogram will fix both issues at once.

 

I have had no problems with my car lurching. Every stick I have driven will do this when your not smooth on the gas at low speeds. Is there a TSB for this on 02's?
I did a search in the 4th gen. forum for "fuel cut TSB" and this was the only hit. Transmission Bucking
My friend has a 79' Silver addition TA 400 4 on the floor and it will do the same thing at low to idle rpms in 1st or 2nd no ECU in that car.

 

Why would you search the 4G forum? Search this one.. There are literally BILLIONS of threads about it.

You cannot maintain RPM under 2K if there is no load on the tranny, thats the gist of it. So, there's no amount of throttle feather that will stop it. You can drive around it and a steady foot will help minimize it as you drive around it, but its there. And its always been more pronounced in 5th gen maximas than other cars.

 

If this is the case, Nissan needs to address it. It's quite annoying, espcially when I have friends riding in the car with me. Even more so, female friends...

 

Yeah, I had the same problem in my 2000 SE now same thing in 2002 SE. Really annoying when you driving at low speeds.

I drove my friend 5-speed Jetta VR6 and it was much smoother at low speeds.

Stupid Nissan...

 

EXACTLY.
It's worse with some cars, for some unknown reason.
It's also the reason:
a) I got rid of my 2000 SE (mine was really bad)
b) went with an auto this time (partly to avoid fuel-cut)

I lost money (trading up) because of Nissan's Fuel Cut problem.
I'm also kind of apalled to see it is still a problem with some sticks in 2002.

 

I have been complaining about this since day one..

My 2k2 6speed is so much worse than any stick car i have ever driven, even my old mazda protege..

I drive in traffic 2 hours a day and its absolutely annoying..

My buddy with a twin turbo RX7 says his does it to, but its driving me up teh wall.

If there is a TSB with an ECU program, i want it..

is this a rumor or is it for real??

Its the biggest pet peeve i have about this car!!

And its even worse now that i suspect i have a broken engine mount!!

ED

 

those others are wrong...

 

one thing you ALL need to understand before we start talking about Fuel Cut *again*, not all cars exhibit this the same.

For some people, its traffic, small hills or certain grades that make this seem worse of a problem then it is for you. We went around and around about this with 2K/1's. ITS NOT ALWAYS THE DRIVER! Ok, there... lets move past that. Yes, some cars you can drive around it, but that largely depends on the terrain and traffic. You just dont know until youve driven their car on their streets.

For 2K's, it had alot to do with improperly adjusted (from factory) Throttle Position Sensors. 2 identical cars, side by side, could show the problem differently. Its not too much of stretch to think that maybe there's something in the throttle by wire. Just like the bog you are feeling, that delay could show up as a driveability problem for others.

Lastly, you dont need to be Pro Race car driver to maintain 18mph (or 38 as it is with 2k/1s). Its a pretty straight forward thing. In our case, you set the cruise control and it would start bucking. Again, not the driver. You need to realize there are other variables at play before you blindly blame someones driving.

 

When I went out for a test drive in the 2K3 6-speed, I experienced this same problem. I was aware of it from reading what other 2K2 owners here have described, but never really fully understood it until the 1st 5 mins driving around in the dealership parking lot, it bucked and jerked. My saleschick told me that's normal under the driving speed I drove in because she has a 2K2 Altima SE 5-speed and it does the samething! Now while my stick shift skills aren't exactly great, I wasn't intentionally trying to see if it would jerk, but it did, and was one of a few reasons put into consideration b4 I bought my car as to whether or not I could live with this.

In either case, your not alone, but anything after 15MPH, will make you smile like this!

 

This is the number one problem in my opinion, makes me regret my purchase at times when I get stuck in low-speed or traffic. That and the hesitation under acceleration.
How long has Nissan been making cars? They didn't notice this when testing? I don't get it, and either does the Tech at the dealer that can't do anything about it.

 

I always thought it was just that first was too short of a gear. I just switch to 2nd at low speeds and everything is fine.

I remember Car & Driver mentioned this problem in their long term wrap-up of a 2k a few months ago.

 

The reason I searched 4th gen is because my 96 & 99 did the same thing. Maybe growing up in Chicago and now living in Atlanta, 2 Very heavy traffic cities, I've learned to drive around this problem. Maybe I got lucky with my 02 I don't know.
I believe the more power that a car has the more exaggerated this will become. Yes there are many factors that cause a car to do this, some more that others. ECU, TB drive by wire, low end TQ, trans & diff. gearing... But it all starts with the driver. Yes a ECU fuel re-map or TPS adjustment may help to some extent but the fact still remains all manuals and even some autos will exhibit this when there is a minimal load on the trans.
I've never driven an 00 or 01 Max so I can't comment on the issue with those cars. What I do know is a 02 isn't the same car. While I do have a problem with hesitation my car doesn't buck at low speeds.

And I'm not blindly blaming the guys driving. He joined the org in April. He's driving a 03 that I don't know how long he's had, 2 months tops, and it's his 1st stick. Low speed driving is the hardest part to learn about in driving a stick.

 

Wasnt aimed completely at you. I was just trying to stop a trend before it started. there were alot of heated posts when this came up on the 2k's. Alot of unnecessary anger and name calling. And a generous helping of crow when the Nissan finally offered a reflash of the ECU for 5sp-ed and recognized the TPS adjustment.

 

Tim,

Sorry about the thread. I had no idea I was opening this can of worms. I'm still pretty new here at the org. At any rate, an ECU update for 2K2/3's would be quite nice. This makes me not want to buy Nissan again...

 

no can of worms.. dont worry about that.

Long story short, you'll have to drive around it.. Nissan has shown they will *eventually* deal with it if there is really problem that can be fixed.

 

OT but nice sig. I really like that pic..

 

A mechanic friend of mine explained it to me that the Drive by wire system is causing that to happen because the system is very sensitive to throttle input and the gives an instant response to the motor that's why a sudden movement by your foot makes the car jump right out. The old cable system if you notice has a little slack in it to prevent this sudden jerking and also when the motor twists from accelerating or deccelerating the RPMs wont be affected. Hope this helps.

 

It's fuel cut causing this issue.