My complaint is in regards to my 2000 Nissan Altima GLE 2.4L 4 th cylinder premature failure of the intake manifold gasket due to heat around the cylinder area. I have a 2000 Altima with 33,000 miles with an intermittent idle fluctuation, I have also had codes P0304 and P0171. The cost of repair for this is about $800. This is a design flaw by Nissan and should be covered as a recall or emissions warranty (being that the check engine light comes on with code P0304 and P0171). Reading all forums on the Internet this is happening to all these models. Every 40 to 80 thousand miles this happens over and over. Very much a Safety/Emissions issue that needs to be addressed by Nissan!

Class action people.

I have the same problem as everyone else on this Rant Page. I bought my car, with no issues. 2 DAYS LATER, the car began to shake, but only when you were stopped, and in the Drive position...Nothing poor when in Park, Neutral, Reverse or when driving....

Check engine light came on, P1126 - Thermostat. So I purchased all the necessary items to fix that issue, still shaking. Took the car into a mechanic, he says that the engine mounts are bad, and the tranny mount has to be replaced. So I then move to do that..Still an issue.

Over $1000 in parts and labor so far, and still an issue...

I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD THE CAR FOR A MONTH!!!

I am so infuriated with Nissan right now, for I bought the da** car thinking it would be reliable...

Changed my Intake manifold gasket after doing some searching online found out that the nissan gasket sucks. The felpro gasket got good reviews all around the board, so I went with that, the mechanic told me there was a hot spot on the engine, burning the original gasket around the number 4 cylinder causing it to leak, he told me this was his 8th job in a few years at his shop with these cars, and for added reassurance he also told me that if nissan does not recall this IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN!!!!!, because of that hot spot, it will continue to burn the gasket, that's why I went with the felpro it was rated much higher heat tolerance than nissan's, this crap cost me just under $800 it stopped shaking and the rpm goes back to normal when at idle, but to me the engine still never felt the same afterward.

Car started shaking and idling rough in February, found out that this is a very common problem and Nissan refuses to budge on taking responsibility for its faulty engineering. Finally did something about it in June. Called around and found a shop willing to do it for $390 (they had no idea what they were getting into) and 4 days (couldn't get a 4 inch piece of hose any sooner) and $640 later, it was fixed. Still hot under the collar about Nissan not issuing a recall or doing anything to help their customers. Next car will be a Mazda, Honda or Audi.

Although this intake manifold gasket problem has only recently been diagnosed, I feel it has been a problem coming to a head for years with my car. I cant even think off hand how many unnecessary diagnostic tests, spark plug changes, filter changes and so on I have paid for over the last 4 or 5 years. I have ALWAYS had the same complaint...the car rattles and shakes like its about to to blow up! It only stalled for the first time this week. BTW...that damn check engine light has been on since about six months after I bought it. The dealership told me they could find no explanation for it and that I should ignore it....my next question to them of course....How the hell do I know then when I have I real engine problem if Im supposed to ignore it? They were out of business next time I called. UGH!

I work full time, am a full time student, and a single mother! I have been replacing parts on my 2000 Nissan Altima for about two years now! I even got a new radiator 3 weeks ago... I am so tired, fed up, and done with pouring money into constantly trying to fix this car. It shakes so bad, yes, it makes my kids laugh, but it is annoying. All my gauges turn off randomly! so I can't tell how fast I am going, I just stay with the flow of traffic. My check engine light turns on and off randomly. I can not afford a new vehicle right now. I feel stuck, frustrated, and extremely disappointed with the level of performance of this vehicle. Seems like there is always something that needs to be replaced on this vehicle. :( I stumbled across this website, and I feel a sense of ease, that I am not alone. But still upset that will this problem being so common, there has been no recall.. I also found this website that has the 2000 Nissan Altima Reliability Reviews. http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=2000&make=Nissan&model=Altima

Hi

First of all excuse my language, English is my second language

I used to think that Nissan is a good car , not any more after the Altima we had

it cost us so much money, especially with the shaking engine, the mechanic i deal with (which is i found out that he is stupid) told the problem of your shaking engine is cylinder # 4, so he change injector # 4 (it was not fixed) the he said it is the air sensor (same thing),then it is the distributer, (same thing),then he said take it to the dealer to find out what is the problem.

The dealer said it is intake manifold gasket and they said it will cost me 700, but I took it to another mechanic which end up paying 310 to fix it and the engine stop shaking, but I start hearing another sound which is plastic tension for the chain (timing belt) and that will cost 400 to fix it

People, this is not the only problems with this car, I have paid so much money on this car before I found out about this website, I wish I knew about it before now.

Uggg...car has been idling roughly at stops and engine light coming on and off sporadically. Finally found a trustworthy mechanic through a friend and he called to tell me that my car needed a "root canal." Intake manifold gasket needs replacing. Ironically there was a '98 Altima with the same problem at his shop that day. WTF. I came online to research and am furious that this seems to be a problem in far too many Altimas. I'm so irritated. Bought this car after having the nightmarish 1990 Ford Taurus. I will not begin dumping money into another car the way I had to do with the Taurus. Anyone know of any lawsuits...recalls...anything??? Oh, estimate is $800-$1000, having it done on Tuesday.

Well, you can add me to the group. I too have a 2000 Nissan Altima. Car runs excellent, as long as I do not come to a stop or red light. Then it becomes an embarrassment to be sitting in the car as it begins to shake and nearly stall everytime.

I don't know what it's going to cost me to fix this yet. I feel lucky to have stumbled across this web site as I can now say with confidence what the problem is. By the way, I also pulled a miss fire code on the 4th cylinder.

Is this something that can be done outside a shop...

Same as the many, the car shakes when idling. I shift into neutral to cut the vibes, but it still idles low and sputters. The car is my mother's. She is in her late 70's, babies the thing and is far from a demanding driver. Since the shaking she doesn't trust the car and won't go anywhere near it. My father's already replaced the cheaper parts and, as usual, it hasn't solved the problem. I'm glad I found this site and have a much clearer understanding that, alas, we are not alone. Before I found this out, Nissan Altimas were on the short list of vehicles I would like to own. No more.

My Altima threw a P0304 code the other day and started stumbling at idle - nothing too bad but annoying enough to notice. Figured the ignition stuff was due replacing but, after I replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor, the stumbling is still there.

I did reset the code and it didn't come back on.

Spraying carb cleaner around vacuum hoses, it became clear that the plenum's (top piece of the manifold) gasket has a leak around the area of cylinder 4.

(for those that don't know, carb cleaner gets sucked in where there might be a vacuum hose so you'll notice the engine running better for a couple of seconds once that happens)/

I'd like to do this myself but looking at the manual, it almost looks like the head has to come off, just to gain access to the manifold's mounting bolts. Anyone know that the procedure is? The Nissan manual seems to avoid the issue and just shows an exploded view..