easiest way would be to drop the exhaust down, remove the cover plates, unbolt the cables.

 

I just bought a used '92 GXE and I cant get the trunk open. The ignition key will slide into the trunk lock but I cant turn it. Any suggestions?

 

your trunk lid seems to have been replaced then, by a same-color one. you are turning it to the right, correct? how about the button on the door does it open the trunk?

 

Yes, I turn it to the right and nothing happens. Is there a trunk release button on the door? I cant seem to locate it.

 

does the key work in the glovebox?
if not, you may have a valet key.
and there should be trunk release button on the drivers door armrest right above the light on the door.
If it's really needed I can grab a pic off the panel in my garage.

 

also, alot of the vg's ive seen at the junkyard have a handle to "pop" the trunk built into the gas door. just pull that.(for sure on my SE)

 

89-91 had a handle 92-94 got a button

 

all GXEs have the button tho. i have an 89se as well. PUSH for gas, PULL for trunk. on a GXE however, PULL for gas, and the electric button on the door is trunk.

 

well, my dad had a 94 SE, and he had push-button, and so does my 92 GXE.

 

does anyone know if i can swap the gauge cluster from my 94se which is a 145mph speedometer into my 90se which has a 125mph speedometer?

 

yes. I recommend swapping out just the speedo, because in my case, I could see the tach needle moving towards the 6k mark and I'd know to shift(something about that red starting at 5500, idk). this also saves swapping out bulbs, odometer, and a bunch of other crap, to keep it clean.

 

i stand corrected.
(cape, i think he was referring to the SE, not all of 'em)

 

So it's that easy thanks!
Anyone know where to buy a set of aftermarket tails for the 3rd gen? Otherwise a set off a 90 the ones with clear lens covers and the black trunk peice?

 

Found it! Thanks for all the help.

 

HI I have a 97 max se and i'm changing my exhaust manifold. I have the front bank done but i'm having trouble with the bottom three bolts of the back bank. I have lowered the subframe to get a better angle and all i'm doing is stripping the nut. I am also having some trouble getting a wrench on the left most bolt. Any tips would help cuase my next step is to just saw through the exhaust manifold with a sawsall, and that would be very messy and time consuming. Any help by means of addidtional things i could or should drop to get a better angle and possibly free up more space would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

check the 4th gen section? they may be able to help you better than most of us...(3rd gen, 89-94)

 

Hi I have a 91 max se and it came with a extra cluster gauge. so I was looking at it and I got to thinking it would be neat to take the blue covered light bulbs (used as backlights in cluster) to light up the underneath my dash the only thing is i dont know how make it. So if anyone has any ideas i welcome them with open arms. Oh and i dont wanna do LEDs cuz For 1 everyone has them now and I would like to see where on gods green earth I'm driving.

 

I dont think they will glow very blue. if you are sure you want to try it, you may wanna brush up on your solder skils and try this:
remove the bulbs from their holder(the brown/black bottom), and gently pry the little wires away from the bulb, and straighten them. solder a wire to each of the leads, preferrably in a parallel circuit. covre all exposed ends in electrical tape. find a 12v source and test. if it works, find a 12v source in your car when the lights are on and add this to the circuit.
I am sure there are bases with wires instead of contacts like on our gauges, but i cant find any. my thoughts on that: if you want to spend any money on this, get a flexible led strip and install that underneath the dash, on the lip. itll shine upward, and make it seem dimmer.

 

sorry my mistake wrong window

 

if you still can't open it, spray some lubricant inside the key hole. that worked for me.

 

the blue rubber is used to make the yellowish light appear whiter. if you really want to light up that area, use led's, neons, or cold cathodes.

 

sweet perfect thread for me.

im new to maximas. own a 1995 240sx

anyways. ive got a few questions.

1 - 3rd gen starter. i need a 3rd gen starter, for an automatic. just wondering what starters i can look for in a junk yard. - ex will a 4th gen starter work bla bla bla. or if anyone has one for sale i already pm'd a few members about this. and searched. thx
2 - wiring issues. just wondering if there are any on the third gens to be concerned about. i just got this car and just looking for things to check. its for my girlfriend i dont want it crapping out on her randomly bla bla bla.

3 - has anyone used a 300zx fuel filter on these cars? its bigger. common upgrade for 240sx's

4 - my brake lights dont work at all. could be the brake button on the brake petal, could be the bulbs. wiring. fuse ect. just wondering what goes out first.

i think thats about it.

primarilly im looking for parts so ill be on here a good bit from now on.

thanks
well organized forum btw.

 

I have a '94 maxima, when i went to start it this evening everything seemed to be ok until i turn the key all the way, everything comes on but it won't start, i noticed that when i try to start the security light comes on everytime, i also have a remote start, it will start the car but when i turn the key all the way like i usually do the security light comes on again and shuts down, any suggestions

 

woa that some messed up junk

try bypassing / removing your security / remote start system.

and check for shorts in the system.

who installed it?

 

hh gregg

 

but that was three years ago and i have never had a problem

 

i mean thats the only thing i can think of. is that youve got a wiring issue or the unit itself is messing up.

my suggestion would be to bypass it somehow and see if it fixes your issue

 

1. what year / model is yours?
2. no wiring issues here. except on a rare occasion fuel pump, or corrosion at connectors from age
3. it's a typical pointless mod. it possesses no extra abilities over the stock filter.
4. fuse first.

