Nissan - Altima :: 1994 Jerk Whilst Driving Not Specifically Under Load
Jan 21, 2014
I have an automatic 1994 Nissan Bluebird which I think is equivalent to the Nissan Altima in the US.
My car seems to jerk whilst driving, not specifically under load. Sometimes when I'm in park with my foot on the brake, it feels like its very subtly jerking on the spot. It is a sporadic condition, sometimes my car won't jerk at all (or very few times) on the way to work, and other days it will jerk a lot. On the whole it seems to be getting worse though. When switching between gears when stopped it changes quite roughly (but not violently). Turning on the AC makes the condition worse. It has stalled once in reverse, and sometimes feels like it will stall again when I'm slowing down.
When it does jerk I can hear a noise that sounds faintly like a can of coke being opened (quick sharp pressure release), and it seems like something (possibly a belt) is losing traction/slipping and quickly regaining its grip. My first suspicion was the drive belt or one of the other belts slipping or something like that. Other possibilities I suspect are, from looking through the Hayne's manual:
-Something to do with the transmission (I checked the transmission fluid and it seems fine, very light brown but mostly transparent)
-Fuel filter clogged or fuel line problems (1.5 years ago the car wouldn't start, and a mechanic had to manually inject fuel through the injection nozzles. The fuel was near empty however)
-Spark plugs gap wrong or damaged
-Distributor components damaged (the distributor and alternator were changed last year and swapped in with 2nd hand parts, also the mechanic was very shifty and I think he hacked it into my car without too much care for good wiring, fittings, etc).
Also, I took the car to a mechanic last week and he thought it was the spark plugs, but I think the problem may be more serious than that. He also wanted to flush the transmission fluid but I think I will give this a miss since I checked the fluid and it seems fine, plus I heard flushing the fluid in an old car may have negative effects.
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1997 200 SX SE coupe. It has the 1.6L engine and is a 5 speed.
I recently purchased this car and it had the CEL or check engine light on. The part store stated the codes were: P0304 X 2 and P1445.
Here is my problem that occurs mainly once the engine is warmed up- it started bucking and hesitating whenever I push the gas pedal. It doesn't do it when the engine is cold- at least it is very slight and hard to notice. On the highway at constant cruising speeds the car rides and purrs great. While I'm idling at a red light the rpm is constantly dropping about 100 rpm every second.
I have tried the following:
-Replaced distributor cap. The cap was slightly corroded.
-Tested spark plug wires by applying then to metal and looking for spark.
-Did a dry compression test and all cyl ranged from 150-160 psi. (Good levels??)-
-Sprayed carb cleaner around manifold to see if idle changes - nothing
I am fairly a novice at mechanics so I'm still learning. Perhaps the car has stale gas? Not sure how long it has sat, or even if it has been sitting. bad injector? Bad fuel pump/ filter?
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I have a 2005 Nissan Altima 2.5L 4 cylinder. About a month ago I had check engine light come on and required to replaced the catalytic converter. I replaced it myself with one from Autozone. Now 2 weeks after replacing it; every now and then I'll be driving let off the gas and when I get back on the gas the car starts missing. It has happened several times in the last few days. The car does smooth out after a few seconds but is a hassle and a worry.
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I have 1995 Nissan Altima and it will not start. When I jump the car battery with the jumper cable and when the Cables are connected, the Car starts. As soon as I take the jumper cables out, the rpm drops and immediately the Car engine dies (stops). I checked the battery with Digital Multimeter and the batter is good. This Car was run on very low engine oil (way below the "Low" mark on the Dip stick for 3 days running 30 to 40 miles/day. 2 or 3 months, I noted that engine oil "Low" indicator on my dashboard and did not get oil change immediately. Since this car is my second car, I do not use it every day. It is parked always, and I start it once in 3 or 4 days and run it for 20 minutes to make sure that Battery will not go down. Few weekends before this problem, the car started well and I did not notice any "low" engine oil indicator on the dashboard. So, I never changed the engine oil as I forgot about it.
