Last year on the 4th of July weekend, my wifes 01 altima has the same problem as everybody else. The intake gasket leaked causing a rough idle and the engine to run crappy. Well i fixed that problem and then a couple of weeks later the same type of problem occurred. I had the car looked at by a friend of mine and he told to try replacing the Mass Air Flow meter and he told ne how much it was from the dealer ($501.00 +tax).

So i called around local scrap yards and found one for $109 w/ a lifetime warranty. What I am suggesting is when you have a problem like this, you might as well do it all and not have to worry about it coming back to haunt you later in while to are driving.

Just adding to the pile of complaints about this problem. Got the fault code for cylinder 4 misfire at the same time as rough idling at stop lights began. Cleared the fault, and it stayed clear for a few days, but came back in a few days later. Clearing this fault did NOT fix the idling problem. Once, the fault came back as "multiple cylinder misfire". Replaced the fuel filter and spark plugs to no avail. Finally a reputable mechanic listened to the strange "popping" sound coming from the exhaust while it was idling rough, and it took him all of two seconds to deduce that there was a vacuum leak.

I can't believe how many other people have had this problem... And honestly, as time goes on, the more frustrated I'm becoming as a consumer. It sounds like this problem will happen again, and Nissan will just tell me to go pack sand, just like the multitude of other companies who have not lived up to their promises (Chase Manhattan and Toshiba, to list a few).

My car has been pretty reliable till this problem poed up. Check engine light turned ON just after a regular oil change. I took the car back to the mechanic same day and he reset it. He told me that fuel intake is lean. I didn't understand much and happy to see the light go OFF. In a few days again the check engine light turned ON. This time it was intermittently ON/OFF. When ever I fill up the tank. It would turn ON. Very weird. Then I started noticing engine vibrations. When idle or stopped at light, the car would shake terribly. I have been driving with this issue for a few hundred miles. But today after visiting this Website. I know what is the issue. I have to hunt for a mechanic, get a quote and fix this issue. It's really annoying and I always like to keep my car in perfect shape. I will update after fixing this issue on how much I ended paying for this issue.

Like many here, I have been recently experiencing this idling problem, watch my tachometer go from idle of 900RPM, to just above 500RPM and that's when it can hear and feel the miss. I had something similar happen when the car had 52000 miles on it and they replace the Mass Airflow sensor to a cost of $585, it immediately took the problem away. Before I invest another $500+ dollars, i'm going to try a new spray out for cleaning this Airflow sensor, but I am afraid that it will be this gasket as everyone has been mentioning. Why hasn't Nissan, just come out and admitted there is a problem and fix it.

my brother owns a 2001nissan Altima he asked me to take a look at it. When i heard how awful it was sounding we went and added spark plugs, same problem so i added wires, to no avail we still had same problem so i took some carb cleaner and sprayed all vacuum hoses, then sprayed gaskets immediately idle was fixed until carb dried i knew then it was the intake manifold gasket . I own a 1996 Maxima and just recently bought a 2007 Altima my brother has about 3 payments left and wants to buy a new car we know that this is a manufacturing error and should be rectified I would like to say Nissan is like the rest of the car dealerships you do business and if theres a problem you are on your own needless to say if we cant get real and be honest about the problems and at least add some relief this will be our last and i do mean last time buying Nissan or Nissan parts and thats for everybody I know

Well people, I had posted a week ago that my 2001 Nissan Altima started to shake like a washing machine. I finaly got it into the dealer, and as I though, it was the intake manifold gasket. This as you may already know was Not covered under any warrenty, Nissan will not admit that there is a design/gasket problem.

I would just like to state that we as consumers got HOSED again. I encourage all that are experiencing this problem log a complaint with the better business, Nissan, your motor vehical dept.

We may, as a group get someones attention. Sometimes word of mouth is the best way to go, tell anyone you know that currently have a Nissan Altima or someone that may be thinking about purchasing one, what the current problems are with this model. And what I've come to find out that it maybe happening on other models as well.

