BeatJunky

[EDIT : I think It's GXE and Not SE!!!! The SE Rims are different than mine...]

Hi there fellas...

I just purchased a 1990 Nissan Maxima SE Last Night @ $3,500.00 USD.

Conditioned as follows:
-108,000 Miles
-Automatic Tranny
-Minor Rust/No Dents
-Clean/Mint Interior
-Loud Noise From Below Car when Driving (Definitely Muffler & Co.)
-Sunroof Wont Slide Back
-One Headlight Dead
-Remote for Key-Less Entry is Dead
-Bose Stereo but Missing Face-Plate that belongs to the Stereo currently in car.

So I was wondering if you guys have tips and suggestions that will help me keep this car running for years to come. Not only that, but lets make this car an awesome street beast while we're at it! This is really my first real car... Im 17, turn 18 in August. Bought it with my own hard earned dough and will work on it with my own hard earned dough!

Thanx to anyone who posts here..........

-BeatJunky!

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

Welcome to the board!

Check out the FAQ on the main page, as well as the many links to other 3rd gen max owners pages. You will find lots of helpful info there. Also get your hands on a repair manual for "routine" stuff.

Good luck with repairs, and make sure to save some $$ for the 'mod bug' that seems to be going around.

FitzMax

Welcome to the board!!!! First and most importantly, get a great job that pays an insane amount of money so when you start to mod your max like the rest of us, you have plenty of loot to support your habit. Have fun and enjoy the club, bro.

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

first mod....A TRANSMISSION COOLER!!!!!!!!! Get this before you do anything else, it will help save your transmission's life when you start popping the mods on!

prices range from $30-60...very worthwhile for an automatic trans!!

maxmizd27

Welcome to land of habitual modding! Get that headlamp and exhaust fixed and then take DA-MAX's advise and get a tranny cooler. Made by a company called Hayden. Available from Summit Racing and I'm sure many other places. I didn't get one fast enough and chewed up my auto to the tune of a $2K rebuild. You'll get in all kinds of trouble here!

atulb84

iTrader: (1)

what kind of tranny cooler (brand name/model #/where i can get one) do u recommend for a 1993 se?

eric93SE

iTrader: (1)

I agree the tranny cooler is important, but dont you think he should start changing the tranny fluid first. I'd bet its like mud, and begging for a change.

brubenstein

Make sure you also get the transmission fluid changed when you get the trans cooler. If the fluid isn't changed on these transmissions, they start dying at 75k miles.
Get the whole exhaust checked out to see how much is rusted out.
Go for a full "tune up": plugs, cap, rotor, wires, air & fuel filter. If the O2 sensor is original, that's due for replacement.
If the car has the original struts, they are shot. Most of the rubber bushings are also shot by now.
Have the cooling system flushed and refilled.
Your car should have had its timing belt replaced at 60k miles There is no easy way to see if it's been done. If it breaks, the engine is gone.
The throttle body should also get cleaned out.
These cars can last a long time with decent manitenance, but judging by the condition of yours only minimal maintenance was done. Figure $1500 to get the care into good shape, and that doesn't include the sunroof. My personal philosophy is to get the car as close to "as new" condition as possible before doing mods.

mymax93

find a mechanic who knows maxima's. make sure its someone you can trust and get to work fixing everything that has to be fixed. dont worry about mods until all of the maintenance is done. tune up is a def. so is the tranny cooler. its an SE model so it means that its probably been pushed harder than a gxe cuz its a sporty model. good luck

lcali1

Great advice (unlike me..) to Beatjunky about the tranny cooler guys... A must. I just installed my tranny cooler yesterday n all I can say is shizza, feels like I got a 2k maxima now.....haha... Serious now. The car just shifts much smoother now n I believe I feel more power/acceleration at higher speeds. A must do for everyone.

davis449

Ok, well first of all let me commend you on your purchase. I got my Maxima when I was 16 and it has served me well. YOU got the SE model I see, good choice. Anyway, you have a 1990 with the Bose system I take it so check out e-bay and see if anyone is auctioning off any head units with the tape player, as the CD/tape combo won't work with your system. They usually go for cheap. The headlight I take it is just burned out so go buy a bulb for it at the auto parts store. My suggestion is to stick with stock headlight bulbs and don't waste the money on those bull**** Sylvania Cool Blues or whatever, but that may be your preference. That's all the advice I can offer. Good Luck.