3 weeks back, I gave the Car to a friend of mine who came here from another state. He took it to his office ( 15 mile away ) and in the evening the car would not start. Finally, someone had jump started power station and they jumped the car with it. The car started Next day, he did not use this car. 3rd day, the car started when I jumped the car in the morning, and he took it to an office and did not have any problems coming back (total 30 to 40 miles). 4th day, he went to an office in the morning and when he was coming back, the Car died on the road. He got it jumped 1or 2 times and came very close to my home. It died again. After 1 or 2 hours, I came back from office and pressed the gas pedal few times and started it. It started and when I was in my parking place, it died again. Finally, when I parked in the parking lot, I noticed that the steering wheel (it is power steering) became very stiff and would not turn. Also, I noticed smoke smell when I opened the hood. I had to drop my friend in the airport, so I took my good car and took him to airport.
Afterward, I tried to start with jumper cable. The car will start and the engine runs when it is still connected to another car with cables. As soon as I disconnect the cable the rpm drops and engine dies. After noticing that the dip stick shows the oil is way below "Low" mark (there was still some oil on the "tip" of drip stick), I put in 2 quarters of engine oil. I tried starting with jumper cables. The car starts and the engine runs when the jumper cables are connected, when I take them out, the rpm drops and the engine dies. Considering the following:
- This car needs to be towed to the nearest mechanic.
- The Battery is Good and I do not know about the alternator. I noticed "smoke" smell under the hood near engine and alternator when I jumped the Car when my friend was using it. Also, there was lot of noise from the engine when my friend used it for 3 or 4 days (now, I know that it is because there was almost no engine oil). Did the smoke I noticed is because alternator got burnt or due to the burning of gadget b/w engine upper and lower block etc (expensive)?
- The drop in rpm when I disconnect jumper cables - is it due to major damage to the engine. If so, is it worth taking the car to the mechanic and getting repaired.
- If it is not worth repairing this Car, what is the least effective way, I get read of this Car? I want to know whether any car dealer or mechanic shop will buy it for parts etc.
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For the last few months while I'm driving on the highway my car will misfire and the check engine light comes on. Every time is the same two codes for crankshaft and camshaft sensor failure. I've replaced the easier one to get to but it still happens. A friend suggested to clean my spark plugs...
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Over the past couple months my car (187k miles on it) shuts off while I'm driving it, about once a week, sometimes less. It only seems to happen while driving 30 mph or less and starts back up after 5-10 min. I'm trying to sell it now and don't know how to explain what is going on with the car w/o putting someone off completely. I'm sure it's fixable, I just don't want to deal w/it anymore and need a larger vehicle.
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I have a 4 cylinder, 2002 Nissan Altima with about 170,000 miles on it. About 2 months ago, the car starting misfiring while driving and the engine light came on. I went to autozone, used their diagnostic tool and it said I needed to replace the fourth cylinder's ignition coil. I ended up just replacing the spark plugs at that point. After replacing the spark plugs, the misfiring seemed to stop, but the check engine light was still on although the car ran great in comparison.
Then, about 2 weeks ago, the car started smelling like gas and slightly misfiring again. I bought set of ignition coils and changed them out. I started it up, the car seemed to work great. I went to the store about an hour later and the car worked better all the way there with no problems. Then, as I was about to leave the store, I started the car up and it started sputtering and misfiring and you could visibly see the engine shaking like crazy when I popped the hood. It stopped shaking, evened itself out, after about a minute. Then, I felt the top each of the coils and the first three were fine, but the fourth had a rapid tapping coming from it that was obviously not right.
I gave it a couple of days, but the car didn't stop smelling like gas or misfiring when starting up, so I pulled out the ignition coils and the spark plugs. The fourth spark plug was brown and burnt from the bottom to the halfway point, unlike the other still-clean spark plugs. My first hopeful thought was, maybe it wasn't tight enough and that was letting gas or oil inside to burn. I tightened it up, put everything back and it seemed to be alright, even the tapping from the coil stopped.
However, within the last couple days, the car has been smelling like gas and feels like it sputters and misfires once I start it up. The misfiring seems to stop after I rev the engine a little bit, but sometimes when I'm idling, you can still smell the gas and sometimes audibly hear a sputtering.
