Nissan Almera

Funky_Corsa

My GF just bought a Nissan Almera 01 1.5 litre. When it goes over 60 mph it starts to shake including the steering wheel, it gets pretty bad when you go over 75. Also the cars pulls to the left a bit when driving. Could this just be the wheel alignment or could it be something more serious? It passed its NCT a couple of weeks ago if that is any help.

Also I have noticed when on the flat or going up hill it has very poor acceleration. If you are cruising at say 40 mph and put your foot to the floor it doesn't really move. It doesnt jump or stutter in any way. Going down hill it picks up speed the way any car should. It has 70k on the clock.

delly

Wheel shaking at that speed indicates to me that the tyres aren't balanced properly, and the pulling to the left sounds like wheel alignment alright. I've had both issues in the past and that sorted both respectively. Its not to say that there isn't anything else wrong, but go down this route first as its the most cost effective.

I'm not sure about the lack of power, but when you put your foot down check the revs first. If its only 1,500 or so you could just be in to high a gear. I know that sounds obvious but different cars drive differently, so it could just mean getting used to a new style to suit the car.

hadook

Our 01 Almera had the exact same issues when we bought it - the shakes were resolved when the tyres were balanced and the acceleration issue was related to sticky calipers.

Funky_Corsa

Cheers lads, im gonna get the wheels looked at later. How was the sticky calipers fixed?

I dont think i am in the wrong gear when accelerating but ill try it again. The shaking is my main priority right now.

hadook

We ended up having to get the calipers, pads & discs replaced as well as the brake master cylinder (apparently that going isn't normal, we were just unlucky). Ours had been NCT'd 2 weeks before we bought it so we stupidly assumed the brakes couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong :rolleyes:

keppler

hadook wrote: »

We ended up having to get the calipers, pads & discs replaced as well as the brake master cylinder (apparently that going isn't normal, we were just unlucky). Ours had been NCT'd 2 weeks before we bought it so we stupidly assumed the brakes couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong :rolleyes:

Thats not common on most cars but for that particular one id have to disagree. My friend and I fixed one of those last week exact same problems.

Funky_Corsa wrote: »

My GF just bought a Nissan Almera 01 1.5 litre. When it goes over 60 mph it starts to shake including the steering wheel, it gets pretty bad when you go over 75. Also the cars pulls to the left a bit when driving. Could this just be the wheel alignment or could it be something more serious? It passed its NCT a couple of weeks ago if that is any help.

Also I have noticed when on the flat or going up hill it has very poor acceleration. If you are cruising at say 40 mph and put your foot to the floor it doesn't really move. It doesnt jump or stutter in any way. Going down hill it picks up speed the way any car should. It has 70k on the clock.

Open your bonnet and check the throttle cable and see if its got alot of slack on it. To be sure, check by getting someone to press the accellerator fully to the floor (while the car is swithched off ) and then see if the throttle can still turn any more by hand. if it does you need to tighten it slightly and should sort out the problem

Btw i found the exact same thing when driving that particular car myself...........it just does'nt have alot of power to begin with plus the gear ratios seem to be a bit high for an engine of that caliber

Funky_Corsa

Just had a look and the cable is pretty slack. How do i tighten it? I have only checked it on my own so far dont have anybody to press the pedal for me. I knew they weren't the most powerful cars but jesus ive been in 1 litre cars that would leave this for dead.

Just had the wheels balanced and it didnt make much difference. He only did the front as he said there not much point doing the back. would doing the rear make much of a difference?

Edit: Another thing i noticed was that when i am idle at traffic light etc. the throttle pedal sticks. I put pressure on it and it doesn't move. I have to force it down and then revs like hell cause i am putting it to the floor. I put some WD40 on both ends of the cable and around the pedal.

keppler

Funky_Corsa wrote: »

Just had a look and the cable is pretty slack. How do i tighten it? I have only checked it on my own so far dont have anybody to press the pedal for me. I knew they weren't the most powerful cars but jesus ive been in 1 litre cars that would leave this for dead.

Just had the wheels balanced and it didnt make much difference. He only did the front as he said there not much point doing the back. would doing the rear make much of a difference?

