Rough Idle

[Rkitkt]

I have noticed that my 3.5 will idle rough at times. Is there anyone else out there that has noticed this. Do you guys think that there is anything that the dealer will do to help with this problem, and if so do you think that I should put my stock air box back in before going to the dealer?

[vballer22]

I have noticed that my 3.5 will idle rough at times. Is there anyone else out there that has noticed this. Do you guys think that there is anything that the dealer will do to help with this problem, and if so do you think that I should put my stock air box back in before going to the dealer?

Don't know about the airbox, but even though I'm usually all for home repairs you should take it in. There's a recall on 2.5's for a rattling heatshield and it causes the rough idle, mine got fixed and its a huge difference. I know you drive a 3.5 but something like that is almost always covered by the warranty, and it could be something simple or you could even need new motor mounts.

Try this test, have a buddy stand in front of your car withthe hood up. With you in the car, shift from park to reverse, reverse to drive, and then back again. Ask your buddy to watch the engine itself, and If the engine moves or turns at all when you shift, you have engine knock, which is usually present when theres a rough idle. just remember to never ever take your foot off the brake, or youll lose a pretty good friend.

What does the rpm gauge read when its rough?

[Rkitkt]

it happens when its around 6k. It does not happen all the time, however it is becoming more frequent. I left for the weekend and did not take my car so I will not be able to check the drive park reverse thing till Monday

[spockrock]

err.... how are you idling at 6K RPMS???

[adidas2go]

it happens when its around 6k.

that has to be wrong....

[Rkitkt]

Sorry I am multi tasking, 600. If it was 6k I think it would have burnt itself by know. Once again my appoligies.

[adidas2go]

do you have an after market air intake? If so, check and make sure all the clamps are tight and everthing is seeded well. Sound like you have an air leak somewhere in the system. Check real well and make sure the MAF seal isn't pinched also.

[nifty]

I've had the same problem since I got my car, although it doesn't seem to affect the performance, its still annoying that I paid for something that idles rough. Sometimes at idle its rough but not all the time. Since I cannot reproduce it all the time its nearly impossible to get the dealer to fix it.

I have noticed the following things about the rough idle though:1) It seems to be worse in drive. If you are stopped and you put it in park it seems to get better.

2) It seems to idle the roughest when the car is on some type of slope.

I was thinking about putting some fuel additive in to clean the injectors, but I haven't gotten around to doing it, plus I don't even know if thats the issue.

[Rkitkt]

those are pretty much the exact same symptoms, I don't know about the hill thing because it is flat where I live. When I get home I will check the clips and hoses, but i had noticed the problem before I put the intake on.

[nifty]

My engine is still completely stock, so I doubt it has anything to do with your intake.

[Silver Dollar]

"just remember to never ever take your foot off the brake, or youll lose a pretty good friend."

I always check mine with bad friends - just in case

[Rkitkt]

I have an appointment to take my car in for the idle and a laundry list of other things, anyone have an opinion on whether I should take of the injen intake and put the stock air box in? Thanks guys

[nifty]

I would take it out, I took mine in saying that it had a rough idle (stock) and they told me that they couldn't replicate the problem even though its pretty clearly there. When it comes to engine problems that are covered by warranty my guess is the dealership will try anything to get out of it, and that might include blaming an intake.

Just my 2 cents

[Rkitkt]

sounds like solid reasoning to me. Thanks. If they find something I'll be sure to let you know maybrle then you can have your dealer takeanother look. It will be next week though.

[nifty]

Please do. I have to go in for an oil change and Im going to have them take another look at it although this time I would like to be there when they do. I'll make sure to let you know if I get in before you do.

[Rkitkt]

I am taking my car in on wednesday. I will let you know most likely that they found nothing but either way I will post something. I am going to have them check the o2 sensor while they have it since someone else had a similar problem. I am also going to ask them if it could have something to do with the transmission because I also have the cvt. I also noticed that you live in bloomington. My stepmom works up there quite a bit. Small world I guess

[nifty]

I just got back from the dealer today and as I expected they told me that it was completely normal.

