Rattle/shake/vibration in gear...please help!!

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Phishin

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My car has always had a vibration when at a stop light...when I put it in neutral, she immediately smoothed right out.

Recently installed new engine in my 2000 Nissan Altima. Vibration much worse now...and now I have a rattle at stop lights and under acceleration.

Installed new motor mounts.....no improvement. Installed all new exhaust, including manifold.....nothing.

Rattle is coming from passenger side floorboard.

This is killing me. What should I look at next? With car in drive, parking brake on, hood open, engine is vibrating a lot on passenger side engine components....any ideas?

Control arm bushings? Strut? Sway bar bushings?
 
check to make sure the distributor on the replacement engine is properly timed, and that no oil is leaking past the seal into the distributor.
 
An automatic 4 cylinder is gonna shake. It is not a balance or vibration though. You are feeling the pulses from each power stroke for the crankshaft working against the torque converter. The shake smoothing out in neutral is evidence of this.
Manuals don't do this because whether the trans is in neutral, or the clutch is just depressed, the link between engine and wheels is severed.

The rattle is probably a heat shield improperly replaced during the engine swap.
 
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What's your tach read (warm) idling in drive and idling in pee?

Have you got any loose remnants of heat shields or associated hardware that haven't fallen off your exhaust yet?
 
All heat shields are gone. New custom exhaust.

Idle speed in neutral is 900-950 warmed up. It drops to 700 in gear but stopped.

....but the rattle is driving me nuts
 
Maybe that new custom exhaust is a little too close to something and makes contact when you're in drive. If so it shouldn't rattle in reverse. Does it rattle in reverse?
 
Do you still have a flex pipe? My Corollas always rattle when the flex pipes are going bad .
 
Could be what asand1 said but I do think the the balance and low HP of I4's exposes anything short of a perfect engine with a rough idle. Especially at a stop light where the engine is under load from AC, brakes, alternator, etc. At 165k, its not perfect. Replace your intake manifold gasket. Known weakness of that engine. Dries up and cracks from heat at higher mileage. Will definitely cause the shake if its bad. FelPro makes an improved one. Also use fuel system cleaner more often. One of the PEA's like techron concentrate plus. Clean combustion chamber and valves is important on any engine, but especially important for low HP I4's.

The Idle on my I4 is pretty good now, but occasionally it still does it. Will not buy an I4 again. There are plenty of v6 engines that get just as good MPG now. And they are MUCH smoother.
 
Originally Posted By: yonyon
Maybe that new custom exhaust is a little too close to something and makes contact when you're in drive. If so it shouldn't rattle in reverse. Does it rattle in reverse?

The car is whisper quiet idling in Park. If you rev it up a bit, you can hear the beginnings of the rattle. But it's not loud. And yes, the car makes the rattle in Drive or Reverse. The new exhaust didn't change or effect this rattle. It was exactly the same before and after the exhaust installation.
Originally Posted By: chad8
Do you still have a flex pipe? My Corollas always rattle when the flex pipes are going bad .

My new exhaust included a new flex pipe. I know leaks/cracks in these is very common to cause rattles. So, the flex pipe was for sure replaced.
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Could be what asand1....At 165k, its not perfect. Replace your intake manifold gasket. Known weakness of that engine. Dries up and cracks from heat at higher mileage. Will definitely cause the shake if its bad. FelPro makes an improved one.

Leaky, this engine is BRAND NEW. I blew up the old one at 165k....the rotor spun on the dizzy shaft, causing it to cross fire and it went "kablewey". This engine has about 5-10k miles on it. I know about the IM gasket, replaced it on the original motor at 110k. No way is this one bad. Engine is brand new.

If it was just a rough idle, I could deal with that. No problem. But the buzzing/rattle is driving me insane. it's loud fellas. Not that loud outside the car, but it's louder than heck inside the car. Drives me crazy. Get on the highway....whisper quiet. Stop at a stop light.....you wanna gouge your eyes out.

I've had 3 guys look at this. No one can figure it out. Exhaust isn't touching anything. The noise appears to be coming from between the engine and the firewall. There is a fuel line hook up at the extreme passenger side on the firewall (in the corner of the engine bay) and it shakes like crazy. You can feel it pulsing. The power steering reservoir is also pulsing like crazy.

Someone help me, before I become homicidal.
 
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Not to drag pre cats back into this but do you think it could be the substrate rattling in the pre cat?
I sure hope not.

