Hi All,

Car: 2000 SE with 207000kms on it.

I have a weird problem after having to change my alternator and battery.

Startup
On cold startup every morning, car starts nicely and read 750-800 rpm. put it in reverse good. As soon as I put it in drive and mash the accelerator (gently or floor), the car hesitates as if it is going to shut off but never does. after that no issues.

Acceleration
If I drive the car normally (not heavy), gears change fine no issues. Once i mash down hard on the accelerator (heavy), the tach shoots up to around 5000, and hesitates (feels like no power), before lunging forward. the delay is normally like 5 seconds. I really don't think it's the tranny slipping because under relaxed conditions the gears change fine, and also did not have this issue prior to the alternator swap.

I have disconnected the battery (hoping to reset) for about 20 mins., then took it for a hard drive, but same thing.

1. Do you think this might be the alternator causing this? (the one i put in was a used unit, until i put a refurb in)
2. Any other ideas what this could be?

Before I replaced the alternator my baby was 100% ok.

Thanks all.

 

Have you done any searching on the site? Because it sounds like you may have a bad mass airflow sensor (MAF). There are a large number of posts about similar problems. My car had a similar problem and it was a bad MAF.

 

I looked at all those. However, just created the post because I find it weird that right after the alternator/battery issue, that this popped up.

Guess you might recommend first cleaning it? Or should I just go to the scrapyard and replace it?

thanks

supa

 

I wouldn't clean it. You would probably cause more issues. Don't go to a scrap yard because the one you pick up could be bad. Just buy a new one. Contact Dave Burnette @ 1-888-254-6060 (works at a nissan dealership in Texas). He hooks it up with like a 20% discount if you tell him you are calling from the .org. I agree with Teddie18.... sounds like a MAF or even coil pack issues???

 

you can start with cleaning it, if the car goes better, you would know where is the problem.

 

Jeez.......not again! Before doing anything drive the car "normally" for a couple of days. Whenever you reconnect the battery the ECM goes through the "relearn" and you should not go immediately for a "test drive". Give it time to fully relearn before deciding that you've got an issue here. And, in other words......don't disconnect the damn battery again right now! You said it yourself, all you did was replace the battery and alternator.

 

Hi Samson,

Thanks for the tip. I agree with your assessment indeed. One question though. How long should it take normally for it to "fully relearn"?

Thanks

Jason

 

Any updates on this problem or correction? Mine does the same thing but only when cold. Once warm it runs great.
Bob

 

Hi. I changed my alternator this past sunday and am experiencing the exact same issues as describe at the top of this thread. It's almost like my car is in a mild state of "safe mode" operatoin. Very odd. All I did was replace the alternator (disconnected the battery while doing it). Any advice? Thanks for your time!

 

You must of put the Positive on the Negative and negative on the positive....haha jk. Man that sucks. i agree with samson!

 

My '01 will slightly stutter when cold. I've been having the P0420 CEL for about 5 months but in the past week (even with highway driving) the CEL has remained off. I'm trying to figure out if the 2 are related.

The mechanic says the precats seem fine. OK, pop it over to the high and mighty Infiniti stealership, they only say to replace the WHOLE front tube assembly (basically it's the headers mod but put in all OEM parts). They say they need to do this because they have follow something called a flowchart, where since I have the latest ECU part number, they now need to replace the front tube assembly.

Maybe all I have to do is just replace the bank 1 precat and/or O2 sensors. I told them this, and they said they "needed to replace everything."

 

I was just wondering if there was every a resolution to the issue that started this thread.

Several folks have posted similar experiences but many talk of a check engine light code that they are throwing.

For the originator of this thread and myself, I have no codes or pending codes. Just unusual acceleration behavior (hessitation, loss of torque/power, ...)

 

i had the same problem in my 4th gen but it was my alternator wire and battery that were replaced, it was driving like crap after 3 days its back to normal

 

might as well clean it to see if that fixes it. if it breaks from the cleaning chances are you need a new one anyway. its like a $50 fix at max, not a big deal

 

Check to see if you have any pending codes.

 

happend with my other car...did everything imaginible...then just took of my throttle body and cleaned it and a lil bit of the intake mani and the problem never happend again...im not sayin this will solve yours..but its worth a try and a clean throttle body lol

 

I too had the alternator replaced a few days ago. I feel the stutter that the OP mentioned when the car is cold but then it rides ok once it warms up. I am taking my car to a mechanic this week to get it checked out. (No not the same mech. I am taking it to my mechanic for a second opinion ) However I wanted to ask this. Would a bad MAF cause my gas mileage to go to crap? Is it possible that after a few days of relearning that my mileage will improve again?

 

I had that problem, too. After a $2300 repair bill from a shop, now I only kind of have that problem.

My car was leaking oil into the intake and the coilpacks and spark plugs were soaked in oil. Because of that, they replaced the plugs and two oil seals. I had to replace the Throttle Position Sensor. They replaced the PVC valve. And I also had 2 bad O2 sensors that caused me to have a Service Engine Light.

There's a slight rattle still when accellerating between 1500-2000rpms (which was supposed to be fixed with the new pvc valve). Also, the hesitation is still there - which is leading me to look harder at the transmission - Supposedly if a gear is mising some teeth, it could cause hesitation.

 

Sorry to refresh an old thread but this is very odd.. I too replaced my alternator in my 01 I30 and shortly after began experiencing these same issues... During mild acceleration the car shifts just fine, but if I give it over 50% throttle the tranny will go out of gear, rpms rise up, then it stutters almost slamming into the next gear.. acting as if it is confused on what gear to go in to. Very odd that we all changed our alternator and something like this happens.. Maybe someone who has never seen this old thread can chime in with some insight...
Thanks!