"We hooked it up to the laptop and it didn't throw any codes" well no crap I'm not getting a check engine light, but its idling rough. He even went as far as to pop my hood put his hand on the engine cover and tell me he couldn't get it to run any smoother than this. At the same time he told me that he feels the engine flutter.

Another amusing thing that he said was that "its the nature of the beast you're going to feel that ESPECIALLY with a V6" Apparently v6's run rougher than 4 bangers...

I'm sick of this dealership, and it looks like I'm outta luck if they are going to say that its normal. I hope you had better luck Rkitkt

[Rkitkt]

sorry to bring bad news but I did not get anything from them. They said they can't adjust the idle and that it is normal. He said that they done so much to smooth out idle that when we feel somthing we think its wrong. Well my girlfriends brand new verse idles smoother and so did my last car which was a 2.5L ford contour. He even acknowledged that he felt it but that it is normal. I might try and take a day off work and take it to the dealer in STL where I bought it, although I am sure they will say the same. Maybe its time for a confrence call to nissan USA.

[nifty]

I'm considering taking it back to where I bought it as well, they were worlds better than the dealership where I am taking it for service. Its an hour away though, and I don't want to go out there to have them tell me the same thing.

[nifty]

Hey Rikikt would you describe it more as a constant flutter than a flat out rough idle? I'm trying to determine if we actually the same problem.

[Rkitkt]

Yes I would say that would be about right. When it idles rough it is irregualr and not just a consitant shaking that seems to become more and less intense multiple times at one stop light. However it is not present at every idle situation but every time i drive my car i notice it at some point. I have not mentione dit at the same dealer since the last time i took it in because I figure they will just tell me the same thing. I have had my car back three times and will be going back a forth for them to attempt to fix my drivers side window, which rattles when it is cracked or down and i shut the door. I spoke with someone at Nissan North America today but was diconnected. He is suposed to call me back by tomorrow. If you would like to call him, he is very studious in taking notes on the problem, his name is Walter Dennis unfortuantly I did not get his extension before we were disconected. As soon as I have it i will post it for you. He said that he also drives an altima nad he did not have a problem with anything like that. If you would like to refrence me in your call my name is Patrick Neuber. Hopefully, if we are experiencing the same thing, we can get someone to find a solution for us. I was reading through the previous posts and noticed that you were thinking about putting injector cleaner in your car, I don't know about you but i only use premium and my car only has 7000 miles on it.

[Rkitkt]

The extension for the guy at nissan that i spoke with is 47108. He said they tend to be busy bu the will get back with me if i have more issues. I just thought it might be nice to log complaints with one guy there.

[nifty]

Thanks for the update, I haven't had a whole lot of time to spend on this issue but every time I get in the car and drive it's a reminder and its frustrating. Lately I think that I can feel roughness while driving too, but im not positive.

I think before I escalate this to Nissan I'm going to take the car back to the dealership where I bought it, they seem to have a far better service department than the one I go to in town. If they can't give me a solution to the problem then I'll make sure to call Nissan and talk to Walter.

[EzeebMOS3]

I also experience a rough idle at around 600rpms....Makes a small vibration to which can be slightly felt on the steering wheel. Once i take it out of park it's fine though.

[Rkitkt]

We are feeling it when it is in gear worse than when it is in park. So watch after it maybe that is how ours started and never payed attention to it.

[nifty]

Actually, I'm feeling it park and drive, there really isn't any way for me to make it go away now. I can also feel it when I'm driving, so in the near future I will definitely be calling dealerships and if need be, Nissan. I'll keep you posted.

[nifty]

I just put some fuel system cleaner in my car and have seen no noticable difference thus far (only been through about a quarter of the tank). I just wanted to try one last ditch effort before having to go back to the dealer.

What I am going to ask the dealer to do is preform an injector cut out test to see if I have a weak injector. I think that a weak injector could be the problem because even though it might be within spec (Hence no check engine light) it differs from the other injectors causing them to compensate and cause some roughness.

