2001 QX4 steering wheel vibration at idle

[ulenie]

Not sure if this is how the car is but it being a luxury car, I would expect it to be very smooth. At idle the steering wheel and partly the cabin vibrate. The vibration goes away when in motion, in park or neutral. The engine vibration seems to be carried into the cabin. How can I cure this?

[NismoPick]

Is the Check Engine Light on? OBDII codes?
If you pop the hood and look at the engine idling, is it hopping around or running smooth?

Check the motor mounts & transmission mount.

[ulenie]

Is the Check Engine Light on? OBDII codes?
If you pop the hood and look at the engine idling, is it hopping around or running smooth?

Check the motor mounts & transmission mount.

No codes, the engine sounds and looks normal. I figured it might have to do with the engine mounts. How difficult will it be to change those. Estimated cost to have a shop do it?

[skiski329]

When your sitting in the drivers seat, is it a toward and away from you vibration? or right and left, like driving the steering wheel? because if it's right and left, then i would investigate the power steering components first. like if you have enough fluid or a component that may be on it's last leg there.

[Densetsu]

What's the idle RPM when the vibrations occur?

I have a similar issue in my '04 Pathy, after the engine warms up the idle in gear drops to 650-700 and there is a vibration. When I shift into park or neutral it jumps back up to 750 and everything is smooth. I suspect a vacuum leak, but haven't been able to find one as of yet.

[nickelghandi]

My 2004 pathfinder does this as well. I think its probably related to the motor or transmission mounts more than a vacuum leak. Best to check out the mounts.
Auto zone has the Duralast mounts for like $65.00 but you may want to go with something better. As for labor I think its probably a two hour job if you have multiple mounts needing replacement. I believe they have to raise the engine as well for the procedure so it can be costly depending where you go.

The engine is supposed to drop in rpms when put into drive. Think about it. It's doing more work driving the transmission and everything that goes with driving. Same thing happens if when in neutral you turn on the A/C. Rpms will drop. Every car I've ever driven has dropped rpms when put into drive.

[ulenie]

My 2004 pathfinder does this as well. I think its probably related to the motor or transmission mounts more than a vacuum leak. Best to check out the mounts.
Auto zone has the Duralast mounts for like $65.00 but you may want to go with something better. As for labor I think its probably a two hour job if you have multiple mounts needing replacement. I believe they have to raise the engine as well for the procedure so it can be costly depending where you go.

The engine is supposed to drop in rpms when put into drive. Think about it. It's doing more work driving the transmission and everything that goes with driving. Same thing happens if when in neutral you turn on the A/C. Rpms will drop. Every car I've ever driven has dropped rpms when put into drive.

I am thinking its the mounts. RPM doesn't fluctuate...its nice and steady. This issue is taking a back seat for now...It just gets worse...I have a much worse problem now, the rear differential needs replacing due to metal shavings and thud sound in the back like one described here from another user: 2001-qx4-rear-clunk-thud-stop-and-go-only-t575925.html

The shop is telling me I need to replace the real diff...but original poster in the thread seems to have fixed the issue by greasing up driveshaft slip yoke. Fawwk guys, I just bought this and I like the car but this is bumming me out.

[gcjazz12]

What's the idle RPM when the vibrations occur?

I have a similar issue in my '04 Pathy, after the engine warms up the idle in gear drops to 650-700 and there is a vibration. When I shift into park or neutral it jumps back up to 750 and everything is smooth. I suspect a vacuum leak, but haven't been able to find one as of yet.

I have this exact thing going on too - did you figure out what it might be?

[ONe21]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but since it was never resolved I figured I would continue on instead of starting over.

I bought my QX4 about 5 months ago and mine does the same thing mentioned by others. If I'm in drive or reverse, the steering wheel will shake and you can hear a dull drone from something vibrating under the car. I also hear a rattle coming from the heat shield on the exhaust mid-pipe. It gets worse if you load the engine by slightly turning the wheel left or right. As nickelghandi stated earlier, the idle will drop when load is applied, but I'm not sure if the ecu is supposed to compensate and raise the idle back to 750 or not. Mine drops to somewhere between 625-650.