Keep posting.... and good luck

I'd like

Yesterday my Altima would rough idle and shake when I was at a stop. Today the Service Engine Soon light came on. Glad I found this site to figure out the problem. It is unfortunate that this is an obvious flaw and should be covered instead of spending up to $1k to get it fixed (and knowing my local dealer service dept they will try to swindle extra stuff in there but at least I have the ammo to state no its just this issue.). My previous car was a Neon and it had the head gasket go bad in about 2 years. Luckily, Chrysler knew it was an issue and didn't charge me (although I still had to throw up a stink). I thought that buying this Altima (brand new) that had been around for years would be more reliable. So far it has until now. I am also concerned that this could be a repeat issue after a few thousand miles. Think I might start looking at a trade in sooner than I wanted to. Also not too impressed with the gas mileage. Bummer.

Well, as I was looking for a possible cause why my 2001 Nissan Altima was idling like a washing machine, and this just happen 4/8/08 I came across his site. And in reading the complaints listed here WE ALL HAVE A COMMN PROBLEM.

I did what most of you have done already, and being pretty savy about cars, I thought this would be a quick fix. I was wrong. To date, I have nstalled new spark plug, wires, dist. cap, rotor. And guess what, the problem did not go away. Service engine light came on with a P300 random misfire.

I made a service appointment with local Nissan Dealer, for engine dig. only. Now I am very curious what the out come will be after reading the list of complaints. As consumers we must stand together to try and get these problems to the right people.

I'm am sure that most of us do not have the time or money to keep throwing at these car for faults of a mechanical problems that apparently are know by the the manufacturer.

CLASS ACTION seems to be the way to go....

RD.

Had same problem as everyone else here although didn't discover this site until last year. Took to the dealership right away and they didn't mess around diagnosing the problem. Mentioned they had seen it a couple times but didn't make it out to be a big deal. The cost of $730 includes the diagnostic fee of $100 so was right in line with everyone else. So far I've not experienced the problem again (knock on wood). Husband tried to fix problem first; he's not a mechanic but has done quite a bit of work on cars...unless you are experienced mechanic with all proper tools I would not suggest attempting this repair. You'll probably end up taking the car to the dealer or mechanic anyways so I would just bite the bullet. Would be really nice to get recall but seeing as the car is going on 8 years old I'll probably be done with this one by the time that happens! Otherwise this car and Nissan have been very good to us. My husband had Nissan truck for 14 years before he got into a car accident and insurance totaled it. Was running just fine. From looking over this site Nissan seems to stay out of the top 20 (bad) lists...wouldn't buy a Ford!!

I should have found this site 2 weeks earlier. There are so many people having exactly the same problem. Having graduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, I usually fix my cars on my own. This Nissan Altima car was a nightmare for me. It was cheap (about $15000) when I bought it in 2000. In the first week I bought it from a New Jersey dealer, the rear wheel was noisy. A bearing was fixed by the dealer (certainly at no cost). Two years later, we drove the car to Grand Canyon from Salt Lake City. After the trip we found the coolant leak and brought the car to a local dealer and spent about $90 for repair. Even though the engine was under warranty (less than 3 years and 36000 miles), the dealer refused to cover the cost, arguing that the cause was a loose hose clamp and the owner should have scheduled maintenance including checking the clamps. About 2 years ago, front door power window on the passenger side stopped to work. I ordered motor and rail from Internet and fixed it on my own (about $80 for parts). I remember I saw the recall of power window regulator by Nissan. I could have wasted the money and effort if the faulty window was covered by the recall.

After so many problems I experienced, here came the rough idle problem. The "service engine soon" light came on and off. The error code was 0300 (random engine misfire). The car ran fine when it was moving and the idle was OK when the car was cold. The problem happened only when the car was warm and stopped, say, at a traffic light. Sometimes the engine stopped after a long wait at red light. On the Altima service manual I bought, it listed tons of possible causes for the problem. The first thing I did was replacing the air filter, sparks, ignition wires, rotor and cap. It did not work after spending about $100 for parts. The service manual listed intake vacuum leak as a possible cause. However, there are so many things in the intake line and no visual defects were found. I also thought about replacing the fuel filter and cleaning the fuel injectors. These things are not easy to do. Finally I decided to ask a Nissan dealer to do a diagnosis. They told me that the idle problem was caused by intake manifold gasket and will cost over $600 to repair. I paid the diagnosis fee and called around for cheaper repair shops. The car is now in a garage. The dealer found one more problem. A CV joint boot was broken, another $210 to repair.