So my question is: what the hell could be wrong? Faulty wires, a stuck valve, bad compression, what? Remember, the fourth cylinder's spark plug was only burnt on the bottom half if that's useful.
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Do I buy an engine or sell the car for parts? My son’s car overheated while driving down the hwy due to a radiator leak. After a first and second opinion, two separate mechanics told me the engine has no compression so basically was shot. The car was in good shape with 102k miles and everything worked. Internet surfing has some used engines with 80-100k miles from $800-$1200, some guaranteed some not. Is it better to rebuild the original engine or buy another used one? Labor cost on top of an engine wont be cheap. Are other parts under the hood expected to be replaced too as a result of the engine overheating?
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My Nissan Altima is normally fine but after about 40 minutes to an hour of driving even in cool temperatures the car stops wanting to accelerate much and the RPM needle will jump from 1-2k to 5k almost instantly when applying more gas. I can be at 5k RPMs and barely climb 1 to 2 mph every few seconds in my car. This issue will persist till I turn the car off for a short while. Once The car has cooled down and been idle for a bit the car works fine again for 40 to 60 minutes. I also don't want to take it in because I doubt they'll get the problem to reproduce unless they drive it for up to an hour.
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I own a 2006 Nissan Altima with about 90500 miles on it. Recently i took it in for service and to fix a problem where the car was making this metallic sound while driving. The mechanic discovered that the sound was caused by a low engine oil level causing the timing belt tension to lose pressure and make the sound.
The mechanic also found a Nissan Service Recall/Campaign (NTB06-082) related to Engine Oil Consumption where the following occurs: "extremely low engine oil level resulting from higher than normal engine oil consumption due to a manufacturing problem in some engines". NTB06-082 states that the first thing the dealer should do if the recall applies is reprogrammed the ECU followed by doing an engine oil check.
What steps I should follow to get the Nissan Dealership to take a look at this particular issue? I imagine that it's going to be hard convincing them that the NTB06-082 may apply to my vehicle.
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i have a 2003 nissan altima with 99288 miles on it. i just got it changed yesterday and one of the tech's showed me and said there was condensation on the oil cap and the oil was dark. he recommened an oil system cleaner. is this accurate or is there something more i should worry about? he also said i was 1/2 qt low. last time i got my oil changed at the same place he said my oil was 2qts low and recommened a semi sythenic blend to flush things out, which i did do. i usually get my oil changed about every 4000 miles or so, i try for 3000 but not too successful. i also drive 1/2 hr to and from work every day at a min.
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As I was driving home, I came to a stop. When I depressed the accelerator to move, nothing happened. No gas was getting to the accelerator, the car wouldn't move, but the engine was still running. So I shifted the car in park and back to drive and I began moving. This happened on several occasions.
What is the problem? The gas filter? The gas pump? The fuel injectors or The transmission?
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We have a Nissan Pickup that anytime (in every gear) that the truck reaches 2700 rpm it begins to jerk-feels like you're trying to start it in 3rd gear instead of first. We have had it in a shop with someone who just repairs Nissan's and have been unable to find the problem for over a year. Have looked at the catalytic converter, fuel pump, and air flow meter...nothing has worked...
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So, my family owns a 2006 Nissan Altima, and it's developed a strange problem recently. It would start fine when cold, but then if I park it and come back 20 minutes later, it won't start again. Apparently this is a thing that happens with Altimas. Now for a while, it was starting after two or three tries, but now it just simply isn't turning over. When I watch it under the hood, it shudders some, and then there's a puff of warm air/exhaust, i don't know. I've read it might be the cam shaft sensor, but after replacing that the problem hasn't gone away, and a few people have said it might be the fuel pump, but I replaced that as well and it's still not starting up. I'm thinking i might try to replace the crankshaft sensor next but I thought I would ask here for advice and opinions just in case. This isnt the first time this has happened with this car, apparently - this happened once before, and the camshaft sensor being replaced fixed it.