When getting under the car and having someone else replicate the vibration, I notice that only the driver side mid-pipe is vibrating. Also, today I had someone who knows a ton more about cars look under the car, on a lift, while the vibration occurred. He used a hammer to put pressure on the driver-side exhaust pipe and the vibration and rattling stopped. He checked other things (i.e. motor mounts, steering rack) and there was no vibration - everything seemed completely normal. I will say that someone did quite the hack job on my exhaust (at the secondary cats/resonators, or whatever they are) and removed the flex pipe from the passenger side (I don't think the driver's side had one stock). Maybe the stock exhaust doesn't have sufficient hangers or maybe the lack of a flex pipe on the driver's side exaggerates the engine vibration as it's transferred to the mid-pipe. Perhaps it's a simple design flaw?! Engineers aren't perfect, I'll be the first to admit that

[nickelghandi]

I believe it is the exhaust as well. I replaced my exhaust from the y-pipe back and it doesn't shake as badly now. I did notice that one of my rubber hangers is reinforced with a metal bracket and the rubber is worn mostly away. Under just the right circumstances, the vibration from the exhaust will cause the metal bracket to chirp and squeal. It sounds like my car is about to explode lol. A little WD-40 between the metal, rubber, and metal hanger quiets it down until a few rainstorms later it will come back at idle in drive.

The advice I have from this is to check all your hangers and rubber mounts. Replace any worn parts and grease them with something that is semi-heat resistant. I say semi, because while connected to the exhaust, these things don't see that much heat. I ripped off all my heat shields that were on the pipes and that also helped to quiet it down. This is a frustrating problem, but not a serious one. Maybe welding another hanger to the passenger side down pipe and reinforcing the exhaust would help? It is really annoying that it does this, but there is no way Nissan would have known that after 130,000 miles this could become an issue.

[Scott-o]

These last two posts are interesting - our '02 QX4 started doing this droning / vibration at idle in Drive or Reverse AFTER we had the center portion (after the cats) of the exhaust replaced. I wonder if it has to do with the exhaust mounts somewhere in the system.

It seems to be worse when it is cold out - but that could be a red herring. It certainly doesn't do it all of the time - it is intermittent.

Scott

[anthonyerco]

I think I’m having the same issue here. I noticed a metal on metal rattle or buzzing sound when at idle. Barely moving steering wheel or even messing with the power windows will make it go away. I thought it might be my AC compressor because that is starting to fail. Ordered new compressor kit, hopefully this is the issue. It’s annoying and embarrassing. Wish there was a way I could post a video.

[nickelghandi]

I think I’m having the same issue here. I noticed a metal on metal rattle or buzzing sound when at idle. Barely moving steering wheel or even messing with the power windows will make it go away. I thought it might be my AC compressor because that is starting to fail. Ordered new compressor kit, hopefully this is the issue. It’s annoying and embarrassing. Wish there was a way I could post a video.

Check your exhaust heat shields thoroughly. It is worth crawling under and banging around with a rubber mallet while the exhaust and engine are cold. Troubleshooting an issue is usually free, whereas throwing parts at it hoping to fix, often gets expensive quickly and does not fix the problem.

[anthonyerco]

Well the compressor was failing anyway. I’ll get under there and check heat shields, seems to be common with these.

[anthonyerco]

update... the buzzing noise was actually coming from the alternator. Had enough of trying to diag myself. My car has zero rust and all the heat shields were in great shape. Finally took it to infinity after getting 2 incorrect diags from local nissan dealer. They said alternator bearing. Was kind of hesitant but just went ahead and had them replace for $1050.00.... NOT happy about that price but after reading a lot about these on the forums, alternator is not something I want to replace myself. Noise is gone. Now I am experiencing new issue though. I kind of think it's the motor mounts. There is a small vibration when stopped at a red light or stop sign. Gets worse if you turn the A/C or heat on but goes away as soon as I start moving. Gonna check out the mounts and fingers crossed that is the issue.