4thGenNoob

Hellooooooo fellow maximers !!! ...




New to the forums.... well that is to say, ive done a bit of reading, but no posting.. so, let me say a couple things before I get started.


First. let me apologize for probably starting a new thread, probably much like hundreds before me, with the same ole noob questions, and comments and such. I like being a noob on things, its fun learning new info, but I completely understand how annoying we noobs can be. so, sorry xD


also, please excuse me, if I fail to quote correctly, link correctly, or in general sound retarded in something im trying to talk about.. also, sorry for how long this post is...


with that said, shall I begin.


Read through that 4th gen max 101 post at top. wow, that is an incredible amount of information about the max... very informative. that in itself answered a bunch of questions I had... but it didn't answer all.


looked around various other sections of this place, and started to run into a common road block... so, up until I got my car, I thought myself to be a pro googler. now, im questioning my original google ego...


there are quite a few things, that I search for, that has little to no helpful info.


strut bars for example, the auto sites listed in top google pages tended to not carry anymore relevant parts. same with air intakes. same with coils, wires, etc...


mostely things for ebay or amazon comes up, and that is to say, have it available.


there are quite a few things, that ive searched for,, that I didn't see available at all any more. so I started thinking.. perhaps its not that the parts aren't avail, perhaps its my own knowledge that's lacking.... hence why I signed up here....


so, since currently, I don't have the cash for performance parts per say, im trying to do a few certain things, before the real stuff begins. mostly décor, and such....


current upgrades for near future.
front strut bar
rear strut bar
intake. ( cai or short ram )
engine bay cosmetics/detailing
lens and lights upgrades
brake pads/rotor/ color upgrades
interior upgrades


ok so its pretty much in that order




when I look up strut bars, only really ebay chrome ones come up for like 60 bucks or so, and red and blue ones come up for lower strut bars...so, I was hoping someone could tell me a good site to go to to get blue strut bars for the front. also, I thought rear strut bars go in the trunk compartment, but only can find ones that go under the car....maybe the max don't have the ones that go in trunks, like Hondas do... idk, but if they do, do, please someone recommend a site for those too. im looking to do a blue themed. always wanted to do blue, if ever I could.


intakes. ive found a couple things on this, and its either buy expensive ones, that seem to fit well, and cheap ones with reviews that say they don't really fit. now, from reading some on the subject, I understand what the intake does, and why its important, but all the intakes, weither cold or short ram, appear to really be the same. a metal tube that air is sucked into the engine. so, really, does the maker of the intake really that important? if someone could please recommend a site that has blue themed intakes. I would like to have a cold air, but, I don't really have the 200+ bucks for it. was hoping around 100. prolly gonna have to get a shortie instead.













the max, currently is a 97 max se, 4 door, moon roof, sand color. I think it once used to be champagne color, but its pretty bad now. it needs new paint def... the engine bay though, im going to color black. one cause I cant stand that color, and two, would make my cosmetics look better. ... so, ive seen a lot of posts on this one throughout the net on the sunject of best engine detailing stuff. a lot say use dish soap, a lot say don't, a lot say the green products, a lot say don't, some say use a strong degreaser like brake or carb cleaner, some are like wtf, that's a lot of money wasted. ... so, this ones pretty obvious, whats really the low down here. would autozone engine detailing cleaner work just as well as the expensive stuff?


As far as the lights are concerned, ive decided to completely replace all lens ant bulbs. They are all nasty, cracked etch... going to go with euro style? Clear turn signals, bumper lights, head lights.... tail lights tho, all I can find are those clear red circles one, or stock ones, don't really like either of them, so idk, but, I'm not going to use bulbs, instead upgrade to led's... saw some at AZ (auto zone ) that fits the bulb, but led... hyper white headlights, yellow turns, etc. Y'all think the led's would work fine?... any ideas on the tail lights?


Well, that's all I'm gonna talk about now, sry for the typos... I'm on a Bluetooth keyboard, that's running out of battery life, much smaller than my surface I'm using to be here..


