Hey maxima.org!
I'm new here (well, I've been a lurker for awhile) and I have to say, this is quite a close nit dedicated community. I came here when I got my first car (93 Maxima SE w/ 101k miles) and wanted to know more about the car (and have, in spades).

So far I've put about 3k miles on it, and have loved every second in it. I've driven some camry's, hondas and other misc. cars and the max is just superior in every way. It pulls hard and fast, and is just a blast to drive on the freeway at night. It just really feels like a driver's car. BUT I'm sure you all know this already.

Recently I've been experiencing some troubles though. Turns out the previous owner just drove the car and did very minimal maintenance or upkeep!
So far I've fixed up some of the electronics, changed the fluids, changed pads, resurfaced rotors.

It rides alright now, except for a couple of problems... I would go out and get the problems diagnosed by a mechanic, but I am a student and cannot afford the costs...

1) There is a muffled, low pitched tumbling (for lack of a better word) sound of something that I can hear somewhere in the front end towards the sides. Sounds like something is loose and is just tumbling around. The sound is irregular, not constant. The sound becomes more apparent when driving over bumps... I am sure I am not describing it properly however, I'll add to this when I can find the words.

2) The car "stalls" at times. I don't know if "stalling" is the right way to describe it as I have never driven manual. But I can reproduce the problem now. If I make hard sudden stops, or stop the "wrong" way at very low speeds, sometimes the car stops accellerating out of the stop and just sits there free revving. If I stay stopped for a short bit, I can feel the car make a lurching sensation as if it was switching back to driving gear, and then I can go. If I keep free revving the engine, the car will switch back in gear and my tires will burn rubber.

3) When accellerating out of a stop, the car is very sluggish in first gear. Maybe blehmco's grounding kit will fix this problem?


I appreciate any and all help.. thanks for reading. I plan on donating to the org as soon as I get my next paycheck.

 

2. if it's an A/T (which your description sounds like it is) then check your fluid level, and that you have a dipstick.
my car did that too, then I changed fluid (and the trans pan) replaced my dipstick (it had disappeared) and haven't had the freespin problem since.
of course I only drove it for a few weeks since that and now the car is on the lot and I'm driving my summer toy

 

Yeah it's an AT. I did a check of all the fluids already and everything seems to be fine.

 

as wiking is fond of saying. check your connectors, clean and grease em too

 

Look through the stickies under "maintenance" and check for codes. That's a good place to start.

The stalling is possibly coil packs. Information on these in the stickies, too.