Hello, i just joined today and i have a question for a friend. I myself drive an Acura, but i totally respect Nissans. ANyways, my friend drives a 1985 Nissan Maxima. I raced him in my Legend many times, and his car SHOULD keep up since i only have 160HP. He never keeps up and his auto shifts at 4K most of the time. Is this normal for his car at full throttle shift at 4K? I inspected his car and found that there is a box jutted out resting on the carpet behind the gas pedal. It is screwed on and lays over the carpet. Is that box supposed to be there? Could that box have been preventing his full throttle?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated.
RSX-S

 

I think that box that you are referring to has to do with the security system on the car. Mine is an 88 and the secuirty system is in the trunk, but I'm pretty sure they had it up front in the 85-86's. In any case, that has nothing to do with your friend being able to shift at the right RPM's. My car is an automatic and it usually shifts around 5500-6000 rpm at WOT. I've raced a first gen Legend before and I was at least a half to one car length ahead the whole time, so your friend should be able to keep up at the very least.

You might want to tell him to check his tranny fluid, as that might prevent the tranny from shifting at the right time. Also, the computer is located underneath the passenger seat, so if he has a Haynes or Chiltons manual, you can determine if one of the sensors is bad that could be causing the car to shift too soon. Other than that, I'm fresh out of ideas.

-C-

 

ohh..tranny fluid! forgot about that. yea thanks. I believe there is soemthing really wrong with his car. I have the first gen legend and i ripped on him from the mid of my 1st gear already. He should have kept up the whole time. I also noticed his car is VERY sluggish under 25MPH. It feels like his car is lugging and doesnt use 1st gear, but it does as i counted the shifts out to 4. I will check tranny fluid and look for codes on the ECU . THanks. ANy other replies still appreciated!

 

The little plate under the gas pedal is supposed to be there from the factory, it keeps the gas pedal from pulling to hard on the throttle linkage. you can however adjust the cable to the linkage by adjusting the two nuts on the cable to get more pull. as far as the tranny shifting at 4grand, it sounds like time to have it rebuilt. Those units have problems blowing up the planetary carrier. the pins on the sun gear fall down and ruin the drive gear. As far as running sluggish, I suggest sveral things. Make sure you have nissan tune up parts in the car. Plugs,cap rotor,wires air and fuel. set timing 2 to 3 degrees advanced. Remove air bellows hose from throttle body, hold throttle wide open, and spray some carb cleaner in, scrub the plate and bore with a brass tooth brush, and rinse it out. not too much carb cleaner. Engine will be hard to start after, just hold pedal halfway and crank it over. it will run like trash for a minute. but will help alot. next. if you have alot of mileage on the car do yourself a favor. Buy a new head temp sensor and sub harness, and replace it. Also if the engine does not rev above 1500 rpms cold, replace the auxilary air regulator. Again with high mileage maximas do your self and your car a favor. replace the oxygen sensor!! Good luck! Superwrench77

 

wow thanks superwrench. I was wondering about that black box. We were about to take it off to see if we had any speed improvements. well i dont think my friend is that inclined to scrub and clean his engine, but thanks for the tutorial! i will tell him to make sure he gets a tune-up (he swears he already had one). ALso, his idle jumps all around. Not violently, but it will dip and dive within idle and maybe 2K RPM. What problem does that suggesT?

RSXS thanks you for replies!