Thank you very much for helping me with this.
-Drew

JvG

Welcome to the forum.

Nissan Corp. uses different terms for its parts than what we would call them in the usa.

Seems that your main priory is appearance rather than reliability?

Let us know what you expect from your car?

4thGenNoob

Thank you!


Yea, I thought correct terminology was a barrier. I couldn't find anything I was looking for...


Well, at first. Its in such bad shape, I figure cosmetics would be a good start. Intake soon too, lights is a must. Can barely see the car at night with lights on. I'm hoping just simple quick upgrades will help for that...


I expect it to run well, and eventually look nice. Don't really like the tuner thought, more of a looks good, but when I need it to go, it goes.... does that even makes sense lol...


I would take picks, but its not ready for the camera lol.

JvG

I think we can both agree that you want your car to get you where you want to go, every day,safely.

I assume you have a limited budget, and are young. You want a nice looking car. I understand.

You mention that your car needs all kinds of maintenance. Start spending money there. Your car will run better, and more importantly you are learning very useful skills.

This forum will be very useful for you.

4thGenNoob

Ive already began that path. When I bought the car, I got it cheap due to a blown hg. After purchase, I got it fixed. Since then, ive replaced spark plugs, kept up oil/filter change, fluids and such. Also brake pads. Previous owner didn't ever change the brakes it appeared...


That's why I wanted to go a step further... I have searched a hunch, but Google is coming up with limited results,.. like eBay for ex.... and I think a site called custommaxima, or something like that, is no longer up...


Tried going to a site called nopi, and found they had limited stuff for things I'm not wanting to do,.. and also found that theres a lot of stuff for Hondas...


Was hoping y'all had a few sites that would direct me in right path...


Edit... looked for replacing plug wires, but found it wasn't that easy. Theres coils or something saw one guy said its just easier to use OEM ones if they work well...

JvG

I have a 96 maxima s e.. the previous owner installed an aftermarket strut brace and also a strut brace inside the trunk.
I bought my car ten years ago.

I don't know much about the performance work you want to do.

You have done quite a bit of mechanical work!

4thGenNoob

Yea,.. I think I'm going to use this thread only for my car stuff... hopefully it sticks around...


Did some coloring today,. Will post once dried. Nothing special, just the start.

4thGenNoob

So, after much searching and looking about my engine bay, ive realized I have some vacuum hoses that are cracked...


So, first ill do what little cosmetics I can.


Next will be a pop charger (wai),... then...
Y pipe,... then ...
Lights/lens upgrades...


Edit. I tried posting a pic of what I painted but it didn't show it... idk y

LJay

I recommend to just focus on maintenance right now. I had high hopes on adding a bunch of mods when I got my '99 GXE until I threw a piston rod & had to get a new motor lol. And now I still have plenty of codes & things to replace. Just do little by little. Fix here & there, mod here & there. It'll all work out for itself. Welcome to the Max life!

asand1

iTrader: (1)

Stock intake outperforms all others until you are putting down serious power from cams, porting, boost, spray, etc .

If you want brake upgrades look at 6th gen fronts and fastbrakes.com rears.

4thGenNoob

Yea, no doubt. Ive been fixing small stuff. It passes emissions now, due to code fixes.


Thanks!! Slowly but surely,. Lol.




asand1,... yea, I read that too about the intakes, I guess just doing it for the sound,..


Currently, conversions is a little out of my skill set, my max has discs on all 4 wheels, I was thinking ceramics would be a good upgrade. Been using just auto zone pads... y'all think ceramics would be good?








Side question, where can I go to upload my pics too, so I can post on here?






Edit.... I see a lot of pics of 4th gens, that have a cone filter where the filter box is... and everything else is still the same... would that really work?

LJay

I just purchased some ceramics from Pep boys the other day. I can't install them yet because I'm waiting until black Friday to purchase a new car jack lol. But as long as the rotors are good, I think ceramics would be the best option.

