valvestud

Hi all,

Is there something I'm not aware of preventing me from searching the forums?

I'm trying to find out if other 6th generation owners have experienced steering wheel shake. Mine is pretty noticeable in the 45-65 mph range. If so, has anyone found solutions?

Thanks for any info or help you can give!

Joe

KJSmitty

Steering wheel shake, shimmy, and overall vibration problems were the most active 04 Max thread(s)-topic(s) starting back in ~ July / August 2003.... I was lucky enough after the BBB route - then after starting the state lemon law saga to have mine bought back... I figured Nissan would have remedied this by now, then again-maybe not :-(.

Best of luck

mattman2003

i think that all new 2004 maxima sl or se have a very slight shimmy or much worse
paul

MaxPilot

Nope, not all. Mine has never done that and I would suspect that only a small minority of 04 cars do this.

texmax

I recently took my 04 se in re; slight shimmy. This was my 2nd visit for this occurance. The first time they rebalanced the tires and turned the front rotors, still had shimmy. This time the dealership replaced the front rotors (per my request), I was also experiencing some pulsating with the brakes. After they serviced it does seem better, but still very slight, but I think I can live with it now. While it was being serviced they provided me a loaner, a brand new 04 Altima, only 50 miles on the ticker. It had a shimmy that was alot worse than my maxima. I am thinking that maybe it is just a chararistic trait in the nissan's.

SteVTEC

I was surfing Altimas.net when the new 02's came out, and those guys were complaining of the same "shimmy" problem. This must be a sort of global issue on the Nissan FF-L cars (Altima, 04 Maxima, Murano). I wonder if the Murano guys have the same problem.

It's good to know that Nissan is making such great progress on fixing things.

Mike_TX

These shimmy threads remind me of an issue we ran into years ago with Yamaha motorcycles.

Someone pointed out that if you were driving down the road at about 30-35 mph and took your hands off the handlebars, the bars would sometimes shake back and forth (oscillate). Yamaha's answer was that they "don't recommend taking your hands off the handlebars while driving down the road".

If you have to take your hands off the wheel to observe the famous Maxima Shimmy, put your hands back on the wheel ... you don't have a shimmy. Front-wheel-drive cars have a lot going on at the front wheels - those 2 wheels have to get power to the ground, try to maintain traction, handle turning and cornering chores and absorb bumps and dips.

There is also a more direct connecton to the engine and transmission of the car, since it's all tied into the front drive, and there's usually more weight up there to have to deal with, as well.

To handle this, engineers have to dampen vibrations and power impulses that aren't present in rear-drive cars, and they have to apply additional boost to the power steering to handle the additional weight and the engine forces. A front-wheel-drive car is therefore going to feel different from a rear-wheel-drive car. Period. It's pretty amazing, really, that they've managed to make them feel as much like rear-drive as they have.

So, stop looking for shimmies. If your steering wheel actually moves in your hands while going down the road, get the rack friction adjusted, but like Yamaha said, don't drive down the road with your hands off the wheel.

Mike

MaxPilot

I think the new tires are more susceptible to flat spotting than when the tires get about a thousand miles on them. I noticed that when I got my 04 SL with Continental tires, they vibrated for about 1-2 miles after sitting all night, but then the vibration went away after they warmed up. After about a thousand miles on the tires, I do not notice the flat spotting problem at all now. Could this be what some are referring to shimmy?

DansMax3

While I agree that there is obviously a shimmy problem with some '04 Maximas (and perhaps newer Altimas as well), I can verify NO shimmy problem with my '04 Max, nor my wife's '02 Altima.

Redline

Though your entire post had little technical merit, this sentence was the crown jewel. The steering wheel vibration is real, it doesn't go away whether your hands are on or off the wheel, and it appears to have more than one contributing factor.

A good 2-plane balance seemed to work wonders for me, but others have not reported the same results. I struggle to understand how the purported steering rack tightening fix works -- the vibration is in the car, not just the steering wheel (you can feel it in the seat).

It appears that not every 6th gen has a vibration -- take yourself a long test drive before you buy and cover multiple speeds and road surfaces. Good luck.

valvestud

Thanks for all of the input on the shimmy!

4drsleeper

I'm taking my car back this week for the shimmy. This will be my second visit with only 10K miles on the car. My rotors are needing to be turned AGAIN because of the shimmy. The shimmy is so bad I can actually see my hand shake while on the steering wheel. I can only hope that Nissan buys this car back from me.

Mike_TX

Thank you.

Look, there are no doubt some Maxima's (and Ford F-150's and Maxda 6's and Chevy Cavaliers, etc.) that have a shimmy, due to improper wheel balance, bad rotors, out-of-round tires, out-of-balance wheels (rims), bad karma and a host of other reasons. I don't doubt yours had a shimmy, since cars are mechanical devices made by imperfect human beings.

