nissan almera 2001 gearstick and car shaking

[diyplumber1980]

I purchased a Nissan almera from a mate 2 years ago and its been working relatively well, not really had any issues, apart from a faint "vacuum" type noise which I was told by mechanic was the fuel pump. However recently, I've noticed the gear stick vibrates, or moves intermittently when i'm on the motorway (vibrates and the movements can be upto an inch), sometimes when i'm at a constant speed, and sometimes when I accelerate. At the same time, the car seems to "judder", or "shake" as if i'm in too high a gear for the speed (even though i'm in 5th gear at 60 or 70mph). Sometimes I've noticed its happening in first gear.

Now just to add, the engine management light is on, and when checked, its giving the code 117 (something to do with air flow sensor). not sure if this has anything to do with it. Was last serviced about 11k miles ago.

finally, I've noticed the speedometer dial now shakes/moves when idle, it never did this until recently.

does anyone know what could be causing this issue?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[diyplumber1980]

I got the diagnostic codes and I would be grateful if someone can explain what they mean. I'm a diyplumber so would hope i'm handy with tools and am able to transfer my experience to working on cars.

The codes i got were
Fault 02
Pend 01

P0300
01/03

P0171
02/03

P0171p
03/03

Ive looked through the manual with the code reader and this is what it says:-

P0171 / Generic/ System Too Lean (Bank 1)

P0300 / Generic/ Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire

Sorry if this is bit simple but could someone explain what these codes and diagnosis mean? Are they major faults or things that are relatively straight forward to fix. Or worse still, is the expense too high to make it worth repairing?

Thanking you in advance

 

[diyplumber1980]

I got the diagnostic codes and I would be grateful if someone can explain what they mean. I'm a diyplumber so would hope i'm handy with tools and am able to transfer my experience to working on cars.

The codes i got were
Fault 02
Pend 01

P0300
01/03

P0171
02/03

P0171p
03/03

Ive looked through the manual with the code reader and this is what it says:-

P0171 / Generic/ System Too Lean (Bank 1)

P0300 / Generic/ Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire

Sorry if this is bit simple but could someone explain what these codes and diagnosis mean? Are they major faults or things that are relatively straight forward to fix. Or worse still, is the expense too high to make it worth repairing?

Thanking you in advance

 

[mfarrow]

You need to clear the codes and see what returns. They could be years old.

 

[Belle427]

yes clear the codes and take it for a run and check again, sounds like a missfire to me

 

[diyplumber1980]

thanks guys. I cleared the codes and the misfire wasn't as bad, in fact it seemed to be running ok for a day, much better then before. but then when I went on a 2 hour journey the engine light came back on and the shaking started again. I noticed the shaking seems to be worse when I push the accelerator right down to the floor, yet car hardly picks up much speed.

why did car start running so much better when I first cleared codes?

 

[Burnerman]

I suspect that you have one or more failures with your ingnition coil(s) - one per cylinder.
Probably the best route would be to find a Bosch ignition specialist before simply buying a new set, as they aren't cheap!
Your car would appear better after cancelling the EML light as the ECU wasn't trying to accommodate the misfire by altering the fuelling and timing - thats just my theory though as I have noticed it before.
John

 

[diyplumber1980]

thanks for reply. I took car in to garage and the guy said it appeared to be the crankshaft sensor that was causing the faults. He changed that to a new one, charged me £120 parts and labour, but now its the same thing again. He says it may be the CAT thats cracked, hes going to check this later. He also said it appears the fuel is not getting through, hes put some injector cleaner stuff in etc.

But i'm not happy, hes already charged me £120 and he hasnt even managed to fix the fault.

 

[Burnerman]

One wee thing with these engines - the camshaft is driven by chain, which may stretch a little.
There are two sensors - camshaft and crankshaft. If the timing chain wears, the sensors come out of phase, and the only cure is timing chain replacement.
I'm not suggesting this is the cause in your case, but it does come straight from the mouth of Mr. Nissan!
Micras, Primeras and Almeras may all be affected......with my limited experience, (Micra only) the failure isn't due to a lubrication issue, and the engine can still remain mechanically quiet.
John

 

[CylonRaider]

I suspect the codes are just coincidence.

Check your engine mounting rubbers are still intact.

 

[diyplumber1980]

One wee thing with these engines - the camshaft is driven by chain, which may stretch a little.
There are two sensors - camshaft and crankshaft. If the timing chain wears, the sensors come out of phase, and the only cure is timing chain replacement.
I'm not suggesting this is the cause in your case, but it does come straight from the mouth of Mr. Nissan!
Micras, Primeras and Almeras may all be affected......with my limited experience, (Micra only) the failure isn't due to a lubrication issue, and the engine can still remain mechanically quiet.
John

Got my car back, sadly it turns out it is the timing chain! Giy said its stretched! Oh dear lord! However mechanic says its not worth changing it, but better to simply get the tensioners changed. What that means i dont know, but he says he will charge 350 parts and labour.

Another garage says not to change just the tensioners bit the whole chain. He says if the chain is worn, it aint worth just messing with tensioners as it wont really resolve the problems, as he had to change one on a micra. He says he will charge 400 parts and labour including full chain.

Not sure what to do. I cant afford a new car but my cars probs worth 600. I need a hug

 

[Burnerman]

Engineering wise, its essential to change the chain as well as the tensioners (Nissan do kits for this).
Actually its not such a bad job - rocker cover off, sump off and block side panel removed (with all of the necessary ancilliaries of course).
I did a Micra with the engine in situ - some garages prefer to pull the engine out.
£400 is reasonable for the work involved but I appreciate its a fair whack for a car not worth much.
I hope things work out for you!
John

 

[Mursal]

And you don't have a bad/corroded connection on the crankshaft or camshaft sensor? Double check all the easy stuff, no good throwing good money after bad. But as already said, its quite a job to change the chain. The price of the parts are quite reasonable, compared to the work involved.
We have older cars and to be honest, if we couldn't tinker with them ourselves, its not economic to keep them on the road.

 

[diyplumber1980]

Hi all

An update. I had the timing chain changed, the guy did it for £300, luckily it was my fathers very close friend so did it as a one of favour! He changed the timing chain and rollers/tensioners.

Unfortunately when i drove it, I was getting the same problem, poor power when revving and car shaking when accelerating, then driving smoothly, then randomly shake for a bit then back to normal. The engine light was still on.

The one day I got in the car and whilst trying to speed up, there was no power so i put the accelerater right down to the floor, revs went really high, then i released my foot. Then suddenly the car was driving fine! Next day, again cars driving fine, accelerating/power is much better, and car no longer shakes! Also ive noticed that a few days later the engine light has also gone out!

I dont understand, why has the car suddenly started working fine? Did the sensors etc take time to pick up the change in the performance of the car after the timing chain was changed?! could it have been a blockage in the injectors?! they saidf the fuel filter was ok, not clogged up so no idea why my car, for the past week, has been driving fine!

 

[Belle427]

Sounds more like an electrical sensor fault to me, maybe the maf sensor if it has one.
I would try to find someone local who is good with diagnostics, they can watch the live data on the car when the fault happens and pin it down.