I see cone filters & I'm wondering how well that works also. I'm trying to find out the right size K&N cone filter to replace the air box. I already have a K&N drop in but a cone would be a nice upgrade.

4thGenNoob

Been thinking how that would work, cause there is a piece of the plastic intake housing that plugs into the bottom of that filter box...


Removal of that filter box for a cone filter, what happens to that piece?, do you remove that entire bottom pieces...


Just to clarify, I'm talking about the black plastic box with tube that's located under the battery tray, where the battery goes... it plugs into the plastic tube that runs from the front of car to the intake filter box, and the filter box itself.


If I knew how to post picks, id show exactly.

LJay

I'm not sure but I know I'm just gonna keep the K&N drop in because I've searched through multiple post & haven't found a better intake option than the stock intake. It's nearly impossible to find PR style cold air intakes (you could build a custom or stalk the classifieds but no time for that) and posters claim that there's no real gains unless heavily modded. The JWT pop charger is a good choice but people claim to lose low end power. So I'm just gonna keep my drop in filter & add a Y-pipe for better gains in the future.

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Just throwing in a few bits of knowledge for you:

Stick with dry/non-oiled filters; your MAF will thank you.
&
You can skip the rear strut bar, as it does little to absolutely nothing.
A rear sway bar works wonders for a stock height Maxima if you feel you need something to stiffen up.

Have fun, but spend wisely.
Maintenance is key before you go nuts.

LJay

What's the best dry/non oiled filter for the Maxima? My MAF keeps pulling false codes & it might be because of the K&N drop in....

litch

iTrader: (2)

Posting pics is easy and fun. Go to photobucket.com male an account upload then use the bottom file, i think url, and boom. Pictuar timez!


welcome. You seem far less irritating than most... I like you.

litch

iTrader: (2)

Ok bro, first off,


Ima preach at you right quick. Like all these fine gentlemen have said, maintenance > modification. You have been on craigslist and seen all the people who haven't followed this advice.


I have both of the bars you're asking about on my max, the best one you can get is the stillen fstb. (Front strut tower bar) Good luck finding one, they run about 100 bucks and are polished metal. Mine is a typical ebay cheapie, but I am not complaining. I will take pics of my rear sometime this week I will see if I can get a brand for you.


There is a guy on here who will make your light dreams come true, it is expensive but worth it, so when you aren't ballin on a budget look up chrisman for your lighting needs.


As far as ascetics...


want something blue? Paint it. There are several types of automotive paint that will suit your purposes. VHT is a good choice. Plastidip and die.

AceVQ30DE

I use a aftermarket stillen cone filter, removed the original airbox, really loud (in a good way) and to me the car breathes a lot better

4thGenNoob

Wow, thanks everyone for yalls advice and hints.

Yea, that original list I made was reaching a little.

Its nice seeing y'all have good things to say about eBay stuff. Was wondering about that. that's defy the route I'm going. No premium parts funds ya know lol.

I'm gonna grab the front strut, intake, from there....


I'm going to upgrade the current lights to led's.... inside and out of car,...

Brakes will be up'd to ceramics at next change.


Maintenance is the first thing I learned. Very important. I don't want that typical tuner, once you lose your license, and have to pay tickets and insurance and all that, trained me to drive carefully, BUT, I want it to go, when I need it to.


Thanks for telling me how to post pics. I went to their site, and signed up. Hopefully ill be posting my razzle dazzle soon lol. Mainly just painting now tho.


I do have a question about plug wires... the max don't have your traditional plug wires... ive read much on the subject and most say, if their working fine don't mess with them... any thoughts?, after changing the plugs I'm itching to do the wires,... or coils,.. whatever their called lol.


With yalls help, my max will rock one day.

litch

iTrader: (2)

This is the BOMBZ ebay fstb. All I did was peel the stupid logo off and polish it.



It is not even close to the best on the market, but with just some polish you can see it doesn't look bad.


