So I did an oil change on the Max yesterday... used my typical 4.0qt of Mobil 1 5W-30, and used the last of my Nissan OEM oil filters. The filter went on a little weird, had a little trouble getting it to thread on there, but it eventually did and I tightened it down. Started the engine and everything was fine.

Fast forward to this morning--I hadn't run the car all day yesterday. I started the engine and was met with a nice disturbing vibration/rumble from the engine. I didn't catch what the oil light was doing, but right away I suspected the filter. Had my roommate drive me out to Autozone, picked up a couple STP S6941 filters, and just changed the filter a short while ago. Started up the engine, it was doing the same vibration/rumble but once the oil light went out it slowly started to subside... let it idle for a minute, then slowly revved it up to 4K RPM, I felt some kind of rapid vibration but it wasn't too bad (I might've seen this before) but after letting it idle for a bit the vibration seems to get a little better. I'm going to take it out for a short (easy, low-RPM) spin and see how it's doing.

Any thoughts? Anyone have this happen to them before? I'm guessing there was something like rust contaminating the old filter and it got through the oil pump... hopefully before it does too much damage it'll be caught by the new oil filter and suspended.

Additional information-
There was no oil on the floor, the oil level (what good of a reading I could get) indicated it was full. However, the fuel tank was down below 1/4 tank, and I know my fuel filter is in need of replacement (up to about ~50K miles on it so far)... maybe it was low fuel pressure or an injector having trouble? Can't test fuel pressure since I don't have any apparatus for doing so...

 

sounds like the plugs...my mom's 2k was doing the EXACT same thing and she had her plugs changed and it fixed it right away.

 

Huh, weird, I had just pulled the plugs and regapped them a short while ago (coppers with ~20-30K on them)... maybe one of them was oil fouled? Don't know since I'm too lazy to take them out

Anyway, I started it up and was met with the same vibration, but it diminished after a few seconds... revved it up slowly to 4000, no majorly unusual vibration I know of, let it idle for a while. The oil light was on for the same amount of time I'd normally expect if the filter was changed. I guess it's alright then. I should consider the plugs though, maybe buy some new coppers and swap them sometime... If I see this **** happening any more I'll do it sooner rather than later.

 

with my mom's 2k, the vibration was constant, even after driving it a while...so that may not be your problem since it went away after a while....sorry i couldnt help anymore!

 

It's alright, it gave me another idea--maybe one of the plugs was fouled... if I see it happen again I'm going to pull the plugs and have a look (compression test, etc)

 

I have had these symptoms multiple times with my 95 max and 2000 I30. It has happened to me if the car is started but not driven, or only driven for a few feet, and then shut down and not started until the next day. when it is started the next day it will run very rough for ~2-3 mins then settle down.


I have searched for years for a reason and the only thing I can come up with is that at start up "extra" fuel is sent to the cylinders to help with starting. If you quickly shut the car down and the car sits there without driving, the plugs get temporally fouled by the extra fuel sitting there. Then on the next start you get a rough start until all the extra fuel burns off.

 

What about the coils, did you ever replace them?

 

Two things: the coppers are good for 30,000 miles and you have 20 to 30 K on them you say; also you say the fuel filter has 50 K on it - they should be changed at 30 K. I would say 50 K is pushing the envelope on the fuel filter.

 

The coils were changed to the updated version a little over a year ago.
The copper plugs may be due, I might consider putting platinums in there so I don't have to muck with it for a while.

FYI- The 2K-2K1 fuel filter is a little different from the 4th gens'. Mine was nasty at 50K, but Nissan doesn't specify you have to do it until 105K. I think that's BS though. Either way, the fuel filter is rather large and it's located INSIDE the fuel tank (the fuel pump fits inside the center of it, and the filter has a plastic hose which connects to the inner part of the plastic manifold where the fuel lines connect on the outside)

 

I'm content with that idea. I rarely start the engine, shut it off and wait till the next day to start it up again...
If it persists though, I could have something else going on (leaky injector?)

 

I've done that before with the exhaust really smelling like fuel and running rough for a bit the next day. That filter going on funny would have freaked me out given the circumstances, no worse feeling than thinking you may have really messed something up doing such simple maintenance.

 

dang how much does it cost for new plugs (copper, ngks) and a new fuel filter? I have 114k i got it from my dad at 107k and i have a real good feeling he never had any maintainence done. Im also thinking of replacing my MAF, and O2 sensors...Just wondering how much plugs,fuel filter, MAF, sensors, and maybe coils would cost.