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Rough idle but no ses light- what could it be?

31K views 30 replies 17 participants last post by  RGreene1495  
#1 ·
Last night I pulled onto a road and gave it some gas, about a mile down the road I noticed a little roughness or a stumble. Pulled into where I was going and really noticed the roughness at idle. Wanted to idle in park around 500 rpm instead of 7-800. It almost feels like a cylinder is not firing, but there are no lights on so I'm assuming no codes.

It is an 05 LE with 92k miles. After spending a few hours searching the forum I started with a new ipdm relay, no difference. I had ordered plugs a few days ago anyway, will put them in over the weekend.

Starting is no problem, other than the engine stumbling everything seems fine. Under the hood there is no loud ticking or different sounds than normal. I've had this truck since almost new and have spent many hours working on minor things so I am very familiar with it.

I'm not driving it until I get it sorted out, I don't want to screw up the cats in case I do have unburnt fuel going through. The cats were replaced about 15k ago due to cracked manifolds and would rather not do it again.

Where else to look? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I'd start with checking on how your engine is breathing. Check the intake to make sure everything is tight, and clean (filter/piping/throttle body). Check to make sure your MAF is clean. Check for any exhaust leaks and make sure all of your gaskets are nice and tight. Hopefully nothing is cracked again, but it never hurts to check those either.
 
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#29 ·
What's the MAF? My truck is stumbling at idle and it comes and goes. Stomped on it today and there was significant power loss and then the check engine light came on. After that it was good again. I have new plugs for it, but it seems that it could be deeper than plugs. Any suggestions other than changing the plugs? Thank you.
 
#3 ·
What kind of manifolds and cats did you replace the bad ones with? Sounds like your problem lies there.
 
#4 ·
It was done under warranty so they are oem. I've seen everything from motor mounts to vacuum leaks as well. The weather sucks right now but will give everything a good look this weekend.

If there was a misfire, there should be a code right?
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
Easiest thing to check is the air intake/MAF. Clean that off and try again. Next you've got plugs, I'd check those like you said you're going to do.

As odd as it sounds, did you have your oil changed that day? One time I had a guy just dump new oil into the truck without draining it and ended up with 11 quarts in the truck. I had a similar issue where it idled hard, no code, but if I stepped on it it smoothed out.
 
#8 ·
This might be one of the situations where you may have to drive it until you get a light. Check the manifolds as best you can, and if you can't determine they're cracked, it may be time to go for a 40 mile drive on the highway or until you get a light whichever comes sooner. If you go 40 miles without a light you'll have one of two options....the stumble is no longer there or you need an expert diagnostician under your hood with a Snap-On or Mac Tool engine analyzer or similar with a Nissan module in it...not a code reader.
 
#11 ·
I did get gas recently, had not thought of that. It has been so wet here I wonder if there is a little water in the gas?

I'll see if there is some sort of additive to deal with water contamination, thanks for the suggestion!
 
#10 ·
Thanks to all for a lot of great suggestions. I do all my own maintenance, the oil was changed within the last 3-4 months and the dipstick reads perfect. I'm a bit funny about others doing even simple jobs on my vehicles- I've seen too many stupid people doing stupid things.

Anyway, I'm beginning to think it may not be a misfire due to the absence of any check engine lights. When I am in park and idling, if I lightly press on the gas, it definitely hesitates before the RPMs pick up but the stumble follows the RPM's- you just don't feel it as much at higher RPM's.

I'll start with the plugs, then air filter, clean the MAF then check all the vacuum hoses. Check motor mounts and the exhaust manifold. Beyond that, I agree with running it for a few miles to see if I can get something to throw a code. Maybe it is the crank position sensor, again though I would expect a code. Maybe a piece of carbon broke free somewhere and knocked into one of the plugs???

I have also done the ecu reset and throttle body relearn just for giggles.

Thanks again to all, I will definitely report back if I can get it sorted out. I've been on this forum for over 10 years and know how lucky we all are with this awesome resource.
 
#15 ·
Post #10 sounds like a valve to me. If you're already changing the plugs you should do a compression test while you're at it.
 