Plug wires... in a max they are called coil packs. They are notorious little azzholes. They break when they are too old, the boot will come completely off and it requires some ingenuity to get them out. You will know if they aren't working. You will have a distinct misfire in whatever cylinder the thing has broken in. Then its not a huge huge deal... but its frustrating.


Check your plugs, if they look like they aren't firing, then chances are the pack on top is bad. If you're changing your plugs take the time to learn what the different signs of different problems look like on them.

4thGenNoob

Pictures.... sadly photobucket doesn't support windows devices,.. I tried multiple times with both phone and tab. No posting pics for me lol.


So, I shouldn't worry about upping the coils unless they need replacing... they are all firing fine, just figured like with other cars, plugs and wires you know....


Hey, what are all those pipes in that picture? I'm guessing the one on the right is intake,... but what's the pipe going towards the left side for?

litch

iTrader: (2)

turbo. That pipe goes to my intercooler.

4thGenNoob

Turbo huh.? Nice. don't you have to do a lot of upgrades to do that?..


What all have you done?

litch

iTrader: (2)

yes.



The answer you are looking for is "yes"


you think it, its been done,


heck you haven't thought about it, its still been done.



Mod lists are for the weak.

litch

iTrader: (2)

in order to change the atmospheric air pressure in the engine... you have to change fuel delivery, air delivery, spark, exhaust, cooling...


then there is the actual turbo and headers, and all the gauges that go with that


then there is the tune...

4thGenNoob

Wow, too pro for me. One day perhaps.


I did some more painting, did a gai mod kinda. Cut a hole, removed the very lower intake snorkel. Sounds a little different, did it mainly for sound and wrench time experience...


Tomorrow, I'm going to put a breather filter on. For looks lol...


I realize without other key mods a air intake, wai or cai wont really do much. Going the cai route when I have the funds to do so, till then, I'm taking yalls advice, and putting oil free cone at filter box...


In the future, near, I'm going to paint my brake calipers. What's the best stuff to use. I know a degreaser, but was hoping y'all knew a really good one to use...


Also,... will any tubing work for the trivial vacuum tubes?

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Skip the breather filter mod as it introduces unmetered air.

Supposedly if you put a breather on a drilled out PCV on the rear and one on the front valve cover you won't have as many issues, but I still say skip it.

It's more of a problem on an NA motor than say litches turbo build.

4thGenNoob

Lol, yea the breather filter didn't even fit,.. then again I am a noob on all this, I could've been trying to put it at the wrong spot, a thought which occurred when it didn't fit. I got the refund lol.


Ok so, wanted to ask. Hope someone knows. My max started something today its not previously did. When I crank it up, it gives off a belt screech, hut when I turn off the ac/heater, it stops. Then, after it stops, I can turn the ac/heater back on with no screech. Also, I tried cranking with the ac/heater off prior to cranking, and no screech.


Any ideas?,... hopefully I can nip this in the bud sorta speak.


Also, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE.

LJay

That happened to me and I needed to replace the serpentine belt (which I still haven't replaced lol) but get some belt conditioner & see if that suppresses the noise. But don't stress it with all the breathers & intake mods. Just get a dry flow drop in & call it a day. I do recommend a new y-pipe. The stock intake is designed good for the Max for adding a new y-pipe will help it breath waaaay better

4thGenNoob

With a y pipe, is that something ill have to get a shop to put on? If so, what's the range of payment for said service. So ill know if they're trying to rip me off.?


Belt conditioner,... follow directions on bottle?, I'm assuming its a liquid in a bottle lol.


Dry flow,... would y'all know if the spectra cone filters at AutoZone are oil less? Its around 40 bucks... would be nice if it is,... ive done some searching on oil less filters, and everyone says theirs are the best. Don't know which one really is, ... tbh, its more for sound however if I get the y pipe too, I need to get a good cone to help it breathe...... right?

