Just bought an '87 this weekend. Love it. Now I'd like to get to know it. I've done a bit of searching, but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. Can anyone point me towards some common things to look for as a new owner? Is the Chilton's the best manual to get? Know of any good tech forums? The car's in great shape, with the exception of a bit of a knock/shimmy in the steering. Someone told me these cars were notorious for bad CV joints, but it may just be a wheel bearing. I haven't had it up on jacks yet--it spent it's first weekend with me getting hosed, buffed and rubbed. Also, I'm not sure what kind of aftermarket the 2nd Gen. has, and I don't really want to drop a lot of money into it, but I'd love to hear about any kind of performance tweaking there is to be done (ie. airbox mod?).

Thanks ---Dave

 

I'm looking into a custom cold air intake right now. I went down my box without the airbox lid on yesterday, pertty funny. It just sounded semi American, that's about it. Here's a big Second Gen Nissan Maxima group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/second...onnissanmaxima I've been reading stuff all day on the intake there, i'm more confused now, but at least I have ideas :-) Personally, I didn't feel like wasting my money on mods on such an old car 'cause it's gonna go to my lil bro next year anyway, but I need something to play with. First thing I did was a sound system, cause I can take that out if I want. Oh and if you hurry, you can get these gauges http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1840682956 which are around 70 bucks on the procarparts.com web site. (You'll have to make some of your own holes though) Good luck

steve

 

Defnitely check out the Second Gen Nissan Maxima club that 1988Maxima posted. Go to the Bookmarks section for a list of companies that support the 2nd gen with various products and services. Also, check out the Photos section to get some ideas of what other 2nd gen owners have done to their Maximas.

As for the best shop manual to get, the Nissan Factory Service Manual would be the best. The Chilton's and Haynes manuals are okay for occassional work, especially if you've already done work to other cars. They aren't too descriptive, there aren't a lot of pictures and diagrams, and they lump the second and third gens into the same book.

There aren't too many things to look for on these cars as they are extremely reliable if they are well maintained and properly driven. Make sure the timing belt and tensioner were changed within the past 60K miles. If it goes past 60K, you run the risk of breaking the belt or tensioner and doing severe engine damage. Also, the automatic trannies aren't too reliable either, so you may want to check the fluid and possibly change it. Another thing that I would check would be the suspension. Push down on the car on each of the corners and if it bounces excessively, you may want to change your struts. Other than that, if everything is running good, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

-C-

 

I had a problem with my studs, i thought it was my whole cv joint, but you are right they do have problems with the cv joint sometimes. Also watch for your alternator belt to start to frey as you put more and more miles on it. I have an 87 too, a little tip, depending on what color your interior is, i have a tan interior, i spray painted my sunroof and map light plastic console thing, black, looks very coool, and i did my door handle plastic covers black. Also on the dash where the cruise control and defrost buttons are, i painted around them silver. It is fun and very cheap to do this. I also painted the small vent to the left of all the sensor lights silver. Let us know what you get done.