# 2011 Nissan Altima Sputter/Jerk HELP!



## travisjordannn (May 11, 2021)

I'm new to this forum and not sure if this is the right way or spot to post this. If it isn't, I apologise in advance, just really could use some advice from anyone who may have some experience or knowledge on the issue that I'm currently searching to troubleshoot and repair..

I recently bought a 2011 Nissan Altima 2.5 with 104,000 miles on it. When purchased, the car ran perfect, no Check Engine Light on, no issues whatsoever. Also, I wasn't informed of any sort of previous problems or repairs... The car continued to drive with zero issues, I even made a few 100-150 mile trips involving both Highway and City driving, with the car constantly running for hours. And not a single hiccup of any kind took place.
Fast forward 3 weeks later, and the car being used as daily driver in normal city conditions everyday.. About 3-4 days ago while driving no different than what has been driven everyday since having it. While accelerating slightly more than normal take off to turn and get into traffic, the car had a little sputter feeling happen when reaching 2000ish rpm and shifting @ 20 mph.. Which freaked me out majorly, but the rest of the drive it never once happened again. But over the past few days, it has seemed to happen way more frequently. It also began to on a few occasions also have a slight sputter happen while at about 40mph, while I was again trying to gain speed just slightly quicker and the rpms around 2000 again.. Also, it went from one single small sputter when it would happen, to starting yesterday the few times it did happen, would do 3 significantly rougher sputters than when it first occurred..Also, this entire time no codes have been thrown, in fact the only thing shown is a warning message about the Tire Pressure Sensor. 

I discovered yesterday, that if I accelerate real slow the entire time, not letting the rpms get above 1500, maybe even lower than that. It won't do it at all. Which has been okay for where I've been driving. The speed limit never more than 55 and red lights the whole way, never needing to get speed quickly like I would on an interstate.

I've tried to search a little, but nothing seems to sound like what I'm experiencing. And I spent all I had buying the car, so while accelerating slowly keeps it from happening, I am trying to get to the bottom of it and do whatever has to be done to correct the issue and help make sure that the car stays running how it was when first purchased, and I don't end up totally SOL and ending up with a repair bill way beyond anything I can afford or it just completely done for and I be in a position that idk how I would be able to get out of...

If anyone at all has any ideas or knowledge about what's happening, what I can do to diagnose it, or some things I can try. Please help me out!!!! Anything at all helps me out more than I currently am.
Thank you so much in advance.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

A common problem with random engine hiccups and/or shutdowns is a marginal camshaft position sensor or a marginal crankshaft position sensor. Most of the time when this happens, the "check engine light" never comes on; subsequently when performing an ECU code readout, there was no fault code set. There's been many members here on the forum that have had problems similar to yours and the fix was replacing those two sensors.

The best and cheapest fix for this situation is to replace both sensors at the same time; the reason for doing this is there is no way to determine which sensor is at fault with this type of condition. You can take your vehicle to a dealer/repair shop and they'll tell you there is nothing wrong after they go through with diagnostic tests because at that time the vehicle was running OK. You could end up spending $200 or much more depending on how much time/parts are used.

When replacing sensors, always use Nissan OEM parts from a Nissan dealer; aftermarket electronic items generally are not reliable, don't last long, and many times are DOA. The sensors are not very expensive; around $75.


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## travisjordannn (May 11, 2021)

And so the only way to be sure of that being the issue is to replace both sensors and see? Or are there other things/indicators that would confirm it?


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

travisjordannn said:


> And so the only way to be sure of that being the issue is to replace both sensors and see? Or are there other things/indicators that would confirm it?


Since no MIL comes on, it's the easiest and cheapest thing to do. There's been many members here on the forum that have had problems similar to yours and the fix was replacing those two sensors. Before condemning the sensors, inspect the harness connectors for tightness and possible damage.


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## tonhanks22 (Dec 2, 2021)

hmmm, i don't help


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## naclark46168 (9 mo ago)

I had this same issue and cleaned my Mass Airflow Sensor and it fixed the issue Mass AirFlow Sensor removal and Clean


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