The cable will have a small amount of slack in it regardless if it is opening the throttle fully or not!...........do not attempt to tighten the cable until someone presses the accellerator down fully for you otherwise you could end up messing up the idle rev.
if you do find someone to push it and its not pulling the throttle all the way round then you can tighten it using the two nuts located where the steel throttle cable exits it's black plastic cover (should be directly behind the engine block roughly midway) you should see it mounted on some sort of bracket.

I would get the back wheels balanced to be honest.......its only €10 or 15€ to do it and you could also be looking at the possibility of having a buckled wheel and they should spot that immidiately. if the balancing and alignment dont sort out the vibration go and get the car checked out as it could be something fairly serious yeah

I think that engine has only got 90bhp roughly and it feels like a fairly solid heavy car for its size and type....... plus if gear ratios are high its going to seem like a dead horse especially trying to go up hills in high gears

Funky_Corsa

keppler wrote: »

The cable will have a small amount of slack in it regardless if it is opening the throttle fully or not!...........do not attempt to tighten the cable until someone presses the accellerator down fully for you otherwise you could end up messing up the idle rev.
if you do find someone to push it and its not pulling the throttle all the way round then you can tighten it using the two nuts located where the steel throttle cable exits it's black plastic cover (should be directly behind the engine block roughly midway) you should see it mounted on some sort of bracket.

I think that engine has only got 90bhp roughly and it feels like a fairly solid heavy car for its size and type....... plus if gear ratios are high its going to seem like a dead horse especially trying to go up hills in high gears

I will wait for someone else to be here. I have noticed it idles well below 1000rpm too. Maybe 600/700 rpm is this normal? I edited the above post too to mention the throttle pedal

Captain Commie

Funky_Corsa wrote: »

I knew they weren't the most powerful cars but jesus ive been in 1 litre cars that would leave this for dead.

very strange, i drive an 04 Almera 1.5 and when i put the foot to it, it goes, routinely sit at 80-90mph without any issues and it accelerates very very quickly

Funky_Corsa

Axis Cometo wrote: »

very strange, i drive an 04 Almera 1.5 and when i put the foot to it, it goes, routinely sit at 80-90mph without any issues and it accelerates very very quickly

Yes it cant be normal for these cars, there is definitely an issue with this one. It can get to 80 but it takes forever. The throttle cable theory sounds very credible.

keppler

Funky_Corsa wrote: »

Yes it cant be normal for these cars, there is definitely an issue with this one. It can get to 80 but it takes forever. The throttle cable theory sounds very credible.

Ever consider the possiblity you have a clutch thats on the way out? If its getting to the stage where its slipping slightly this could be a contributing factor to an 'apparent' lack of power.

Funky_Corsa

keppler wrote: »

Ever consider the possiblity you have a clutch thats on the way out? If its getting to the stage where its slipping slightly this could be a contributing factor to an 'apparent' lack of power.

Doesnt seem to be slipping at all. I went up a very steep hill earlier and couldnt feel any slipping. 1st and 2nd gears seem to be ok then after that the power goes.

Funky_Corsa

Should i have a mechanic have a quick look at the wheels suspension etc. before i go and spend money on getting the wheels alligned? Surely a trained mechanic would know quick enough if my suspension was shot.

keppler

Funky_Corsa wrote: »

Should i have a mechanic have a quick look at the wheels suspension etc. before i go and spend money on getting the wheels alligned? Surely a trained mechanic would know quick enough if my suspension was shot.

To be honest id say yes. I know its been through an nct recently but trust me, they can and have missed major problems on suspensions with cars ive put through before.

Funky_Corsa

I tried the throttle cable with someone else and there was no slack on it at all. The accelerator is still sticking when i stop at a junction too.

celticcrash

My wife has an 1.5 07 almera, it pulls to the left, bad accelration,
and shakes at 70km even after having wheels alined and balanced.
Her last one was an 05 and it drove the same. Sorry to say but their
Just a s**t car.

Funky_Corsa

Could someone recommend me a good mechanic in south Dublin or even Wicklow that could have a look at it for me.

also where would be a good place to get the alignment done?