I am sure I'll never buy a Nissan car again.

This vehicle ended my relationship with my local mechanic of 10 years.

Charged me over $600 to diagnose the error (P0304 #4 misfire detected... the usual)

But instead of looking up a site like this, he gave me a tune up and a fuel injection service, and a cooling system flush. (Something it shouldn't have needed till about 160000kms/100000miles)

That didn't fix it. So I drove an hour to the Nissan dealership. And I was amazed how quickly they diagnosed it! Wow how amazing! Now, I'm not so amazed, as clearly its a known issue. I have no idea how the service manager kept a straight face. Cost, was $650 for this, but at least it fixed it. They also did me the favor of changing the serpentine belt and pulley for $320.

Despite the fact my friends dad owns the dealership, I now hate a car that I once thought was so damn fine. Shocking that Nissan does not appear to give a rat's A$$ about this. This kind of crap should not be happening to a quality Japanese product, with barely 50000 miles on it. This appears to be an engineering error, that they noticed, fixed in 2002, and swept under the carpet. It isn't under warranty because I put less than 10000 miles on per year. Time ran out, before the miles ran out, before the gasket ran out.

I really, really, really, really... want to buy a 2007/8 Altima Hybrid with the tech package. It looks damn fine, I am really that close. But there is no way I can trust Nissan now. (Remember the bomb-proof Datsun's?)

I have seen so many post with the same symptoms that I know exactly what is the problem. I had a Toyota before and so like Japanese car. Nissan however is a disgrace to this category. I swear I'll never buy a Nissan again and would not recommend it to anyone. The built in problems are so many and then this rough idling. Magically your car cross 50k miles and the problem starts. Its like a deliberate bug Nissan has put.

This should be a definite recall by Nissan. I would like to take this to consumer court and will appeal everyone who has faced this problem to do the same. Carlos Ghosn (CEO Nissan : http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Carlos_Ghosn) should rethink with what strategy Nissan want to be in this market. The current strategy is to supply pathetic cars and then earn by providing costly service.

Even layman like me can deduce that is a major design flaw in the engine and produces exactly the same symptons of shaking when at idle with Engine light coming on and off. I wish Nissan had even one engineer who can say the same that "yes this is our problem and we should do something about it". In a country where customer service is the most important thing, not sure how this kind of attitude is being ignored by authorities and foremost why people even buy Nissan cars.

Its good that Nissan is taking its operations to country like India as well, there this company can service but not in US.

I wish luck to all Nissan owners who are still below 50 k and hope that they do not have to see this day. However, if you do please make a point to raise this in right forums.

In October 2007, car started sputtering as I accelerate. (This is March 2008) When I stop at a light or intersection, or going to a ATM, car turns off unless I catch it and work with the brake and gas to work the RPM up. This only occurs after driving for a while. Very dependable mechanic just kept the car for over a week to try to figure out the problem. He finally replaced a set of plug wires, a distributor cap and a rotor button. I will take the other 47 complaints list out to him and see what he thinks. I know I can trust him and unless Nissan has the balls to recall it, the dealership will never see my face. I will however call and write Nissan. My wife just bought a Hyundai and gave our daughter a Honda accord with 125K miles on it. Maybe I'm headed back to Honda....

I have had the same problem as the others. The engine light came on a few times. Rough idling when the car was stopped (but not while in drive). The mechanic did a tune-up but that did not cure the problem. It was coming up as as misfire of cylinder 4. After bringing it to the mechanic 4 times (they could not seem to find the problem), it finally got fixed at the cost of $700.00 the car seems to run great now. Just wonder why Nissan has not recalled this part with so many people with the same exact problem.