altima vibrates when cold. Fine when heated up

[dan619]

i have a 93 nissan altima. when cold vibration comes from the front end while in park and reverse, but when in drive the vibration goes away. Also when the car is warmed up it doesn't vibrate. Please HELP.! Thanks Dan.

[JustSayGo]

A vibration you feel or hear? Could it be caused by the engine shaking because the idle is too low? Does the vibration go away because the transmission is in drive or because you step on the accelerator? The ignition timing may not be set correctly. When the engine is cold it runs on preset programing for fuel and timing. After it warms up the timing and fuel are adjusted by the computer according to the information received from the sensors.

[dan619]

the vibration goes away when the car is put into drive? maybe because the idle is higher in drive. when warmed up the car is fine- this only occurs every morning. How would I set the ignition timing?

[JustSayGo]

With an inductive timing light. Read the instructions on the little tag on your hood to get the accurate details for your engine. Warm engine. Turn the engine off and dissconnect the plug at the TPS. Restart the engine. If nessasary, loosen the distributor and turn it until the correct marks on the timing cover and crankshaft pulley line up. Adjust the idle speed to 600-700 and recheck the timing marks after the distributor is tightened. Turn the engine off and reconnect the TPS. The service eng light should go off when you restart. There are pictures in the repair manual that will help you enough to be worth the $14 cost for this item alone.