I just purchased a 2001 SE and I tried the cruise control for the first time today and I noticed that it kept surging with the speed. It would keep the desired speed but the engine would surge a bit, then back off,then surge again. I was getting almost sick from the up and down in the speed. It was like the car was coasting for a second then back on the power..over and over again.

Any ideas about this.

thanks

 

Sorry for digging up such an old thread... but search is your friend.

I'm having the same issue with my new to me i30. I just took a 350 mile roadtrip, and feel kind of seasick after the trip. I can feel the car feathering the throttle to keep up the speed; it's not keeping a steady speed at all time,but maybe going up and down a mile an hour, continually. Revs aren't moving, so it's really subtle. Had cruise in lots of cars, but never this issue.

Anyone have any ideas what to check to see if there's an adjustment that be made or something?

Thanks!

 

it is a normal thing.... sorry

 

My I30 doesn't do this and keeps the speed very steady. Other than a problem with the cruise control system, is your rolling resistance high? How is the tire pressure??

 

Thanks for the replies...

I'll have to double check the tire pressure. On the last check, 32lbs in all tires (Michelin Primacy MXV4), so the tires aren't some junky cheap ones.

I did have a lot of stuff in the trunk and my wife and son in the car, so it was a bit loaded down.

Maybe the return trip will be different since most of the stuff will be out of the trunk, but I thought I'd ask those with some miles on a similar car.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

mine does the same,,i guess we re all stuck with it

 

Well, checked tire pressure (32 in all tires) and drove it back 300+ miles today. Still doing the same thing.

Stopped by a local garage after coming home and got an interesting theory I'm going to check out. The mechanic suggested that the cause might be that I'm low on Freon/Refrigerant (or another AC related issue) and what I might be feeling is the AC compressor kicking in and out, and the engine having to compensate for that by feathering the throttle to assist the AC. He suggested running the car on max AC and getting the car to make the sensation I feel, and then turning off the AC and seeing if it goes away, then turning the AC back on again and see if it comes back.

The continual feathering of the throttle during the trip today really got old and made me feel nauseous; so much so that I ended up just turning off the cruise for the last 100 miles.

Gonna try that on the highway in the next day or two and see if that's the cause... it would be great if it's something that easy.

Update: No joy... took a ride on the interstate tonight, with and without AC and it felt the same both ways. But now I wonder if sascuderi was on the right track. I am changing out both rear calipers/rotors/pads this weekend because of a shimmy/warped rotor when I hit the brakes (even felt it when I hit the brakes after 100 miles on the interstate, when the brakes should be cool), so maybe I'm dragging a caliper or something? I don't have a infrared thermometer, but just holding my hands up to the wheels after my 25 mile test trip, the rears felt a lot warmer (not hot or glowing, just noticeable warmer) than the fronts, so maybe I'm dragging something which is making the car have to feather the throttle to hold speed? Not going to give up yet, but the fix isn't going to be as easy as I thought. I do need it fixed though, the whole reason I bought the car was to use on the highway for my weekly 600 mile round trips home on the weekends. Five hours of no cruise each way isn't really what I bargained for.

Update 2: Been looking at the FSM tonight. The cruise runs on vacuum. Maybe I have a vacuum leak and that's what the up/down speed is all about, some part of the system keeps losing vacuum. I'll look at the vacuum hose on the system tomorrow and see if I can see any cracks, etc., or I may just replace the hose just to be on the safe side. If not, the parts seem pretty easy to test and replace. Who knows, maybe I'm getting close to figuring this out.

 

This was my first thought also... but something else to check is the line that is on the Throttle body that "holds" the cruise. You should have two, one that comes through the firewall from the accelator and one from the cruise control. Check to see if there is excess of play in either of those. They should have very little deflection.

 

Thanks for the tip; I'll look at that too. When I looked under the hood this morning, I saw both the accelerator and cruise lines you mentioned. I didn't trace them or look for any play yet, but I'll do that as well.

I looked at the vacuum line that runs from the vacuum pump to the actuator and it looks to be in pretty good shape with no visible cracks or holes. It's not hard/brittle either.

My best friend/fellow maxima.org member is coming over on Friday to help me wrench on the car to replace brakes/o2 sensor and do some other general maintenance stuff. We plan on borrowing/renting a vacuum tester from Advance or AutoZone and looking into all of this.

I'll keep everyone informed if once I (hopefully) find the answer.

Thanks again for everyone's thoughts on how to fix the issue.

 

I had a 1993 Maxima that did the same thing and the mechanic told me to look for vacuum leaks. I have a buddy with a 1997 maxima se and occasionally his surges, but other times it does not. It is hit or miss. Thankfully there is no problem on my 2000 maxima se.

 

Just wanted to provide an update. I looked at vacuum leaks (none), tested the actuator for vacuum hold (within specs), and even swapped out the vacuum pump with a friend's Maxima, and no joy.

I took the car into a local Infiniti/Nissan mechanic (former Stealership mechanic with his own shop). He looked at the car, hooked it to the Consult and found nothing out of spec. He did adjust the throttle and cruise cables though and did some other items (idle air relearn for example).

The main thing he found though was a TSB (ITB03-031) describing this exact issue "Cruise Hunting" which requires a new Cruise Control Computer to fix. Dealer list for the item is $360, it's $293 from DAVEB (ouch!), maybe I can find a salvaged car with the correct part installed or find it on fleabay, if not, I might just go for it if the car continues to drive me nuts.

Haven't drive it on the highway yet since he made adjustments, so the issue may be less or good enough to just leave alone. But the actual fix is a new cruise control unit and $293 out of pocket.

 

Hi Tombinator
I'm having the exact same issue.
Did the adjustments your mechanic make fix the hunting issue?
If not, did you order the new cruise control unit and did that fix the issue?
Thanks

 

Hello all.

I found this thread in a search, and I have had the same problem with the cruise control in my 2001 Maxima SE. I am very sensitive to motion issues (I can't watch an LCD HD televison witout getting seasick in half an hour). So the cruise control is basically unusable for me.

Did anyone ever get this resolved for them?

Thanks,
Tom

 

I'm wondering the same thing!

 

Hi All,

I'm the guy that originally restarted this thread. Since then I've sold my I30, but I did get the problem fixed.

What fixed it was doing the idle air relearn and having the throttle and cruise cables adjusted. Part of the problem, I think, began when I replaced my stock air filter with a drop in / panel K&N. With the additional air from the K&N, I think the mass air flow sensor and other items just got out of adjustment.

When I spoke to the mechanic (former Infiniti stealership mechanic with his own shop), he noted the K&N, did the Idle Air Relearn and adjusted the throttle and cruise cables and it fixed the problem.

I know it was fixed as this was my highway car; I drove 26 miles each way daily (highway) to work and 600 miles (r/t) home each weekend (24k miles in the 9 months I owned the car) and never noted the problem again once the items above were adjusted.

I hope that for anyone that has this problem, what was adjusted for me fixes the problem. The Maxima/I30 is a great highway car... I sold the car because I moved and lost the long commute... but I still miss the car. So, does the guy who sold it to me... we just talked about it the other day.

Best of luck!
Tombinator