I've loved 3rd gen Maximas since a friend of mine had one. NEVER realized how much of a sports car they can really be like.

Well I finally got one, on friday. (Havent had a car since i was 21 also, now Im 27) And I was in love with this car the second I drove it!

It's a 92 SE 5sp. Sunroof, alarm, heated mirrors, BOSE system (which is shot, replacing soon) All the standard options I think.

It's beautiful, in great shape, inside and out. It HAS an issue with sputtering, ive read up on it and found its common. Plugs have been replaced with NGKs (by used dealer, im going to put in plat NGKs soon.. unless anyone has a better suggestion?) Ground wire was replaced. And Im getting 2 coil packs on tuesday. The plugs and ground wire (and a full tank of 87 octane) have got it running nice, the sputter is VERY intermitten right now. I believe the coils will completely do it, but only 2?? Yea, cheap guy who sold me it.
The VTC makes some noise, but not alot, a very faint tick as I accelerate. Hopefully a good oil change will fix it? ANy recomendations on what brand/type of oil will be best for this max?
I also want to flush and refill the transmission oil, putting in redline. Good, bad, whats better? It already shifts smooth, but I wanna do alot of preventative maintenence on this car. Its my new love!
Umm thats all I can think of at the moment, about what Im concerned with doing first with this car. General maintnence/slight performance work on it.


In the future i plan on getting some rims, thinking black would look good on the white color. Maybe just black hubs, and outline, aluminum overall.
i know NOTHING about Maximas yet, im hoping this site, and all the members, will change that for me. Also wanna do exhaust, headers, either cold air intake or just a K&N. Hmm or a K&N CAI?

Now heres some pics.. forgot to get one of the engine, but its just another 92 SE VE engine, its pretty clean though. 125k miles on it.

 

last pic, only let me do 5

 

very nice looking car, awesome you got a 5spd. there is a toyota filter that is supposively better for motor and helps the vtc get oil sooner or something. i use castrox gtx 5w 30. the headers on the ve are pretty well designed, dont think they sell aftermarket ones for them, get the wsp y-pipe at least, best upgrade imo

 

thank you, Jake.
Ive always used 10w 30 oil. 5w is thinner so maybe it helps, but id definetely want to change that come winter(i think)
I think i read somewhere about the toyota filter, used for alot of 4cyl toyotas?
I think i will try that. And yeah I will upgrade the pipes eventually Hopefully my exsisting ones arent all rusted! (the bolts) So I can do it myself. Id rather not spend the day with bloody knuckles trying. I need air tools

 

hey are those stock fog lights on the bottom of the bumper? also, if anyone knos if its possible to put these fog lights (if stock) on a 94 gxe bumper?

 

I grounded my vtc"s 50 k ago. I found they got louder and louder. I
noticed a little loss of power,but well worth it.



EDIT: If you need a center cap, I have one forsale.

 

im confused, if it got louder and louder, AND you lost alil power, why well worth it? Or you the noise went away, BUT you lose alil power?
How do you ground it?

 

He was saying the VTC clack kept getting louder - so he grounded them to prevent the clacking. then you lose some high end power. theres a wire that goes to the vtc assembly that you ground. there are some write ups around.

 

Mine got louder and louder,then I grounded them. Now they are very quiet.
It feels like I lost a little power once grounded. It is well worth the loss,which
is very minimal. You have less miles, maybe you don't need to ground. I"ll give you this link. It's a must for maxima owners'.....
http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/

 

lol I was speaking in pigmy....

 

thanks for the link, bookmarked. Might do that eventually.
along with alot of other things.

 

I wouldn't recommend grounding them unless they are annoying you/ very loud...

 

no, not at all, its very slight.. like a "tickticktick" like a chain spinning, obviously, a timing chain. lol
ONLY during hard acceleration.
So i wont do that unless it becomes much louder then i guess. THANKS

 

hmmmm during hard acceleration.......sounds like something else to me

 

Theres a huge thread on VE oil filters in the oil/lubrication forum. Lots of good info.

Looks very clean. Take care of it and 300K isn't a problem.

~Alex

 

Yeah, usually VTC's clack around idle and when it's cold out. Once the engine warms up/ under WOT you shouldn't be able to hear them period. You may be able to get rid of whatever that is with an oil change and a toyota filter. (The first time I changed my oil on a VE I was so amazed at how easy it was... probably the nicest car I've ever done it on) Anyway, Cold Air Intake is probably the easiest mod you can do other than Advancing timing and stuff. Basically just have to take the whole air box assembly off (Leave everything before the MAF) get, or make an adapter for the MAF, then just run piping into the fender... done.

 

Actually,they don't do much for performance,but they look good,and has a nice growl at WOT...