#16 ·
Start cheap and easy, air filter, clean your throttle body, and clean your maf sensor. When I clean my throttle body I leave it on the truck and just hold the choke open, spray it with carb cleaner and wipe out the inside with a clean cotton t- shirt. I repeat the process until the shirt no longer removes any carbon. Clean the back side of the choke also. I've never had to clean my maf sensor but I've hod to clean my throttle body twice now at 175k. Also after cleaning it and driving it around, disconnect your negative battery cable overnight to reset everything. I would do all of this before starting on the plugs, that way if it is the problem you recognize the symptoms and fix if it happens again.
 
#17 ·
Definitely put a reader on it and see if there are any codes. On a recent truck I looked at for my son, a Frontier which appeared in great shape and drove fine, a quick scan with Torque showed fuel trims off a bit on Bank 2, though not enough to alarm me. Total difference was about 3% versus Bank 1, with B1 around +1.5 and B2 around +4.5. Nothing to worry over, but then I ran a code scan, and discovered a knock sensor failure (no SES, but that apparently doesn't trigger the SES in the Frontier, according to research into it) and "pending codes" for the O2 sensors on Bank 2. There were a couple of other things wrong with the truck, so I decided after looking at the price to replace the O2 sensors all around (no sense waiting for the ones on Bank 1 to die on a 10yr old truck...), the knock sensor, and the other minor stuff, plus a new set of tires, the guy wouldn't come out of his price enough to make it worth buying. But the point of all this long description is, just because the SES isn't on, doesn't mean there's not information in the computer to help you diagnose it. Put a reader on it and see if there are any pending codes or any codes which wouldn't result in the SES being illuminated.
 
owns 2011 Nissan Titan Pro4X Crew Cab
#18 ·
I was hoping to start this weekend as the weather is finally getting better, but I've been sick as a dog. I'm hoping to lay low tomorrow and start maybe Sunday.

Thanks for all you guidance!
 
#19 · (Edited)
Update.

Replaced plugs, actually not that hard. Old ones were dirty and probably appropriate for 92k. Gaps were decent, some slight buildup may have closed the gaps to some extent on two of them. One pcv valve was stuck. Cleaned maf sensor. Checked motor mounts, checked exhaust manifolds (dealer did not replace heat shields so they are easy to see).

I noticed a slight exhaust leak at the junction just past the cat on drivers side. Also noticed one fan blade that has a large piece broken off.

I forgot to plug in the maf sensor after cleaning it so now I do have a ses light- ugh.

No codes at autozone.

Would a broken fan blade be enough to unbalance things enough to feel?
 
#21 ·
Would a broken fan blade be enough to unbalance things enough to feel?
Absolutely. I broke a blade and it was immediately obvious that something was out of balance.
 
#20 ·
Probably. And if it flings the compromised blade at speed you might have to replace the radiator as well as some other things.
 
#22 ·
Looks like I'll be replacing a fan. I will update when it is done. I can replace the fan by removing the shroud right? No need to remove the radiator.
 
#23 ·
My shroud was in two pieces. Easy to remove.
 
#24 ·
Just got the fan, swapped it for the broken one and all is good. I honestly didn't think one broken piece on one fan blade would have caused all the trouble, but I was wrong.

Thanks a ton to all of you, I appreciate it!

Steve
 
#25 ·
Glad you figured it out and it was relatively easy.
 
#26 ·
^^^ and cheap compared to what it could have been (broken flex plate, bearing, piston, fuel injector...).
 
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#30 ·
Sounds like exhaust leak if anything. I went thru same thing, cleaned throttle body and MAF, new air filter, seafoam, spark plugs, smoke test for vacuum leaks, checked motor and trans mounts, checked fan clutch, etc etc. and nothing, and I’m 99.9999999% sure it’s exhaust manifold leak. Just got p0430 code too so that kind of solidified it. Got my Cajun manifold fix kit in and going to take manifolds out this weekend to confirm and swap out for headers.

Long story short…. Most likely exhaust leak at manifolds