LJay

All you need for the Y-pipe is to jack the car up. I think it's a direct bolt on. If you don't already have a jack, Harbor Freight has them on sale in store this weekend. The shop would charge about a little under $100 to install, I'm not sure though, it depends.

Yeah just follow the directions on the bottle. The can is just like WD40 but belt conditioner lol. I did some searching on oiled filters too & most people recommend dry flow so it won't mess with your MAF. But if you really want sound, you should just get a cat back or even a muffler & call it day but unless your pushing heavy power upgrades on the max, the stock intake is perfect.

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

Belt dressing FTL
I wouldn't even consider that stuff.

LJay

It worked for me but it's all good

4thGenNoob

Well, my newly acquired mentors, my bad luck has finally caught up with me... here's what happened...


Yesterday, Maxine and I, ( Maxine is what I named my max ) drove to AutoZone for the belt conditioner listed above. Get in there, dude behind the counter wants to look at maxines' belts, even after I said they were fine. Go outside, go to drivers door, went to open door and felt and heard a loud pop..


Outside door handle does not open the drivers door anymore. Went to others side, crawled through, opened door. I noticed the drivers side door handle on the inside, I have to dam near break the handle to get it open.


also, when locking doors from the lock button thing, it makes a weird noise, and not all doors lock, and even more strange, the cars factory alarm comes on when I'm inside the car, meaning when I drive somewhere, then park, then get out, the alarm goes off.


Now, back in the day, ive taking the doors apart in the cars, with no fun times... I'm hoping someone knows how to help. I need to exactly know, generalizations aren't going to help me here. Ifi pull my door apart, inwont know what's broke or not.... think I should just take it Toa mechanic?

JvG

Instructions are on the forum, do a search. If the door is stuck, remove the seat, then the panel. You probably had a plastic part in the door fail.

I've run the k&n panel filter for 100k miles, cleaned it once. Only over-oiling causes problems. A little maf cleaner from crc could fix that. I can feel the difference in performace. Keep it.

maxima297

I'm gonna be blunt about this: you need to put the mods to the back burner for a bit and focus on what needs to be done to the body and other maintenance first. That's more important. I've got a 97 se 5spd and as much as I'd love to redo things here and there, I know that getting it to pass inspection is far more important than how it looks. I've got a messed up hood and a missing grill, but looks aren't gonna keep it running.

As for the brakes, I use premium grade ceramic pads from Napa. They've lasted me a long time so far.

LJay

This is true. I live in Cali so passing inspection is a must. I wanted to repaint my car & add a system & lower it but I currently have 6 codes to deal with before anything. I have parts on the way so hopefully I can figure it out. Maintenance before mods. Always.

4thGenNoob

That's the thing y'all. I have fixed the car to get it to pass emissions. I'm constantly doing prevent maintenance...I'm on top of that. The issues with the car now, is the door, and a belt squeak....


Belt thing not really an issue.. only squeaks when start up with ac on... no biggie.
Door thing, is an annoyance I'm currently working on now to fix...


But, continuing to get helpful knowledge about things I'm going to do is a mute. Even though right now, I'm not going to get a cai, its nice to know my options,..


Even though right now, I'm notq going to get a y pipe, its nice to know info about it.


I gotta keep asking about stuff so I can then make a decision about it upon the relevant time.


Good conversation question. Mufflers. Sure, I realize when I'm ready to tackle such things, I will research more than now, however, this is something I can learn from y'all whom already have nice rides...


So, heres my question. Which muffler would be good for me. Heres what I'm looking for in the sound depth. I don't want that bumble bee sound. That tuner sound isn't for me. I'm looking for something that is quiet like the factory one, maybe a bit different. I most definitely dont want that bumble bee, or the rattling sound.


Any ideas?, relevant websites?

4thGenNoob

Update....


I replaced the drivers side cv, man, a lot harder than the you tube vids showed, but, all went well, and it works perfectly.... one more notch on my belt lol.


Hope all is well. Haven't been on of late due to Christmas stuff.


Until the next update ��