I do, however, sometimes grow weary of the almost "conspiracy theory" attitude of some people that this is a completely flawed and unfit product, and that all 6th Gen Maximas are wobbling all over the road with fatal shimmies. I think it's been established through surveys and general feedback that it's a small minority of Maximas that have a shimmy problem.

As for the rack friction thing, I'm operating on reports from others, since my Maxima doesn't have a shimmy. I would assume, though, that any oscillation eminating from the steering gear would - or at least could - be felt in the seat. You said you felt your balance problem in the seat ... why not feel other vibes from the wheel area in the seat?

(Maybe your assessment of your problem has little technical merit. )

Mike

2004BlkMaxSL

This was was taken from a posting by kjsmitty on another thread. I'm waiting for him to send the name of the Atlanta dealership that he is referencing. I have a slight shimmy that is minimized by careful balancing (road force balancing), but the problem never completely goes away. I will probably take my car to this dealership the next time I visit Atlanta.

KJSMITTY -
"As for your issues, is the front thumping from/stemming from the vibration? Both from my own diagnosis and from a separate source,,, I know the rotors on the front as well as axles have been found to be poorly manufactured and badly out of round/balance. I ran into an old coworker who has a relative owning a Nissan dealer. That dealer, due to numerous complaints of shimmy and vibration, took it upon themselves to replace and/or balance both front axles and all four rotors with aftermarket "non Nissan" parts. They eliminated the shimmy/vibration. Why Nissan completely refused to even look at this on my car leaves me to believe they knew they had a problem and did not want to reveal the scope of the issue. Regional reps, factory Tech reps, they all looked at/drove my car commenting on the severity of the vibration - but returned after only re-balancing the tires with a "normal" verdict... I feel sorry for the women thats driving that Max today.... I was told about two weeks ago that it was finally being re-sold:-( ..."

WACOMAX

I have owned my 6th Gen SE since Julyand have experienced the shimmy problem since day one. My car has been to the dealer and a local Goodyear a total of nine or ten visits. The tires were balanced, then road force balanced then replaced with Michelins. The problem improved but has not gone away. I met with a Nissan rep on the last trip due to sending a Lemon Law form letter to them. They now tell me that they see no problem with my car and will do nothing else to correct the problem. I am currentl;y trying to get a Lemon Law hearning date to have the car re-purchased. I would be interested in any additional info that anyone may have about this problem. I am a little worried about the Lemon Law process and the length of time that it might take.

Scott

Is there something I'm not aware of preventing me from searching the forums?

I'm trying to find out if other 6th generation owners have experienced steering wheel shake. Mine is pretty noticeable in the 45-65 mph range. If so, has anyone found solutions?

Thanks for any info or help you can give!

Joe[/QUOTE]

Mike_TX

Scott - for what it's worth, has the issue of tightening the friction adjustment on the steering rack been pursued? Some have found that the rack wasn't tightened to the proper specs from the factory, and many, many dealers don't seem to be aware of this fix.

Mike

WACOMAX

[I appreciate your feedback Mike. To my knowledge, the rack and pinion on my vehicle has not been adjusted. I have to wonder though if tightening the rack and pinion might not be a quick fix or "band aid" approach. It would seem to me that the rack and pinion would wear more rapidly if it were tightened too much similar to a conventional steering gear box worm gear. My fear would be that I would have a car that needed a rack and pinion at 50,000 miles because the rack and pinion gears were worn out due to overtightening. I am currently waiting on a hearing date with an administartive law judge to hear my Lemon Law complaint. I suppose that it would not matter if the tightening of the rack and pinion would actually fix my problem as Nissan has advised me that they do not plan to take any additional measures to correct my problem as it is "fixed". I have to agree that those individuals that have or are experiencing the vibration/shimmy problem seem to be a small percentage of Maxima owners but the problem is "real" and I now beleive that Nissan is taking a wait and see approach toward trying to eliminate the problem as well as buying any additional cars back. I wonder if there are enough people having this problem to form a class action group to get Nissans attention? ]Scott - for what it's worth, has the issue of tightening the friction adjustment on the steering rack been pursued? Some have found that the rack wasn't tightened to the proper specs from the factory, and many, many dealers don't seem to be aware of this fix.

Mike[/QUOTE]

Mike_TX

[/QUOTE]


Yeah, it sounds like your path is already laid out.

The rack thing, though, isn't a matter of overtightening as I understand it ... instead, it's a matter of some of the steering boxes having slipped through tightened to the wrong specs. In effect, they are too loose, so torquing them to the right specs won't cause increased wear ... quite the contrary.

If your Lemon Law action doesn't work out, it would be worth trying the adjustment. The fact most Maximas don't have this problem tells me it's something that can be fixed, and this just may be the fix. I don't know why Nissan hasn't made this more widely known, but for now it's one of those "hidden recall" type things.

Good luck!

Mike