My 2013 Nissan Rogue has started hesitating. It happened 4 days ago and again today. I drove it a couple of times in between and had no issues. Both days it happened, the weather was very hot and humid. The problem didn’t start until the car had been driven around 45 minutes. When it happens, I’m accelerating at around 45-50 mph. The car will shake a bit and hesitate, but no warning lights come on. Could hot and humid weather cause something like this? What could it possibly be? Thanks!
what is the mileage?
when it “hesitates”, do you observe the engine RPM increase or not?
is your car still under 60 months / 60K miles power-train warranty?
It’s got around 114,500 miles on it. It’s well past the warranty. When it hesitates, I don’t notice any increase in the RPM until it’s finished with its “hiccup” and I can accelerate normally again. It’s happening very sporadically.
Your vehicle has a drive-by-wire throttle system.
This means instead of having a cable between the throttle pedal and the throttle body, your vehicle has an accelerator pedal position sensor,
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,2013,rogue,2.5l+l4,1504826,interior,accelerator+pedal+position+sensor,5061
which sends a signal to the computer, and then computer operates the electronic throttle body.,
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/nissan,2013,rogue,2.5l+l4,1504826,fuel+&+air,throttle+body,6472
The problem might be in this system.
The problem is, it’s intermittent and only occurs under certain conditions. Which makes it hard to diagnose.
Tester
Thank you for this information. Would this be something that is urgent to repair immediately or do I have time to consult my mechanic for diagnosis & parts, get time off work, etc. I just want to make sure my car isn’t going to suddenly die in the middle of nowhere.
One more idea to entertain: did you replace your spark plugs at 105K miles as Nissan suggests?
My daughter’s Altima had 96K miles on it when she started to complaint “it hesitates time to time, then runs normal”, until she called me from the side of the road with “engine shakes and check-engine light blinks” symptoms.
I drove there with tools and replacement spark plugs “for the case I might need it” and found a failed rubber piece connecting coil-on-plug to the plug: electricity found a secondary path and it had a distinct “carbon track” faintly visible on the surface. I did not have that rubber boot with me, so wrapped an old one with electrical tape as a temporary fix, but still decided to change plugs and found the root cause of the issues: although the mileage was 9K miles short of recommended replacement interval, the plug tip in failing cylinder actually burned down and gap was way bigger than any other plugs, leading to higher voltage and leading to the rubber boot failure. Replaced plugs, one boot and car purrs like a kitten. My daughter does not complaint about “hesitation” for last 3 or so weeks since repair, so this was it
I thought about spark plugs, and they probably should be replaced. I spoke with my mechanic & he suggested putting dry gas & sea foam in my gas tank. He thought it sounded like water in the tank, especially since the check engine light doesn’t come on. The additives didn’t work and the car was sluggish this evening driving home. It idles very low and always hesitates around 40-50 mph. Take off is fine and speeds above 50 are fine. My mechanic is baffled right now but is going to hook it up to the computer when he gets the chance. If the check engine light came on, it would certainly help with diagnosis, although it would put me into a panic.
If the CEL comes on and stays on, it is OK to drive. A malfunction has been detected and its code stored. If it comes on and flashes, you should shut off the engine to prevent damage.
Ask your mechanic to try cleaning the electronic throttle body.
Tester