MIKEC88SE

Hey guys

I just bought a 88 max se last night with only 93,800 miles on it. the interior is 9 out of 10 and everything works. The whole car is oem. the exterior paint is not great, it's pealing. The car drives great, everything feels nice and tight, no shakes or anything. The car was gone through 5 years ago and all the fluids, tune up, belts, brakes, tires were all changed out.

The car runs great, but started to hesitate some when I was accelerating, or when I was going up hills on the highway. I did drive it 150 miles home and when I got home it starting idling a little rough.

First thing is first some fuel clearing in the tank and fill up with 93 oct fuel, like an idiot I filled the tank with 89. not shore if that's the problem or not but when I bought the car, the fuel tank was on e and I put in 12.5 gals in the tank so maybe sediment got all into the fuel system.

Anything I should be looking for or should do to the car asap as fare as clearing engine parts or changing parts or tune up?

thanks

FanaticMadMax

I don't think the octane of the gas gonna affect it. However it possible, that it might have leaky injector, since they are known for that especially a car is 30 years old. Also look at the tune up, especially dist cap and rotor see if they did that or they just did the spark plugs. that can cause some idling or stall issue.

vernk

do a tune up cap rotors, plugs and wires, lower oct will make a noticeable difference but not a whole lot with how it runs, check the codes and see if anything is bad and go from there, also if it is unknown when the timing belt was done last put that on the list towards the top, one think that would be a good idea with it being a 88 is call Nissan and see if it had the recall and if so has it been done.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

some places at least where i am 87 and 89 octane have ethanol but 91 octane doesnt, when i worked in a shop a few 80s-early 90s Nissans came in with bad injector O-rings because the owner used regular gas and the ethanol destroyed the seals.

MIKEC88SE

okay, got a code 33, so I replaced the o2 sensor. There are no more codes. I changed the oil, replaced the spark plugs, gaped them to .040, air and fuel filer, stp fuel treatment, cleaned the tb for carbon build up and sprayed carb cleaning into the intake, has a little hesitation still. All the fuel lines, fuel regulator, injectors were all replaced 20k ago or 5 years ago. I check the cap and rotary, it looked close to new and it was nissan parts. I'm going to replace the wires and belts also they seem not great. And I'm running 93 oct. Up here in NY we have 10% of ethanol in all are fuel but it dose say in the manual the car will be okay with up to 10% ethanol. Plus the car stopped idling up on cold starts so it looks like I have to replace the air regulator. It also seems that the cruise control dose not work, I flip the switch and the green light comes on but when I hit the button on the stalk nothing and I the other set light dose not light up. timing belt was done in 96 with 60,300 miles, I have the slip, but I was told it was done 5 years ago at 75k when it came out of storage. I do not have anything to prove that though.

but I have a bigger problem. The struts are shot and I just looked around and found one dealer that has them and they want $660 for each front one and $400 for the back once That's crazy, everything I find on line is for non electric suspensions or I have to covert to the kyb. Can you rebuild the stock struts? I could not find coilovers either out there. The adjustable suspension still works fine.

vernk

first the struts, the rears can be rebuild but not the fronts, you best bet is to switch to non adjustable, get inserts for the rear and the KYB for the front, might be some Monroe one still out there, coil overs you would have to piece together (look in the "need new suspension" thread)

2. no need to worry about 10% ethanol that was in place since before the car was built I run 1/3 E85 most of the time with no tuning with no issues and better MPG and Tq (via butt dyno) the injector O rings don't see fuel unless the injectors are not seated properly

3. a few random things to check, there is a vacuum solenoid by the cruise control actuator ( thing with the throttle cable coming out of it on passenger side in front of the strut tower) make sure that is working, it's function is to cut off vacuum to fuel pressure regulator for hot starts it can get stuck in open or closed if it gets stuck closed your fuel pressure regulator will not get vacuum and will have full fuel pressure all the time, double check all vacuum lines and make sure things like the EGR is working.

when are you getting hesitation?

for the cruise it could be the switch when you try to set it try and hold the button in for a few seconds and or kind of rock it, but it also will set using the ACCL button try that and if that doesn't work check the plug and vacuum hose. The switch can be taken apart for cleaning but there are small parts and springs, I would the plugs and see where you lose signal. Unless you have the digital dash the speed signal comes out of the gauge cluster and the control unit is under drivers seat you should be able to pull the plug and check to see if it's getting the signals from the buttons ( I would have to look to see which one is which) not sure if you should have 12v when they are pushed or if it's a ground switch but I will see if the FSM says tonight if I remember

keep in mind that you are working on a car that is almost 30 years old and had fuel injection before most and for as simple as it is a lot of "mechanics" don't know how to deal with it even more so if it was taken to one that deals with american mostly and the first time they look at it say jap crap. I recently found that mine had had all the injectors wired to fire off 3 and 4 at the engine and the other 4 wires were just cut, previous owner didn't know about it also so it was done before he bought it.... also keep in mind that the MAF is a self cleaning type the ECCS heats it to 1000 deg for a second after the car is shut off (red wire going to the MAF) so be careful cleaning it. might not need to replace the air regulator clean it and make sure it's bad before replacing it or you could be spending a bunch of money on something you don't need, it is kind of a pain to get off, so check and make sure that it has conductivity between the two terminals if so it's good and your issue lays else where like idle not set well in the first place.

