Hi All,

I have a 03 Maxima SE Auto with only 8k miles on it. When I slow down the car to a stop quickly, I tend to get this slight vibration feeback from the steering wheel. It feels like the engine RPM is dropped too low. When the engine rpm is higher, the engine is very very smooth. Also, sometimes when the engine is idleing, I can feel minor knocks. I use Shell premium gasoline. Does anyone else experience this same problem? Any feedback is appreciated.

 

I do and have asked several times what may be wrong and nobody has ever replied. I can feel a vibration in the steering wheel while at idle. I always use 93 octane and asked the dealer what may be wrong and they just said bring it in, I plan to do so but I have not had time yet.

 

Mine seems to be when I get to a stop quickly, the engine rpm is lowered too fast by the transmission (automatic), maybe dropped too low!? If I shift into neutral before I get to a stop, I don't feel anything.
Maybe the idleing rpm needs to be set a little higher!?

 

hmm... i actualy have that problem too... now that you mention it, I feel some weird vibrations coming from my steering wheel when I am idling for awhile... i didnt pay attention to it at all because I just thought the long idle was the cause... I wonder if this is a defect or just a norm....

 

My 2K do exact the same thing. I also wonder if this is a problem. I have no experience of driving front drive car before this Maxima, all my cars were rear drive. Probably every front drive car just running like this?

 

I'm going to add my 2 cents, cuz..why not! I drove a friends 03 Max SE (auto) and the same thing happened to me. I thought I screwed her car up. It felt like the idle was about to go so low that the engine would cut off. It also happened after I did some hard braking. Doesn't ANYONE know the solution to this? I imagine setting the RPM higher would solve it, but then the engine wouldn't be as quite at idle. Hmm..anyone?

 

Are all of you guys talking about a rough idle? I have a slight vibration just before I come to a stop. I believe it is when the tranny is shifting down to 1st.

Is this maybe what any of you are talking about? Has anybody fixed this?

BTW, for you guys with a rough idle, you may want to clean your throttle body.

 

I cleaned my throttle body on Saturday, it felt better for about an hour then went back to a rough idle. I need to get my car inspected so I'll ask about it then.

One thing I did notice was it seemed to happen after I changed my oil. (That could just be in my head though)

 

Ignition coils maybe? Do you have a 2k?

My idle is non-existant. The problem I have is with a slight vibration on the 2-1 shift when comming to a stop.

Anyone know if this is something I should be worried about?

 

let's see..

1. Some vibration through the wheel is normal
2. while deccelerating, you can sometimes feel the transmission downshift and see the rpm drop correspondingly.
3. both the above are normal.

4. it would be abnormal if the vibration is excessive which i doubt from all the posts above.

 

on another note, those of you with the GLE and some SE models might want to see if your engine mounts are operating properly. They are electric and are supposed to adjust for idle/driving on their own. If they don't, that might cause some extra vibration.

 

My 95 Explorer was doing the same thing. I cleaned the throttle body and replaced the air filter and it stopped.

 

I don't think it was caused by down shift because all my other rear drive cars don't have this phenomena. If front drive cars need to down shift when approach to a stop, so do rear drive cars.

 

For the second part, I can say I've noticed mine to do that same thing at idle as well, only once in a while tho.

I'm pretty sure that's a mis - fire. That's when one of the plugs fails to fire.

Could be a plug or coil being tempermental.

Mine hasn't done it enough for me to raise a red flag. If your's is doing it all the time I would take it in if under warranty. If not under warranty, I would start with new plugs and work my way out in terms of trying to isolate what's wrong.


For the first part of your question, I'm going to just venture a guess that you may have warped rotors if you are getting feedback in the sterring wheel under hard braking. The two problems you are having might be completely unrelated.

 

For those of you having idle problems have you had the TSB's and recalls performed?

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB03-023.pdf
http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB03-124.pdf (this one i believe turned into a recall)
I've never experienced idle or vibration problems,
and for those that think you can just "set the idle up", not that easy, computer needs re-programmed.