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I have a1997 Nissan Altima 140k miles with the manual transmission. I have a fuel problem that I can't seem to solve. every 1-2 days and only intermittently and unpredictably my car starts to idle up and down and occasionally if I don't give it enough gas they car may stall but the stalls only happen when I am not pressing the accelerator, meaning only at resting idle. since I am fanatic on washing my engine, I initially though that spark plugs were dirty or not working, I changed the spark plugs the distributor cap and the wires but the symptom continues. then I check the resistance of all the four fuel injectors and all of them read at around 12.8 ohms. I have also treated the fuel system twice with injector cleaner, the kind that you find at a gas station but still, the problem persists.
if it is not too much trouble I have another smaller questions. if the car sits overnight or for a couple days, the shift is really easy but as the car warms up the shifting becomes harder. could the transmission fluid need to drained and replaced?
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on 1997 Nissan pickup 2.4-liter engine do you have to take off the valve cover to clean out EGR ports.
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2003 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL automatic - starts fine when the engine is cold but won't when the engine is hot. It acts flooded. I've changed the camshaft and crankshaft sensors, spark plugs, one spark plug coil, radiator, valve cover and the coolant temperature sensor. The car will turn over but will not start - sometimes it will after 5-10 minutes of trying.
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My wife has a 2001 Nissan Altima GXE with 89,000 miles. The car seems to run hot with the temp gauge reaching the "H" but never passes it, andwhen air conditioner is on it blows hot air; Then the car cools down it the air cools again, and this seems to happen all of the time.
Now, it's been happening for at Least 3 months, during this time it has had a tune up, the radiator flushed & hoses, thermostat replaced & lastly the ..... Sensor has been replaced & still the same thing happens the car temp runs hot cold up then down. We are at a loss here.
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I have a 2001 Nissan Altima. I seem to be having a fan problem. I started noticing that about 2 seconds after I turned the car off, the fans would come back on and run for ~25-30 seconds. I brought it in and my mechanic was thinking maybe a defective thermostat, so we replaced that. It still keeps happening, but now I've realized that the fans come back on anytime the car is turned off when the fans are running. If the fans are not running, they won't come back on. I've been trying to pay more attention to what is going on and when I first turn on the car, no fans are on (at least not the high fan, not sure if there are more than 1) After driving around town, the fans will turn on.
Normally, I believe the fan should then turn off once the coolant temp gets below a certain level. I let the car sit idling in the driveway for 15 min and the fans never turned off. I took it back to mechanic and repeated the idling for 15 min, fans never turned off. He checked the coolant temp with some sort of sensor and the temps were reading between 166-170 depending on where he aimed his device, so he said the fans should be turning off and it doesn't seem like the car is overheating.If he unplugged the temperature sensor, the gauge would go all the way to cold, but nothing changed for the fans, so he didn't think that was the problem.He took the fan relays along the edge of the car and swapped them around and nothing changed, so didn't think it was a relay problem. He removed some sensor on the passenger side on the back part of the engine and the fans got really loud and really fast. When he replace that, the fans would go back to normal until the engine temp got hot enough to turn them on and then they wouldn't go off again. He's thinking that sensor might be the problem, but isn't 100% sure. I think he said this was the cooling fan sensor or switch.
On a side note that may or may not be related. About 5 years ago the water pump broke. It started having the fans on all the time (even from a cold start), that turned out to be a faulty knock sensor. There was a knock sensor code and he replaced the knock sensor and then the fans went back to normal cycling. I didn't have any problems until early last fall, when I started noticing my current problems. I didn't worry about it until now, because as it got colder outside, it wasn't an issue. So outside temperature definitely effects it.
There are no codes this time.
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2006 Nissan Altima 2.5s.
I started my car yesterday and the radio came on as normal. When I turned off the car, it did not shut off as normal. This continued through a couple of stops.
When I got home and turned off the car, the radio was still playing. I disconnected the battery, the radio stopped. I reconnected the battery and now the radio will not turn on but everything else in the car is working fine.
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My wife's 1998 Nissan Altima , 100 K miles, starts to shake and stall in the summer when the A/C is on and she stops for a light.
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