MIKEC88SE

Got it, going to go with the KYBs.

okay,

I'll look into that.

tried both buttons and noting, tapped them both a couple of times and nothing. Nope I do not have the digital gauge cluster. my thing is maybe the modular for the cruise control but I'll look more into it. Is there a relay for this. I can't fins one but a lot of them are not labeled so I have no idea what is what.

hesitation only happens under light acceleration or cruising on the highway and going up a hills. that's when it dose it, between 2000 to 3000rpm. under full throttle its fine or even half no problems. It dose not make sense to me.

I did not know the MAF is a self cleaning type. good thing because i was going to clean it.

Well i did take the air regulator off and cleaned it. And when I put it back on the car is idling low now at cold starts. I must of killed it. all I did was spray brake clearer in both ports and shook it around and then let it all come out. I made shore all the clearer was out before I installed it and once I did I still did not start the car for two days because I was doing the tune up at nights.

I know, I think I'm going to get the manual to help me out on this thing. Witch one is better the haynes or the chilton?

Dose anybody make china's headlights for this car? my passenger one is shot. its all black inside and full of moisture and the sockets are all rusting. I just cleaned them up. I know painting them is not a great idea because you can't get reflective paint to match oem.

vernk

to set idle, you want to warm it up, unplug the idle control (back side of intake on passenger side) there is two screws one is main idle, top towards the outside and the other is high idle for the AC lower towards the inside. For the FSM get the factory one if you can track one down. for the head lights there isn't many options your best bet is to repaint them using chrome paint. make sure your EGR is working, if you feel on the bottom side of the big part on top and rev the engine a little you should be able to feel the diaphragm move.

MIKEC88SE

okay, got it.

I checked the code like I said a couple of weeks ago and it had a code 33 open exhaust, meaning o2 was bad. I replaced it and reset the ecu plus disconnected the - on the battery for ten minutes. I never checked to see if the code was clean but I check last light because I put about 300 miles on the car since then. The same code was there

MIKEC88SE

So I went through all the emission systems and everything is working, almost. The air regulator is not opening and closing at all so I need a new one. Plus it started idling at 900 rpm all the time now, even with the lights and ac on. It used to idle at 650 and go up to 900 with them running. When I come to a stop some times the idle with go u and down from 650 to 900. Is that the egr control solenoid? The egr valve is working fine. I have no codes all clear. But the car still hesitating more and more under light throttle. I looked into the book and it told me to rev the motor and keep it at 2k and when I due the tach dose moved up and down and I can hear the engine pitch keep changing. according to the book it says my injectors are dirty or shot and need to be replaced. Dose it make sense to get new injectors and if so where is the best ones and best once to buy from? The dealer wants $132 each, that's a little steep. What size are these injectors anyway ccs?

The oem radio, it works fine, the tape player will play, flip, ff, rw but the radio dose not turn off and flip to the tape playing for sound. meaning no sound from the tape. if the radio is off and hit play the tape plays but no sound and the equilzer dose not turn on either so no sound or anything. Is the tap player shot, like a bad transistor on the board or is there a fuse that is hiding some where?

Thanks

vernk

before you start dumping money for a bunch of parts go though and replace all the vacuum lines, remember one at a time pull the old one off put the new one on move to the next or you will be spending a day looking up diagrams, and check all the connectors. How did you check your EGR? I think there is a fuse on the back of the radio but don't remember for sure.

vernk

oh and if you are talking the air regulator on the back of the intake that only is open during cold starts then closes off as the engine warms up

gen1

Note if the EGR system is similar to the first generation - there was a separate channel in the base of the intake manifold, which would collect all the unburned hydrocarbons/oil/carbon.
There are threaded plugs in the channel at the base of each intake port, and a master port at the front. One cylinder at a time, blow air in the front port and vent one cylinder at a time in sequence from front to back. You can use "Seafoam" or carb cleaner to aid the removal of goo. It's a messy process, but most likely required.

-bob

vernk

VGs don't have that, the only way to clean out the intake is to take it off

MIKEC88SE

I let the engine run and revved the engine and put my fingers under the egr valve to see if the blatter was moving and it was, plus not codes on it. So I figured it's fine, unless it' not.

