My buddy asked me this but I didnt know the answer to it. So I thought someone here would. He has a 97 Maxima GXE and when he is stopped and he turns his steering wheel his rpms go up from around 5K to about 6500 then when the wheel is turned back to its original position they go back down to about 5K(which seems a little low anyway but thats beside the point) Anyone know if this is normal or what could be causing the rpms to go up? Thanks and Take Care

 

I am assuming that you typed those #'s wrong cause why in the hell does your buddy have his car doing 5 grand when he's stopped. If you meant it goes from 500 to 650 that would sound more reasonable. If that's the case, he's prob. okay. After I got my exhaust put on, everytime I move my wheel it sounds like I'm revving my engine.

 

haha, wow your friend sure has a high idle!!

i hope you were wrong with those stop light rpms...
but its normal, its the power steering.
Since the power steering pump is powered by the engine, when you are driving and you turn the wheel, you dont notice the powersteering pump, but when you are stopped, the engine is not being revved but the powersteering still needs power, so the engine is reved automatically and the powersteering gets power...i hope that makes SOME sense, Im just going off of what I read.

 

Same thing here! My RPMs go a little highter when I move my steering wheel.

 

Turning the steering wheel puts a load on the power steering pump, which in turn (no pun intended) puts a load on the engine. The ECU adjusts idle speed to temporarily compensate for this increased load. It's all normal.

 

I love that Maxima Coupe, what a hot cat that would be. Perhaps we should petition Nissan to mfg. it. Anyhow back to the RPM thing. The idle circuit makes adjustment to the idle to componsate for load. ie- A/C and Steering. When you move the steering wheel you put a load on the power steering pump and hance the engine as well. The idle circuit senses the steering wheel movement I believe via the increase in pressure in the hydraulics on the power steering system then kicks up the idle a slight bit so the engine doesn't bog down. This is supposed to be unnoticed. If his speed goes up say 100 RPM's thats too much and should be adjusted properly. ( I have no clue how ) Same as with the A/C, when you turn on the A/C your idle speed needs a boost to componsate for load.

 

yeah...get technical and all...

 

yeah i forgot to mention, my buddies car idles at almost redline, lol im an idiot, i meant 500-650 thanks for correcting me, i hadnt noticed my Max doing this until my buddy asked me this question then I went out and tried it and noticed mine does the same thing. Take Care