Do you know what the warm idle spec is?
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Not to drag pre cats back into this but do you think it could be the substrate rattling in the pre cat?
I sure hope not.

Do you know what the warm idle spec is?


Trav....this car doesn't have a pre-cat. Just a cat that bolts right to the exhaust manifold. Also, the noise appears to be coming from between the engine and the firewall.

The pre-cat problem was 2002-2004. Mine is a 2000. When they went to 2.5L's in 2002, that's when they had problems.
 
You need have someone else sit in the car and replicate the noise in gear or whatever, while you are outside finding the rattle. Its very hard to pinpoint the noise source while sitting in the car. It will sound different in every seat, the driver thinks its the passenger side, the passenger thinks its the drivers side etc.

The exhaust is a likely source but also things like the hood, cowl, wipers can do it too. I once had a hood rattle and exhaust rattle that were making the car sound like it was on its last legs, adjusting a rubber hanger and a couple of turns on the hood bumpers and it was like new.
 
I also noticed this vibration on my VW. It worse when engine's cold.

I would say it's normal. Just stop caring~
 
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
You need have someone else sit in the car and replicate the noise in gear or whatever, while you are outside finding the rattle. Its very hard to pinpoint the noise source while sitting in the car. It will sound different in every seat, the driver thinks its the passenger side, the passenger thinks its the drivers side etc.

The exhaust is a likely source but also things like the hood, cowl, wipers can do it too. I once had a hood rattle and exhaust rattle that were making the car sound like it was on its last legs, adjusting a rubber hanger and a couple of turns on the hood bumpers and it was like new.


Yeah, I agree. But I can't find any place it would rattle on the exhaust. It can't be from the flex pipe back. No way. I'm having a buddy put it on the lift after work....he's got one where it's lifted from under the tires (ie, you drive up on two beams), and I'm gonna carefully engage the parking brake, and put it in drive, put a safety chain on it, and find the source of the rattle.

Like I said, if it was just a vibration, no biggie. I expect that. But this is a crazy rattle.
 
Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: Trav
Not to drag pre cats back into this but do you think it could be the substrate rattling in the pre cat?
I sure hope not.

Do you know what the warm idle spec is?


Trav....this car doesn't have a pre-cat. Just a cat that bolts right to the exhaust manifold. Also, the noise appears to be coming from between the engine and the firewall.

The pre-cat problem was 2002-2004. Mine is a 2000. When they went to 2.5L's in 2002, that's when they had problems.

Great. So at least its not something dangerous for the engine just annoying.
Any warm idle speed spec? I did an 02 a while back and it was about 600 in D and 750 in P
 
Originally Posted By: Trav

Great. So at least its not something dangerous for the engine just annoying.
Any warm idle speed spec? I did an 02 a while back and it was about 600 in D and 750 in P


It's more RPM dependent. If in Neutral or Park, I can get it to rattle if I really rev it up in short burst. In Drive or Reverse or Park, the rattle is from Idle to about 2500 rpm's...then it goes away.

I checked the RPM's again last night and it was 900 in Neutral/Park and 700 in gear.

HOWEVER, I think I found my problem. At least I hope. I'm such an idiot sometimes, and I overlooked this...I replaced 3 engine mounts. BUT I FORGOT TO CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION MOUNT!! I found my error this morning, when I was browsing RockAuto. I could kick myself in the teeth. This has got to be it. Got to. Please, Please, let this be the problem.

Whether the mount is bad or not....I order one this morning. Should be here in a few days. And a new gasket/o-ring where the dizzy bolts to the engine. Mine is leaking. NOT leaking inside the dizzy, just at the junction of the dizzy and the valve cover. Oil is dripping on my thermostat housing and tranny. Easy fix there. But hard to find that o-ring. Finally found that they used the same o-ring for the early 90's Sentra's.....but it's no where listed for the 2000 Altima.
 
New transmission mount went in today. All mounts have been replaced. Rattle is still there!! I'm gonna pull my hair out. For real.

What is causing the rattle? My mechanic now suggests that the exhaust is pushed too far back, taking all the flexibility out of the flex pipe. Really? Anyone hear of such a thing?

He thinks I should cut an inch out of the exhaust, post-pipe, and move the rear of the exhaust more forward.

There are no heat shields on the exhaust anywhere. They have all been removed. The exhaust isnt touching anything. Rattle still only occurs when in gear. Mostly at a stop or moving slowly.

PLEASE HELP!!
 
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