Sounds like I have the same problem, though at this point not as severe. My rpm's are not fluctuating to where the car nearly stalls, and the shaking is minor at this point. At first I thought I had a muffler leak, and there are some rust holes in the outer shell of the muffler. But after taking it to a mechanic I trust, they said the muffler was fine, and proved it to me� plenty of compression there. They said the noise was from the engine missing, and to try new plugs, etc. So I did myself. Plugs, wires, roto, cap, injector cleaner. I'm up to $90 so far with no change. So I'm taking it in for them to check the IM Gasket on Monday. Will see what happens. Thanks Nissan, I bought this car because I was sick of problems with every American vehicle I had ever owned. Now I know I can't trust Nissans either.

I guess my problem is the same as the rest of you. My Altima is idling rough at stop lights. It's to the point that I am afraid it will stall. The check engine light comes on, & when I have it checked, it says cylinder 4 misfire. I have replaced the spark plugs and that didn't help. I replaced the plug wires....did not help. I ran 4 bottles of injector cleaner through it........did not help. Then one day the code said O2 sensor, and ignition running 'lean'. I replaced the O2 sensor......did not help. I replaced the distributor cap.....did not help. I happened to find this website today while I was looking for possible answers, so I guess my problem is the intake manifold gasket. Lucky me! A cheap fix! Ha! Ha! ONLY $400 TO $1200 from what I have read here. Nissan engineers should be forced to commit hari-cari. By the way, I have a '98 Altima that purrs like a kitten....never has had a problem like my 2000.

Only 49000 miles and this car shakes rattles and rolls at idle. Not to mention the awful vibration noise if you accelerate quickly from a stop. Anyway, the rough idle cost me 200 bucks worth of plugs wires cap rotor filter and labor. Sure enough. It did not fix the bad idle. After spraying starting fluid under the EGR valve, along the intake manifold, the engine revved up for a few seconds. I am 99% positive this is going to cost me 6-700 more bucks to correct the leaking intake manifold gasket. This should definitely be a recall!! Before buying this piece of junk I was under the impression Altima's were highly rated and reliable. Don't believe it. It is constantly vibrating and shaking, replaced both O2 sensors, replaced driver window switch, catalytic converter, entire exhaust. And besides all the mechanical crap, it has the most uncomfortable car seats I have ever sat in. I will never buy another Nissan!

I too have this problem. My car shakes when it is in park and the engine light goes off and on randomly. I'm very annoyed with this and do not want to have to pay to have it fixed. I had my dad look at it and he thought it had something to do with my battery cable because it was loose but after reading this I know it is the intake manifold like everyone else said. Seriously, if there are this many problems with this it is obviously a problem with the manufacturing and should be recalled!! FIX MY CAR NISSAN!

Please reference to my #27 post.

I spoke to a 2nd mechanics about the problem and mentioned the common complaint with the intake manifold gasket leak. He seems to disagree with that cause based on the fact that I only see the rough idle and service engine light intermittently. He said if my car does have a intake manifold gasket leak, I should see the symptoms continuously.

Currently the rough idle and service engine light happens may be once a week and then the light goes away for a week before it comes back. Do you guys see your symptoms continuously? Thanks.

Update from Nov 25, 2009: After living with the rough idle for months I finally had to fix it in order to pass smog last year.

The mechanic replaced the intake manifold gasket ($16) and the throttle body gasket ($8) for a total of $550.

Now it has been 13 months and 8,506 miles, so far so good.

The same problem resurfaced again and Nissan was not willing to help one bit not to mention that their Consumer Affairs Department was so unprofessional. I am for sure never buying another Nissan again. At this point, I have decided to not fix the vehicle until the problem gets really bad. Since this appears to some sort of defect and Nissan is not willing to issue a recall of any sort I have contacted an attorney in hopes of filing a Class Action Lawsuit. I started the process with the attorney (who filed a class action law suit against Nissan in the past for an unrelated matter, but regarding one of their products and I believe he won) about a week ago (1/24/08), but have not heard back from him - cross your collective fingers for all of us. I will try to keep this website updated regarding his decision whether to take this case on or not.

If you have not had this problem happen to you a second time be forewarned that it will happen. A dealer quoted me about $1,000 to fix this problem while independent mechanics quotes varied between $600 to $900.

My check engine light went off around 102,000. I took it to a local shop for repairs and they said that I had a misfire at cylinder 4 and my radiator hose had a hole in it. They initially told me my cylinder problem would be fixed with an engine maintenance package. I got the hose fixed and the engine maintenance package believing that my problem would be fixed. When I picked up my car they said that if my problem persisted that my intake manifold gasket would need replacing and it would cost an additional $750. I paid $480 for the engine maintenance package and radiator hose. After 4 days the engine light came back on. I went for a second opinion from a different mechanic and this time I was present at the diagnostic. The mechanic showed me that my spark plug at cylinder 4 was wet with coolant/water and oil and he compared it with a dry cylinder 3 spark plug. The power output of cylinder 4 was also lower then cylinder 3. He pointed out that the car had a coughing noise coming out of the muffler. The diagnostic codes read P0304 and P1320. He concluded that my engine head had to be replaced and it would cost me $1400 in labor. He said I was better off getting a new engine. His cost to replace the intake manifold gasket was only $250. My car is still leaking coolant; actually I had to pick up a container from the store. He said something is going to blow if I don’t get this fixed soon.

I wonder if I should go to the dealer for a third opinion or just trade this car in. I really want to keep my car another year. I brought it new and this is my first major problem

Nissan knows about this problem. I did a search on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website (http://www.nhtsa. dot. gov). There have been at least 4 complaints filed, one of which (#10145161) states "Nissan has a program to correct any unusual defects after the warranty is expired but they refuse to honor their agreement". I did find the same complaint in other categories, as well.

I suggest EVERYONE on this forum who is having this problem file a complaint with the NHTSA. The more people complain about this, the more likely they are to force Nissan to do something about it. When complaining, it will help if you reference the existing complaints:

#10167168

10145161

10100639

10163901

I think I have this problem, but my Altima hasn't stalled and the check engine light doesn't come on. The rough idle at stop lights is annoying as heck, though.

I just wanted to add to the list of complaints. I absolutely love my Nissan - and was bummed to learn that others have had this same issue and that Nissan has been unresponsive. I took it in to the dealer and had an estimate of over $800. They also told me I have a leaking valve cover which they estimated at another $155. I am currently shopping for a mechanic here in the East Bay rather than use the dealer. I should mention that I have been taking my car to the dealer for years and they have been great, but from what I have read, I could probably have this fixed for cheaper. Other than this issue though, I have had to do absolutely nothing to my car, other than routine maintenance.

I just got back from the dealer and they gave me the $1200 estimate to replace the intake gasket and knock sensor. (Codes PO100 and PO325). Gasket= $995, and knock sensor=$275. I stopped by my local mechanic and made an appointment, I am expecting to cut that repair charge by about half. The car has been idling rough, shuddering and stalling, even when moving at low speeds, and hesitation has been a regular issue. I lived with it for a few months, had the fuel filter and plugs replaced and ran some fuel injector cleaner through the gas tank. I wish I had found this site earlier!!