I have a '00 Maxima 5spd MT. In the mornings when accelerating anywhere in the range of 20 - 40mph, the whole vehicle shakes violently. It seems to be related to the engine becuase i can give the car more gas and it will smooth out. When it does shake it feels and sounds like when you hit the rev limiter but im only pushing 1500 - 3000 RPM. Any one else ran into this issue? I know its not because of a bad shift or bad timing with releasing the clutch because when it happens im already in gear and the clutch is fully engaged. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

You are most likely starting to have a major issue with one of the O2 sensors. Run an OBDII scan and see if there are any stored or pending codes. You'll be looking for a P0430 or P0420 code most likely. If you find that, replace the Bank 1 or Bank 2 O2 sensor and likely the problem will go away.

 

Yeah i can check, but isnt the P0420, P0430 mean that both 02 sensors are working but the cats are shot??

 

I too just experienced this for the first time in my wifes 00' 5spd. Of course when I asked her about it, she said that it has been doing this for a while.

I noticed that only when its cold (outside temp chilly, but more importantly the maxima was FULLY cold as it sat overnight). This happens in 2nd and 3rd gear under very light (<30%) throttle. The car bucks a little bit, not violently for me, just bucks and only goes away if I let off the gas or increase throttle percentage. It also goes away completely once the car is driven for a few minutes and it warms up a little.

I have a scanner and I ran it for codes - i got nothing of course. The car has not has a CEL on since we've owned it (year). My car has also had the following done (she claims the bucking prior to and afterwards) since I took possession a year ago:

- new OEM maf
- 3 new Bosch o2 sensors (fed spec 00')
- fuel pump
- upper intake manifold gasket (cleaned TB, EGR, upper manifold...etc while off)
- cam/crank sensors (all 3)
- major tune up (plugs, fuel filter...etc)

My fuel pressure is perfect. About the only things I can imagine I have going on left to check, now that I know this is happening, are vacuum leaks and/or coil(s) going south and acting up when cold - just not enough to set off any codes yet.

I hope this doesn't set you off course, but I thought I'd share my experience. I do not get to drive her car much, but when I do I always end up cleaning it and/or fixing some **** on it. This is the next main thing for me to address.

On an aside, have you been checking your gas mileage? If so, what sort of MPG have you been getting and with what type of driving? My wife drives in inner city Portland traffic and has been getting pretty junk mileage with the Maxima - I think her last tank was something like 18.5mpg Albeit, this is lots and lots of slow moving and/or stop and go type traffic the whole 8 miles (no cruising or highway), but that still seems a bit low to me. There is something going on and I will get to it sooner or later.

Hope that helps a bit...

 

They do mean cat inefficiency, but it's is almost always because of a bad O2 sensor. The precats almost never go bad (unless we're talking about the 02-03 5.5 Gens)

 

I took possesion of this car about 2 months ago from my dad and he owned it since it was brand new and he average about 23-25 mpg and I have used about 1 tank and 1/2 since owning and it looks like i am getting about 18-22 mpg and it has always been surging and shaking just in the morning. Just about the same symptoms that you were expierencing with your wife's maxima. Is it still doing it or did it stop once you changed some part or clean the intake system. If so what exatcly was the last thing that you did.

 

IACV/TB & vacuum issues are more likely than O2 sensors.

 

I did all of what I said and the problem still persists. Last thing I did was o2 sensors.

The only thing that is "modified" on this maxima at all is a 1 piece SS clutch line (which obviously has no effect) and also my IACV coolant bypass (which you may want to search).

The reason I jumped into this thread was to see about your issue (hopefully you figure it out) since I am assuming yours is NOT bypassed like mine. That would help me not to **** with mine and to look at vacuum leaks and/or coil packs or something else.

I am still having the problem, or rather my wife is and I don't get much of a chance to ever look at it lately so we will see when I get to it - family life with 2 little ones trumps stuff like this. Please continue to update as you truck along this adventure would ya?

EDIT: I did not do all of this stuff because of this issue, I did it as part of my normal (OCD) routine maintenance I do on our vehicles. It just so happens that I got to take the max to the gym a couple of weeks ago and the car was cold before I got in it and I found out about it. Who knows how long its been going on, not like my wife pays attention to this type of thing.

 

Yeah mine is not modded with the IACV and I scanned the car and there are not any pending codes. I recently cleaned as much of the TB and cleaned the IAC port that is by the TB because of a stalling issue that was going on.

Could this problem have anything to do with the fact that the clutch might be worn out. The previous owner said it was changed about 5-7 years ago. I dont know if that will cause this problem

 

no

OP: any updates?

 

I will update here for the sake of those poor shlubs who find this thread in the future while searching.

If you read my posts above you will see what I had already "done" to the car.
My wife has reported her last two fillups to me for MPG and they were: 17.1 MPG and then a 14.7 MPG respectively.

I kept trying to rationalize the 17MPG by telling myself that her commute was/is about the worst type you could have (and it is) - Portland inner city commute, 7 miles each way, all lights/stop and go...etc But when she reported 14.7 I decided there had to be a problem.