I have not taken the intake off, all I did was take off the intake tub and clean the tb and sprayed cleaner in there to see if it would work and it did not.

I tried to buy a new air regulator, hood cable and headlight from the nissan web sites and all the sites said they had the parts. two days later I get not made anymore. Called the one dealer and was told Nissan dose not make any parts for a 88 max anymore, you can't even get a timing belt. So Rockauto it is then. My hood cable broke and I found a generic one that will work. found a junk yard headlight too.

I think I need to go old school with this motor. And prob it and so on and see whats going on inside the motor and see if there is carbon build up before I start taking things part and replacing them.

MIKEC88SE

Well took the car for a two hour trip and it let me know. Alternator died on me and no one had one in stock. had to have it towed. Got a new alternator and I had a friend do a leak down test, major blow by through the intake and he did a compression test, and all cylinders were at 115 to 130 if we added a drop of oil to the cylinder the compression went up. So the motors warn. No idea why for on 94k. The book says they should be around 128 low to 173 high. its way low. guess the engines going to die soon

vernk

it could be worn for a couple reasons 1. not maintained well 2. sat and ran in traffic way more then it moved so engine has way more hours on it then the then hours of tires moving or a combo of both.

for the timing belt you can get them at almost any parts store I prefer the Gates, before you order anything make sure if you have the round tooth or square tooth belt, and don't forget tensioner, front main, water pump, and thermostat while you are in there. The engine might have some mileage left in it just will be down on power and might burn a bit of oil.

MIKEC88SE

I have all the records on the car back from aug 88 to 2003. The oil was changed once a year, miles were from 2 to 3k a year. I think what did it, is the car sat from 2003 to 2014. Then it was go through at a nissan dealer that did a tune, changed all the fluids, new brakes, all new ac system and the just started it. I would thing for that long time it sat the piston rings were rusted to the walls and the valves were rusted too. No way did they use penetrating oil or manually rotated the motor first. That's what did it anyway. It sucks the cars in great shape, no just under the car at all, it looks like it has never see salt.

I changed the idle control valve too. It runs a lot better now and idles like it should. Its smooth as anything, just has the hesitation at light throttle but that makes sense with the blow buy that's happening. Funny thing is it dose not smoke, no blue smoke at cold start up nor dose it eat oil. It could last 6 months or 100k. The problems is it still needs new struts, tires and the clutch is okay, but will need to be replaced in the next couple of the thousand miles.

I already dropped a lot into the car with all the new parts that are installed. Do I drop more money and hope it makes it? sell it now and take a loss or when the motors dies replace it with one from JDM imports. i saw they sell these motors for like $900 with low miles on them.

MIKEC88SE

how do I remove the front grill and headlights. I found some steps on the form but not all. I do not want to brake something I do not see or know about. So I figured I'd as first.

Thanks

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

front grille should have plastics snaps on the inside i believe.

was it parked outside or inside? if it was parked inside the motor wouldnt necessarily have rusted in the cylinder, i parked my Supra for 5 or 6 years in my garage and when i finally found the part at the junykard i needed to make it run i just cranked it and it started after 5 seconds no issues

MIKEC88SE

Thanks got it off,

not shore I was told it was in the garage and it was in PA.

Dose any body know what tranny mounts are what?

I replaced both the front ones, one on the engine and the other on by the belts.

I seem to need this one 11221 nissan calls it also 1122016E06. I can't buy it through Nissan anymore and when I look at rockauto or other stores I get one that looks nothing like the one that's in the car or the one shown on nissan site. It looks like this one DEA/MRC A6320. any ideas would help.

hichamaziz

I don't think the octane of the gas gonna affect it.

jake0978

I have both manuals. Chilton is much more in depth, sometimes good. Haynes lists all torque specs at front of chapter. I like that better than digging for them in Chilton directions.

Headlights, I fixed mine, both leaked water at seal between glass and plastic. Washed headlights out with water. When dry I carefully pryed off metal clips and applied ring of sealant around where glass and plastic come into contact. Seals so far.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

octanes/blends of gas affect different vehicles. if you run Husky fuel which is loaded with ethanol into a 2nd gen i guarantee within a few years, the injector O-rings and other seals are going to get chewed. i know some people that even get a CEL with Husky gas

same as Costco gas, some people love it and i'll put the 91 in my carbureted stuff any day of the week. some of my EFI cars start and run like absolute crap on Costco gas then when i switch theyre fine

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Something that I would do if I was the owner of a 2nd Gen Maxima is install a 3rd Gen fuel rail, 3rd Gen exhaust manifolds and ypipe to eliminate that crossover designed ypipe....