The Nissan Path

Ever since I bought my 2012, it shudders at stoplights.

I'll be in drive, sitting there, foot on the brake, the whole truck will shake for about 15 seconds, then be normal, if its an exceptionally long light, it will happen a second time... Is this normal for the truck or am I staring down the barrel of a torque converter/transmission?

Yes this is common for these vehicles. Do you notice the RPM's drop slightly when it shudders?

Yes it's normal and yes it's annoying! When I got my 2012 PF a few months ago I also questioned it and yes the shutter is quite common on the V6 I don't know about the V8 model?

it is annoying, but I'm more than willing to put up with it though after hearing im not staring down the barrel of a trans rebuild

anyone know what causes it?

I asked this same ? Awhile back and someone said it was the design of the engine mounts that was the main cause of the idle shake?

There was a TSB for low idle vibration caused by bad motor mounts.

i have the same issue at stop lights. RPM does not change, when put in neutral or park it goes away and runs smooth. I've watch the engine with someone else revving engine in drive/reverse and there is alot of movement.
Thinking of changing motor mounts as I think this will eliminate a bit of the shutter, a bit of vibration might be from the AC during the summer though will is acceptable but upon all the great info and members on here....great site! SMJ is awesome and great contributor on this forum.

Let us know if you change the motor mounts and if it helps. This vibe issue at idle is really the only thing I don't like about my truck. My Toyota 4Runner at idle was so smooth you could not tell it was running.

I was just digging around and found another thread that this was found out to be the transmission engaging in the uphill assist feature.

Maybe everybody should pay attention to when it's happening and see if it only happens when you are facing uphill? I know I'm going to start paying attention to it now.

The other thread said that his vehicle didn't have the feature officially, but that our transmissions have the feature weather the rest of the vehicle knows it or not. I did notice when I first bought the vehicle that it does not roll backwards as much as I would expect it to when facing uphill and drive.

2012WhiteR514x4S wrote:I was just digging around and found another thread that this was found out to be the transmission engaging in the uphill assist feature.

Maybe everybody should pay attention to when it's happening and see if it only happens when you are facing uphill? I know I'm going to start paying attention to it now.

The other thread said that his vehicle didn't have the feature officially, but that our transmissions have the feature weather the rest of the vehicle knows it or not. I did notice when I first bought the vehicle that it does not roll backwards as much as I would expect it to when facing uphill and drive.

That would only apply to SE Off-Road models. They're the only ones that have Hill Assist.

Mine has always done it but only when im on a rural road or the highway and come to a stop. When im in town or stay below 40ish mph it wont do it. I have noticed that the rpms drop below 500 so the way I've dealt with it is when i come to stop i put my left foot on the brake and use my right foot to keep the rpms up, that'll keep it from vibrating.

If you have a capable scan tool or a tuner like Superchips, you can bump up the base idle a bit, which helps.

smj999smj wrote:There was a TSB for low idle vibration caused by bad motor mounts.

Would this be a free recall?

I would venture to say that if there is a TSB for it, it's out of pocket.

As per Wikipedia -- One major difference between a recall and a TSB in the automotive industry is that a recall usually evolves out of safety issues at the behest of an organization like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The ensuing recall maintenance/repair work is usually done at no charge to the car owner, regardless of the car's warranty status. Dealers are usually under no mandate to call in cars for which there are TSBs to do the related repairs. Nor is there an obligation to do the TSB repairs for free or at reduced charges to the owner, since the manufacture does not require the repair to be performed and does not reimburse the dealership for repairs. When the vehicle's manufacturer releases a recall, they not only require the dealership to perform the repair, but will reimburse them the recall's repair.

TSB's are really only meant to advise dealer technicians of fixes for problems that the manufacturer has started noticing on new vehicles or to advice them and parts personnel of updated parts. They have nothing to do with campaigns or recalls, other than a TSB may be released to instruct a tech of the repair procedure of such a recall. They are a great source of information, however, when it comes to solving some "out of the norm" problems with vehicles!