Rough idle and rough acceleration
Asked by Enterprise1943 Jul 28, 2014 at 09:40 AM about the 2007 Nissan Altima
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
When I start the engine it seems to run smoothly for a short time then idles rough, then
will smooth out again. Upon accelerating it runs rough again like it's not firing on all 4.
(2.5 engine) once I stop accelerating it smooths out again then will run rough, then
smooth out again.
2 Answers
Check your fuel delivery system. Pump. Filter. Have them checked.
I have had my 2014 Nissan Altima for about four years now and I've had every problem that I've been seeing other people have. Everything from the car stalling intermittently, running rough, hesitation when taking off, feels like transmission is slipping, and a shaky engine. My mind was blown I thought my car was junk and when I called Nissan they wanted to charge me over $199 to do a diagnostics which they said could take a very long time and they may not find the problem. Luckily a friend of the family knows almost everything about cars and after 3 days of having my car and it being brought there on a flatbed because it would no longer run he finds a sensor inside of the timing case which is submerged in oil. He runs a quick test and finds out the sensor was malfunctioning come to find out even though everywhere you look says you can use conventional oil and these cars it is not the case unless you want to be replacing the sensor all the time. I'm not saying the conventional oil itself is what blows the sensor but the oil does breakdown in different ways and I have noticed that every time I did get a regular oil change with synthetic blend my car would start having the same issue over and over again but luckily I would catch it in enough time and an oil change would usually stop those issues temporarily. Once I switch to fully synthetic and changed my own transmission fluid it was like my car repaired itself. and yes you can change your own transmission fluid even though Nissan will tell you over and over again you have a non serviceable transmission they intentionally manufacturer the cars without a transmission oil dipstick because they want you to go in and pay over $500 for for them to drain your old fluid and put new fluid in. If you go on YouTube there is a video I found when I searched 2014 Nissan Altima transmission oil change where the gentleman explains exactly how to do it and I am a female and did it myself! It was not that difficult at all. And only cost me about $40! Now even though I was using fully synthetic oil over time my car started having another issue which was hesitation when it warmed up. if I was stuck in traffic on a hot day or go for a long ride every time I stopped at a light or a stop sign and tried giving it gas to accelerate there was no acceleration for a little while and then it would kick in so I researched that information narrowed it down and figured I needed transmission oil change. And I was not about to pay Nissan an insane amount of money so I took my chances and did it myself. from that day on I have not had any problems with my car! so before you go and pay Nissan or a mechanic to do diagnostics on your car and change out other sensors and all the other crap they're going to tell you it needs check these things first and save yourself a ton of money. If your check engine light comes on and you run a code p0011 what showed up on my numerous times it will tell you camshaft sensor or crankshaft sensor failure I replaced both of these in my car still did not run because it was actually the sensor inside the time in case that went bad from using conventional oil and probably because I didn't change my oil exactly when I was supposed to long story LOL. But definitely try a full synthetic oil change and a transmission fluid change this should fix your problem if that sensor did in fact fail these two things may not fix your car you will have to replace that sensor if you know a mechanic or if you're brave enough to do it yourself it is inside the time in case you do not have to touch the timing chain or anything else you just need to replace that sensor and the sensor ran me roughly $150. To me that's still way better than spending a few grand at Nissan and have them tell you you need a new transmission because that is exactly what I was being told and I didn't need to spend that money or put in a new transmission not yet anyway. So I hope this helps!