 

unplug the factory anti-theft module

 

Hey guys! I haven't been on in a while, but my 92 GXE Maxima's tranny just decided to poop out on me.

I was slowing for a red light, then it turned green, and I pressed the gas normally. The engine made a click sound like it shifted out of gear (even though it was still in drive) and it was in neutral. I tried shifting to all gears, stopping and restarting the engine, playing with the shifter some more, but it was still just in neutral.

Certified transmission now wants to charge me $2800 for a complete rebuild.

Is there anything I should know about the AT? Is there a simple fix that can remedy this?

How hard would it be to swap in a new auto tranny, or rebuild this one?

Thanks!
Dan

 

check the bulbs themselves for burns/melts/funkyness. I had a bulb that wasn't in the socket all the way, but then I tapped it with my finger and it connected, but that arc melted the contact just enough to where it bridged the gap between the 27W and 8W contacts, thereby putting an extra 10A down the brake light fuse, which popped it instantly. So i replaced the fuse, and it blew again. So i figured out that i had messed with the bulb the night before, removed the bulb, put in another fuse and it stopped blowing. Got a new bulb, was good to go.

as for "wiring issues" the clock will sometimes dim randomly, and the cluster needles will fail with age as well.

 

Hi everyone, I'm considering giving up on my 92 SE, as I rely on her for my 30-mile commute and she's been letting me down a bit lately:

I replaced the fuel pump several weeks back, which proved easy enough. I had my spark plugs and fuel filter replaced 8 days ago, as a preventative measure; also had an oil change, which was overdue. Also, I replaced my air filter Saturday.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was driving around center city Philadelphia when the car stalled on me at a red light. I tried starting her back up, and she exhibited the same exact symptoms as before, when my fuel pump failed (engine turns, but doesn't start). Opened the hood and found the car was smoking. Unscrewed the radiator fluid reservoir and it BOILED over (the green stuff). I thought maybe it was because I overfilled the radiator before, but it had been full for several weeks. Then checked the oil and noticed it was EMPTY (is it even possible for a failing car to burn up ALL in a week--320 miles of driving? I started getting seriously pissed off at the idea that the mechanic charged me $30 and forgot to replace the oil ).

Still pretty hot and steamy from the radiator, but managed to get the car started by pumping the gas a couple times and raced to the nearest gas station (Hess) to get a bottle of oil (10W30) in the motor's reservoir. Now the car started, no problem, got home. This morning I stall again 2/3 of the way to work. Opened the hood, same issue: radiator boiling over. After unscrewing and letting it cool down for a few minutes, I started the car up again with a few pumps of the gas pedal and made it to work.

I was planning on getting a few more bottles of 10w-30 and filling up the oil while I fill up the gas tank after work, but the questions is: what's the real cause of all this--was the oil just not filled at my oil change? If it's another part that needs replacing, should I be investing in it at 188,000 miles or just give up? I've been noticing a few other semi-worrying symptoms: Aside from the VTC getting louder lately, when I'm cruising at 70mph I'll notice the car will jerk back (suddenly needs more gas to maintain speed), then go back to normal. Also when going at lower speeds, the same thing occurs at times (need to push harder on gas to get the same speed)

My sincere apologies for rambling on and on--I'm just desperate at this point and want to make sure I didn't leave any important details out.

Thanks in advance for any tips/advice!

 

Do you have smoke in the exhaust? Do you notice large oil puddles under your car? It would be impressive to leak that much so quickly.

I would do another oil change right now, just to make sure that you have the proper amount of oil in there. Then just let it idle and watch to see if your dripping oil or burning oil. Keep an eye on the temperature too though.

 

That reminds me--important thing I forgot to mention is that the temperature gage doesn't register as hot in the least! It moves when I turn the car on, but stays steady smack in the middle and never registered as hot when I noticed the steam (white smoke? can't tell, but it doesn't smell, so I guess it's actually steam). I'd noticed small wet spots on the driveway, but no large puddles. My guess is that they didn't properly fill the oil up.

 

Hey guys, yes, I'm a noob to Maximas so here it goes. How much would it cost me to have the DOHC VG swapped in with the 5spd?

 

You're talking about the DOHC VE, not the VG. A member here did it using a donor car, because you have to swap all the wiring and electronics as well.

To have a shop do it would be an obscene amount of money.

 

Ahh the VE. Thanks for letting me know that. I used to drive a Dodge Ram, and now I switched to a car I know nothing about lol. So it would still be hefty price for a shop to do it even if I supplied all the parts? My whole front end needs to be rebuilt basically, the CV's are clicking like an african in the middle of an argument, the nose of my car looks like it got punched in the face, my tranny is about to blow up, I'm really close to taking it to a shop and leaving it there for a week or two cause I really dont feel like messing with this thing.

 

Thanks for your quick reponse, Mike, and by the way, that's a really sweet-looking Maxima you've got--what year is it?

 

VG Auto transmissions are known to fail. You might be able to extend its life a bit by adding a cooler. CVs are pretty much regular maintenance, and no swap will fix the cosmetic issues anyway.

If you want to know more about the swap, set aside some time and read this thread: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=551493

 

It only looks sweet in with this specific angle and lighting, but being a 15 year-old car it has its share of cosmetic issues. Its a 93 SE Auto