I should have no problem getting them to run the test for free, but if it turns out that this is the problem it could be an issue getting them to replace a within spec, but mismatched injector. I will keep you posted.

[Rkitkt]

When you are at the dealership you may have there mechanics call the nissan techline which is just for them to talk to master technicians which can inform them how to improve a vehicle within there "spec". This came from nissan north america.

[nifty]

Sorry it's taken me such a long time to tell ya whats been going on, I'm somewhat int he middle of a move from Bloomington to Peoria.

I'll give you a rundown of whats happened at the dealership in Bloomington. Sorry it's so long but you have to know some past details.

1) at 6,000 miles for an oil change I mentioned that it was running rough at idle, they said they could not replicate the problem. Ok, its not happening all the time that could very well bet he case.

2) 9,000ish miles for another oil change. I told them its still idling kinda rough and the sunroof is rattling and if they could fix it. They said they could now feel the idle but that it was normal. And as for the sunroof they would need me to bring it back even though they said they would fix it. At this point I said ok I want you to run an injector cutout test to see if I have a weak injector, as well as fix the sunroof. I made an APPOINTMENT for it.

3) I drop the car off on Saturday morning for them to run the test and fix the sunroof. A couple hours later I get a call with them telling me that they can't do the injector test because no one is there that has ever done one. They also tell me that I'll have to bring the car in AGAIN for the sunroof. When I picked up the car I made it very clear that this is the second time that I've had an appointment and NOTHING has been done to my car. Of course they are apologetic and assure me that the master tech will be in for the injector test and that the sunroof WILL get fixed if I drop it off on Tuesday night and leave it there all day Wednesday. Since I work in Peoria and live in Bloomington that means that I need a rental for the day (which of course I got suckered into the $18 for insurance). I thought it was ridiculous already, but I wanted my car fixed so I did it.

4) At about 2:30 when I'm at work I get a call. "Hey do you mind staying in that rental car for another day?". "Whats the hold up?" I ask. I get a bunch of excuses, and I said ok, well I guess I don't really have a choice. After I hung up and thought about it, I got more and more upset, it's the third time this has happened. So I called back and asked what they had done to my car, and to my surprise (but also kinda expected) they said they haven't even gotten to it yet. So at this point I'm not a happy camper and tell them that I'm on my way to pick up the car and I will NEVER be taking it back there again. On the drive back home the service manager calls me and attempts to get me to leave the car there another day by saying that they are puling it in right now and are about to take down the headliner. I said there is no way that you're going to finish what needs to get done today, and hes says yea we wont, but if you leave it for another day we MIGHT get to it. I couldn't believe what I just heard, and I assured him I would be there to take my car back. "So you're not going to give us a chance to fix it?" he asks. WTF?! NO I've given you three chances already.

5) I also called the owner to let him know what I've had to deal with although I haven't heard back from him. I also need to call the Nissan rep and tell them what happened.

So, I wrote ALL that to tell you that I don't yet have an answer for you as to what this rough idle could be (As well as get the whole thing off my chest). Once I move up to Peoria this weekend and get settled in I'll check out the Nissan dealership there and see if I can get some answers.

[Rkitkt]

I am glad to here that your experience with nissan is going so well. HA. So apparently nissan north america has contacted them about the many issues that i have had not limited to the rough idle, that on my service ticket says that they did not verify with the customer. However, tech that i rode with told me he did feel it but there was nothing that could be done. I have also had my drivers window, which rattles, twice without any luck. The first time i went to pick up my car after they said that they had it done and got in and first thing checked and it was not fixed. When i dropped my car off the second time i dropped my car off to get the window fixed there head service manager attempted to chew me out for calling nissan because they recieved a 0 on there service report and they take those very seriously. This guys also tells me well you did by a first year car what should i expect. He also suggested that i take my car to another dealership since they cannot make me happy. What great customer service.

I took my car to the dealership in STL and they told me the samething. There is nothing they can do about the idle. So i will be contacting nissan again shortly. Hopefully i can get some time to deal with this again i have been slammed at work.

Hope your move is going well and let me know if you hear anything else.