I will reiterate the symptoms I was (yes was, car is fixed) having:

* Long crank during cold starts
* the 2nd and/or 3rd gear slight throttle hesitation/jerking from 20-40mph
* terrible gas mileage

Here is what I did:

1) Reset timing to 15* +/- BTDC
2) Bring car in to dealer to have them reflash the ECM to my new MAF sensor

WHen I bought my MAF from Nissan, it said to have this done...etc Apparently my ECM is just out of the VIN range to necessitate this reflash; I was bummed cause I was looking for a reason to blame all my **** on. They did come back to me and tell me that the tech had found a PO505 in my system. I NEVER had a SES light on for it and my idle has always been "fine" IMO - although I hardly ever drive the car, it is my wife's.

Since they already had it and were going to take the $95 diagnostic fee from me; it made sense to have them clear and it perform the idle air relearn with the Consult as opposed to me ****ing with it at home 5 times to try and get it to stick.

Result = A car that is running markedly better. My tip in is improved, my throttle response EVERYWHERE in the RPM range is improved, my slight throttle hesitation is gone, my MPG is back up, my cold start **** is gone.

When I reset my timing it was around 10* - to me that is not low enough to warrant all of this symptoms but I could be wrong. I know retarded timing is terrible for basically everything except lowering your EGT's and wasting gas. However I cannot rule it out - I chalk this up to a combination of the ignition timing bump AND the Consult having found some ghost PO505 that never tripped my SES light (yes it works).

I really hope this helps.
Take away = check your ignition timing AND do a "at home" idle air relearn.

 

To whoever finds this in the future; four full years after the fact, noahrexion's advice would very nearly have saved me the cost of paying a dealer the diagnostic fee....maybe... anyway, here is my story, I hope it helps you slay the electronic gremlins that are haunting your Nissan. God Speed. :

Last fall I bought a 2001 Max with a 5 speed MT with just under 135k on the odometer to use as a daily/beater. The carfax said it was a one owner vehicle, but based on the rims and stereo, I believe it had been handed down to a high-school age child who had subsequently sold it when they got a real job. Anyway, I was expecting it to have a lot of (cough cough) "personality". I was not disappointed. There has been much to fix. Shortly after I took possession of it the idle stated searching and then slowly dying as the weather turned colder. This turned out to be the MAF burning its last batch before giving up entirely. Since I wasn't sure at the time, I replaced the sparkplugs (to no effect, but why not?) the Throttle Position Sensor (again no effect), and then the Mass Air Flow Sensor (which fixed it almost totally). I then performed an at home idle relearn after which it idled reliably, and quit throwing codes (almost). Shortly thereafter it started stuttering at approximately 1700rpm. Below 1500 it would rev/idle normally, and above 2000 it would pull just fine, but in between the tach would dance like it had hit the rev limiter. This was not the transmission, because it would reliably do it in neutral. When in first gear, the stutter was so pronounced that it would jerk the car like I had popped the clutch, and could sometimes squeak the tires. In second and higher gears I believe it was still doing it, just that the drive train provided enough resistance that it wasn't noticeable. Since the plan was to just drive the car till it dies, I wasn't initially worried about fixing it, so I just drove around the issue by shifting to stay over or under that RPM range. It got along happily for 12,000 miles in this condition, except that every month or 6 weeks it would throw a P0420 (O2 sensor) code. Ultimately, I decided that I did in fact like this car, and that I wanted to make it last, so I stated hunting:

In addition to the MAF, TPS and spark plugs, I:
changed the engine air filter
checked the ignition coils
checked the injectors
checked and cleaned the Idle Air Sensor
cleaned the throttle body
Seafoamed the intake and tank

*None of this had any effect.* All of these parts were fine. I checked the throttle body movement by bracing the pedal to induce the stutter, and then visually inspected it - the external control was not moving as the engine stuttered. I briefly considered pulling the fuel filter (which is in the tank on an '01) and pulling the manifold to check for obstructions, but discretion proved the better part of valor, and instead I took the easy way out and sought professional help. I dropped it off at the dealer with the direction to locate and identify the problem but fix nothing that would cost me extra money. They needed the car for a full 24 hours to figure it out.

After the usual point to point inspections, they told me that they had to flash the ECM and then force the throttle position sensor to re-calibrate to it. Once that was done, the problem vanished. They told me that the re-flash needed done anyway (apparently Nissan updated the firmware at some point in the last 17 years), but that it didn't resolve it until they forced the ECU and TPS to calibrate. In any case, this solved the issue. The car now drives perfectly fine.

*When I cleaned the throttle body I disconnected the battery, and for the minute or two after I reconnected it, until it finished rebooting, the stutter disappeared. Once the ECU finished the reboot, it dropped from high idle to normal idle, and the stutter returned.

**I had done an Idle-re-learn at the house prior to this, and it appeared to take, but possibly not.

Good luck everyone.