2001 Nissan Altima

I HAVE TWO PERSISTENT PROBLEMS WITH MY 2001 ALTIMA. ISSUE #1: THE CAR RANDOMLY STALLS AT LOW SPEEDS (0-10MPH) WITH NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THIS PROBLEM BEGAN IN OCTOBER 2006. THIS PROBLEM RESULTS IN A LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES WHICH HAS CAUSED MANY NEAR ACCIDENTS. THERE IS NO PATTERN OR SYMPTOM TO FORECAST WHEN STALLING WILL OCCUR. THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP (DEALERSHIP AND OTHERS) NUMEROUS TIMES WITH MECHANICS NEVER ABLE TO "DUPLICATE" THE PROBLEM. AFTER SPENDING HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS ON A NEW BATTERY, LEAD WIRES, NEW SPARK PLUGS AND SPARK PLUG WIRES, MY NISSAN MECHANIC SAID THAT HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO EXCEPT "THROW PARTS AT IT UNTIL SOMETHING STICKS." ISSUE #2: THE CAR IDLES ROUGHLY AND SHAKES UNLESS IN NEUTRAL. THE SHOP SAID THE PROBLEM IS THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET WHICH IS A $600 REPAIR. A SEARCH ON THE INTERNET PROVIDES AN ABUNDANCE OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL ISSUE. *TR

CAR STALLS, SHUTTERS, AND RPM'S BOUNCE WHILE STOPPED AT TRAFFIC SIGNS. HAVE TO TURN A/C ON WHICH HELPS FOR 30 SECS., THEN RPM'S BOUNCE ERRATICALLY AGAIN. HAVE TO THEN KEEP FOOT ON BRAKE AND GIVE GAS TO KEEP RPM'S UP OR PUT IN PARK,NEUTRAL AND GIVE GAS TO KEEP RPM'S STEADY. IF YOU DON'T, CAR DIES. SAFETY HAZARD IN TRAFFIC AND WHILE STOPPED,BECAUSE CAR DIES. MANY COMPLAINTS FOR THIS YEAR/MODEL WITH SAME PROBLEM ON CARCOMPLAINTS.COM. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 NISSAN ALTIMA. THE VEHICLE HAS FIRESTONE FIREHAWK GTX-02, SIZE P205/55R16 TIRES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE SIDEWALLS WERE CRACKED AND SEPARATING FROM THE TIRES AND THE BELTS WERE ALSO BECOMING LOOSE. HE FURTHER STATED THAT THE TIRES WERE VIBRATING, MAKING NOISE, AND AIR KEPT LEAKING OUT OF THEM. ALL FOUR TIRES HAD TO BE REPLACED. FIRESTONE STATED THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE REPLACED THE TIRES, NOT HIM. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 38,620 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 37,000. UPDATED 01-14-08. *KB UPDATED 12/12/07. *JB

CAR SHAKING WHILE AT IDLE (STOPPED). PROBABLY CAUSE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET AS FACED BY MANY OTHER NISSAN OWNERS. SOME COMPLAINTS REPORTED HEATING OF CAR LEADING TO FIRE. I HAVE NOT FACED FIRE YET BUT WILL NOT TAKE THE CAR TO FAR AS WELL. SINCE MANY PEOPLE FACED THIS, IT MUST BE A NISSAN DESIGN ISSUE AND SHOULD BE RECALLED. THIS IS A EXPENSIVE FIX AND SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE PAID FROM THEIR POCKETS FOR A DEFECT WHICH NISSAN HAS INTRODUCED. *JB

IN NOVEMBER 2006, MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED (NISSAN ALTIMA 2001) AND I BROUGHT IT TO MY MECHANIC FOR SERVICE. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS A MISFIRE CONDITION IN ONE OF THE ENGINE CYLINDERS. CONSEQUENTLY, THE HEAD GASKET AND VARIOUS ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS WERE REPLACED. HOWEVER, A DAY AFTER GETTING THIS FIXED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON. IT APPEARS THAT THE REAL PROBLEM WAS WITH THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET, WHICH IS AN EXPENSIVE AND LABOR INTENSIVE JOB. AFTER SEARCHING THE WEB, I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH NISSAN ALTIMAS MADE AROUND 2001. FOR EXAMPLE, SEE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/NISSAN/ALTIMA/2000/ENGINE/INTAKE_MANIFOLD_GASKET_LEAK_CAR_SHAKES.SHTML COMMON TO NEARLY ALL CASES (EVEN THOSE BROUGHT TO NISSAN DEALERS) IS IT TYPICALLY TAKES MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO REALIZE THAT THE TRUE PROBLEM IS A FAULTY INTAKE GASKET. BEFORE GETTING IT FIXED THE ENGINE WAS BEGINNING TO GET SHAKY, ESPECIALLY AT IDLE SPEED. *JB

CAR WAS IDLED ROUGHLY. OFTEN DROPPING TO BELOW 500 RPM AND SHAKING THE ENTIRE CAR. CAR HAD A LACK OF RESPONSIVENESS AND POWER. NISSAN DEALER CORRECTLY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM JUST BY HEARING ME TELL THEM WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THE CAR TELLING ME THAT THEY HAD SEEN A LOT OF CARS WITH MY PROBLEM. TOOK THE CAR TO TRUSTED MECHANIC AND GOT SAME DIAGNOSIS. HE SAID HE HAD SEEN A LOT OF 2001 ALTIMAS WITH THAT PROBLEM (BLOWN IN EXACTLY THE SAME LOCATION OF THE GASKET). PROBLEM WAS A BLOWN INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET, REPAIR COST APPROACHED $600. A QUICK SEARCH ON GOOGLE.COM YIELDS SEVERAL FORUMS TALKING ABOUT INTAKE GASKET PROBLEMS WITH 2001 ALTIMAS. THE PROBLEM IS SO WIDESPREAD THAT IT IS MENTION IN THE AUTOS SECTION OF THE MSN SITE. HTTP://AUTOS.MSN.COM/RESEARCH/VIP/RELIABILITY.ASPX?YEAR=2001&MAKE=NISSAN&MODEL=ALTIMA#ENGI HTTP://WWW.FAMILYCAR.COM/BOARDS/VIEWTOPIC.PHP?P=344&SID=CC46EF56B5E213FB8DC33FE86106BA57. *NM UPDATED 07/16/2012 *JS