IMO,the warpspeed y-pipe is the best performance bolt on mod you can do for these cars..Then concentrate on suspension upgrades..


I found it better to do it the Jeffy/MrGone way..

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=441810

 

Yeah, but it's still probably the easiest mod, well... in my book anyway.

Hmmm...?

 

D-side under headlight pics?

Oh btw,your brake fluid needs changed...

 

gotta get me one of those

 

Welcome MaximaNoob. That's a clean looking max. Try the castrol 5w30 and a Toyota filter for the ticking and if that doesn't do it on it's own try a motorflush product and change the oil/filter again. Good luck. Of all the groups on the org the 3rd gen group is the most knowledgeable and the best guys. There are some sharp guys here.

 

I just noticed I had the leftover S pipe from my VG CAI (93 Honda Accord) Bet I could run that down there instead of the flex pipe... although I don't have to worry about much dirt down there as I'm in Florida...

 

hey maxshima what's that blue wire to?

 

Always hot Fog lights...

 

thanks for all the advice. I looked over all of the info (mostly all) about the filter. By reading it seems that the part number changes often lol. And sometimes people get a cheap version of the filter. I was thinking about getting the Napa Gold 1361, to make sure i dont get a cheap filter. As long as that filter is for a 3.0 liter'ish capacity and has the anti-backflow(is is backflow? lol) Should be good.

No one has any advice on the sputter? I just drove my car last night for the first time in heavy rain. It stalled out on me once, and got alot more sputter. So its got an issue with moisture getting in. But could be just about anything electronic there. Im hoping new coil packs solve that completely! But if not, i'll be spending the summer chasing every electronic component making sure its ok and sealed up i guess.

 

No one has any advice on the sputter? I just drove my car last night for the first time in heavy rain. It stalled out on me once, and got alot more sputter. So its got an issue with moisture getting in. But could be just about anything electronic there. Im hoping new coil packs solve that completely! But if not, i'll be spending the summer chasing every electronic component making sure its ok and sealed up i guess.[/QUOTE]


I think you are on the right track with the coil packs. You said you have two. Is that one of each? Put them in and then drive the car and progressively change them two for two until you notice a change. Good luck.

 

Id go with wat bhunter would say and try replacing them coils, if you had a SOHC timing belt version, i would look at the distributor/rotor. But in this case you dealing with Coils. So I go at them coils.

Make sure your plugs are good, plug wires are up to par, and the coil leads are clean. check all electrical wiring too that goes to the coils, and even to the injectors. Conductivity is really crucial in those areas.
Check that your injectors are in good shape as well and that you have the fuel filter up to par too. Check the EGR to see if its functioning, as you push the throttle the inner seal should move accordingly.

Theres a few more things to look at but thats just a few things to check for now.

 

I win

 

um, random?
that was sooo four-days-ago

 

Haha... yeah, well... MyGreenMax motivated me to do the CAI the better way so I decided to post a picture of what he wanted to see. Hah.

Was actually easier to do it the "Jeffy/Mrgone" way...

Total price out the door ........ $22

 

Looks much better...


Now find that blue wire a new route...

 

I’m going against the popular opinion and will say that I like the Mobil 1 filter best. I tried the Toyota 4-cyl filter and wasn’t very pleased with its tick-fighting prowess.

For maintenance, don’t forget to look over your CV and steering boots, as well as brake pads. Also checking injector resistance may not be a bad idea.

 

Feels much better

 

I have the same sputtering/rough idle problem. I'm hoping it's the coil packs, too.

Lame question, but I can't seem to find anywhere on here that talks about the best way to go about getting coil packs. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

I actually have a few. PM me which ones you need..

~Alex

 

Buying NEW ones is best, but most people buy used ones.

 

Is there a way to look at the coil packs and tell which ones need to be replaced?

 

First of all....Do you have a ve engine?

If yes...The most common trouble spot is cracks on the sides of the front 3 coilpacks,they would have to be removed to see this....

 

Yes, it's a VE.

So are the problems usually only on the front 3 coilpacks? I've already taken them all out to replace the plugs but I didn't know to check them while I had them out at the time.

On another post you seconded the opinion that I might have a bad injector, given my description of rough idle, etc. I'll obviously look into the coilpacks before the injectors, but is it possible that bad packs would give similar symptoms to a bad injector?

 

From your description of problems,it sounds like you have a dead miss somewhere..Could be a coilpack or injector....the easiest way to track down the miss is to unplug each coil individually while the car is running/while carefully listening to the engine idling...If you have a dead coil,it will not change the idle of the car when you unplug it....

Then to test if it a bad coil or a bad injector...just swap coilpack you found the miss on to another cylinder/then see if the miss follows that coilpack...If it does,you have a bad coil...If the miss stays on the same cylinder,then you have a dead injector...