RitalinBoy

Maxima was my first car too. Just got it a few months back and I love it! So much better than the POS my grandma sold me for $300 bucks. Anyway, I have a stock head unit if you want it. I dont really need to get a whole lot of money out of it, but some would be nice. Drop me a line if you want it. Its the Bose with the tape deck. And, I agree with what everyone else says, get a FULL tune up. Made my Max feel 10x better. After the tune up, then go for the aftermarket parts.
RB

KITT

Yes you have purcashed a great car. The Nissan Maxima (3rd Generation)is a great ride and will give you more years to come of motoring pleasure if you keep it in a well maitenced condition. Take the advice from everyone hear and get that Tranny cooler, full complete tuneup, transmission flush and service and get those other things fixed like your light and electrics.
When you get a pic post it hear on the board for us to see or you can email me with a pic. Safe driving........

BeatJunky

Holy Crap! That's some awesome feedback!

Thankz to all for the comments and suggestions!

Looks like I'll be doing the complete tune-up,transmission flush and exhaust work next saturday... The car is running pretty crappy at the moment. It's a very strong car, no questions asked, and I love it, but I feel that it's full potential is being trapped because of the crappy maintenance it's previous owner gave it.

I'm also one who beleives that one should always keep his car as close to "new" as possible. That's a great mentality...

So far on my list of work for the maxima:
-Complete Tune-Up
-Oil Change / Transmission Flush
-Brakes

I want feel like I should replace the entire exhaust system. By replacing the catalyctic converter, am I causing any possible problems for the future of the car? If not, I'd like to get one of those twin muffler set-ups. Is there anything in particular that I should be looking for?

I wanna make this car as "NEW" as possible...New Exhaust should 0wN!

That transmission cooler that you fellas are talking about... where can I get more information on it online? any links?

As far as the stereo, I might end up getting a Kenwood CD Player - FM/AM Stereo, w/D-Face Technology...$150.

I make $550 bi-weekly. If my car needs my money, My car will have my money. I just need to pay the dealer $325 out of each paycheck for the next 3 months though, So I'll have to steer away from any major work till I finish the payments, then its onto project heaven!

But right now, the tune-up and etc. will happen next weekend!

Thanx to everyone...

-BeatJunky!

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

its a simple device, heres a link to the B&M cooler(the one I have) that Jegs.com sells, it'll give you some more info--->
CLICK!!

BeatJunky

Thanx for the link bro....

Now that I know what that is, does anyone have any recomendations as fas twin exhaust systems go?

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

dual exhaust or something like that??

RitalinBoy

I wouldn't mess with a dual exhaust setup. Instead look into a Ypipe. There is a group buy going on right now where you can get one for about $200 I think. A cat. and a full exhaust system are a waste of money IMHO. A cold air intake and a Ypipe seem to be the best performance mods for the money.
RB

BeatJunky

What exactly is the Y Pipe (Compared to a regular exhaust set-up). Is it an addition to your exhaust system. Is it an entire exhaust system. If it is, is it better?

That's probably what I am concerned about the most right now with my maxima. I want this car to run as flawless as possible (like I told my mechanic) before I start working on body issues and so on...

maxmizd27

The Y-pipe is the pipe that connects at each exhaust manifold and merges into one to the flex tube before the cat. Hence the name Y-pipe for the shape. It is a stock part of the car. Nothing additional.

BeatJunky

If that's a picture of YOUR car in the sig, I applaud you...

It looks awesome!

How many miles you got on that sucker...?

maxmizd27

Yup. That's mine. One of the guys (Phil96SE I think) took that picture of it at the Carlisle show last week. He posted it, along with others he took at the show, on the Pittsburgh area web site www.pgh-maximas.com. Fortunately I have a really good detailer who I use when winter has been harder on the car than I can fix myself. He keeps bringing the paint back to life every time I think it's past the point of no return. Stay tuned if you like it. If I'm in a position to buy a new 2002 Max SE-R next year, this baby may very well be for sale in another 12 months.

BeatJunky

As for my maxima...

I dont ever think it was pushed past factory conditions...I wanna brng it some new life...

Im taking it to my mechanic next wednesday to check it out and do the tune up and fluid maintenance that it needs. Then I'll ask him about my suspension and exhaust issues.

Body work I'll do at the very end.....

eric93SE

iTrader: (1)

Since your max has over 100k, get some STP engine flush and follow the instructions. With a high mileage engine alot of crud can build up and effect oil cooling/lubrication performance. s**t gets baked on and the oil pickup screen forms crap on it. I think this is pretty important because there are many ignorant car owners today that dont change oil like they should.

BeatJunky

I should just everything in my friggin car...

I dont mind....

mymax93

hey whats up with that max se-r? any links to any info? i was at the car show and they had the new altima, the se version will have the pathfinders v6, and they had the new I35, which is the same thing as the I30 except more powerful, so whats gonna happen to the max? with a power altima like that and it matches the I35 they can only make the max more powerful or drop it, i hope not.

maxmizd27

Everyone seems to agree that it will be a 2002 model, but I've not seen one yet. It's supposed to get the 3.5L motor and have minimal cosmetic differences from the 2000-2001 models. No idea if it will have built in ground effects like a 2K1 AE model, or not. Just going to wait and see and save my pennies. The consensus is that 2003 will be a whole new model. Who knows.

Suya

I also bought a 1990 Maxima two weeks ago. I also paid $3,500 for it.
So far I have flushed readiator and changed timing belt.
These are the things I need to do- 1) oil change. 2) wheel alignment. 3) tune up 4) Breaks change.
There are few other things what I want to do but these are the things I am doing first.
I hope u need to check with these things as well.

BeatJunky

I gotta fix my car up bad and fast, like right away!!!

I got beat by friggin 92 Honda Accord. 4cyl...

I would end up beating him in the long run, but his ricer was just so much faster in acceleration...

WTF!!!!!!!! LORD WHY!!!!!

Heres my to do list:

-Full Tune-Up
-2 Injectors
-6 Injector Connectors
-2 CV Boots (Outer)
-Valve Gasket Cover
-Transmission Flush
-Cooling System Flush

Tom

Beatjunky, did you know your car was repainted at one point? 3rd gens were painted black on the bottom part of the bumpers

BeatJunky

I figured so...

I think it used to be yellow...Theres a big chip in the front by the headlights and it's yellow...

This car is ticking me off...

Go read my HONDA BEAT A MAXIMA thread....you'll see why!

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

Nah, it wasn't yellow, the bumper plastic is just yellow.

BeatJunky

axonjacksn

I got a 1990 Maxima SE a few months ago and first off, I love it. It is the sweetest car. But anyway. I was reading in this post that many people recommend putting on a transmission cooler before attempting any mods. I was wondering since I have a manual transmission if I should, too, put a cooler on mine. Also, can someone tell me where I can find somewhere that sells ground-effects? Thanks

Tom

Take a look here

http://www.erebunicorp.com/ge/nissmax89.htm

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

No, you don't need a tranny cooler for your 5-speed.

Cincy94Max

Drool....Time to save my cash up for that day.

Foo90SE

I used to have a 90 SE...and not to scare you or anything but a un-maintained maxima is a money pit, at least mine was. Transmission and suspension were worn out on mine, then the lifters started ticking, and power windows started acting up. If the car intermidently ticks in the mornings, thats your lifters.

I loved my maxima but ones that have been abused just arnt worth it IMO..but i havnt seen yours so maybe its a different case.

Hope all goes well