Shoveller

Hey everyone! I'm a mom to 4.5 year old twins and a zookeeper, which means I don't get grossed out, nothing surprises me, and I have a lot of patience. I've always driven a Jeep, but it's been completely stripped so not really drivable at the moment. I've always loved autos, old and new, and can appreciate any style as long as it's done well.

So enough about me. Here's our "new" 1993 GXE:



Originally my mother-in-law's car, she took great care of it. She ended up getting a minivan, and gave the Maxima to my sister-in-law. Well they live out in the country on a very rough red dirt road. The Max wasn't shown much love in the past couple of years. They didn't screw it up, but didn't really maintain it either. Long story short, it's ours now, and we plan on getting it back in order!

*Rough Idle - we put in new spark plugs & wires, going to check air filter & pcv valve
*Rough Ride - needs new tires (bro-in-law bought 2, need to mount), shocks, one or maybe both 1/2 axles. Do springs go bad?
*Auto Climate A/C Controls - only have high & off, no display
*Power door locks not working, & 2 windows don't roll down
*Need new hood supports
*Need new front bumper - showing a lot of yellow foam
*Paint job - maybe a green?
*Detail cleaning and interior shampoo

Any suggestions for the above problems?

a33i30

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like a good project, I'd say start off with the struts/springs first. While your at changing the air filter, might want to pop a SRI in there.

kringle03

Welcome!

A full and I might mention 'correct' color change will be quite expensive and you will have a lot of down time for prep and finish work... A touch up or simple repaint would get you going just fine... it's not a bad color at all...

Everything else mentioned should be regular service items...

anomaly117

iTrader: (3)

heck of a project thats for sure, good luck to ya

Shoveller

A very good friend owns a body repair/paint shop. He'll just charge us for paint and not labor. I was thinking a British Racing Green. My problem is the interior is two-toned brown, and I'm not changing it. But paint is much much later.

Shoveller

Anyone have a good write-up w/ pics on using BMW headlights?

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

Cool deal. I'm a twin myself

http://www.angelfire.com/trek/tko/bmw_conversion/

Take your time with it, 99% of the conversions turn out looking pretty awful. And I didn't think it back in the day, but now that I look at SkyMax's conversion (from the link above), even it turned out looking pretty shoddy

The way to do it is to cut the fronts off the BMW lights and use clear Maxima (Wade, GTS, etc.) rock-guards as the new fronts. That way the contour really matches up with the Maxima bodylines. Like so:

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

I'm betting on at least 1 bad injector. It's an extremely common failure on the 3rd gen
springs rarely go bad. More than likely they are fineblower motor resistor is what it is commonly called, but for the ACC it's called something else. I used to have them. but not anymore

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

agreed with the paint, just a touch up is good. my 92 gxe is the same color, its a nice shiny color after a wax

Shoveller

Easy way to check, or just replace them all?

GRNMAXDMON

iTrader: (1)

ways to check from what i know:

-unplug one by one and notice difference in idle
-buy a probe light kit for fuel injectors
-you can try an ohm meter

the one that will be a pain to even check is the first one up front to your left which is right under the upper intake manifold.

once you replace one, all the others will start to crap out. its a chain reaction with these injectors. either buy from Brian (internetautomar) or buy from dealer.

as for your windows it might just be your switch or window regulators are probably done for.

BMW headlights: well, James92SE has been a great help with providing that for you as well as others will do the same. but so far James92SE is practically the only person who has made his retrofit come out flawless. others have started to modify these as well by adding projectors and installing H.I.D.'s in them. me being one of them that hasn't finished this.

Dhunterx

iTrader: (6)

Regarding the injectors, stay OEM. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy re manufactured injectors. They will fail very quickly, sometimes almost immediately after installation.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

haha i like that you know what British Racing Green is. It's a nice color. Thinking of going metallic or solid?

For the windows.. it's probably either bad switches or bad regulators. Do the windows even attempt to roll down (make noise) or nothing at all? Also does it make a difference if you use the master-switch or the switch by that window?

When you do the struts, make sure to replace the strut mounts! Even if they aren't showing signs of wear now, they probably will be before the struts are ready to be replaced again.

Also while you are in there, it would be recommended to change the lower control arm bushings b/c if the struts are bad, odds are those bushings are too. They are VERY critical in terms of maintaining a stable front-end alignment. They can be quite a pain in the butt to replace though (mainly b/c the front one's inner sleeve tends to get stuck on the stud that sticks out from the frame gusset), so you may want to wait until you have your Jeep back before tackling them if you have to let some penetrating oil set in there for a few days to loosen them up. Though my preferred method is fire.... i just heated them up with a mapp gas torch until i could spin them with vicegrips. Just got to be careful not to let the flame get near anything meltable/flammable.

Shoveller

Why is it funny? I might not be able to change my oil, but I know my colors! Ok, well I can change my oil, but that's hubby's job. You should see my interior decorating. Mad skills. LOL Definitely gold flake bowling ball and 12" shine. Kidding, probably solid.

Driver window is great; both backs will go up/down, but only down from the driver control; front pass nothing, no sound from either control.

All*Pro

iTrader: (12)

Hello, welcome to the Org. hope you enjoy your stay here


As Internetautomar stated, springs do not go bad .....but struts do, and being that you car was being driven out in the country with rough roads for a few years I'd venture to say that its time for new struts. You can buy them from:

Internetautomar

http://www.shox.com/

or

http://forums.maxima.org/group-deals...free-ship.html


-New hood supports:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HOOD-...Q5fAccessories

-New front bumper cover:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BUMPE...Q5fAccessories

or

you can try the classified section on the forums for part outs
http://forums.maxima.org/1st-3rd-gen...-1981-1994-44/

or

you can check out your local salvage/junk yards.


-If your particular on painting the car green, might I suggest painting it
Black Emerald Pearl color code DJ2

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

i'd say replace your master switch first, to fix the no-up-from-masterswitch issue with the rears... and the front pass probably has a burnt out motor.

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

Once you get the maintenance stuff straightened out and everything running good (lots of suggestions already), there are a few things I might add:

If you don't do a lot of parking lots (door dings), you can remove the side molding with a bit of work. They are basically just glued on. From the pic you posted, those really stick out. I think there have been past posts about how to remove them I think with heat gun and some goo off or something.

Plus, I would paint the wheels. I have never been a fan of the OEM GXE wheels. If you troll around on CL you can even find newer Maxima wheels, Infiniti wheels and even some decent aftermarket wheels, often with usable tires for a few hundred bucks. The wheels on my car I got for free (I had to buy the tires).

Personally, I would keep the color or maybe go just a shade or two darker. Even if you know someone that paints, you will still have tan under the hood and in the trunk, etc. Plus, the pebble beige probably in the doors and stuff.

good luck with your car. These 3rd gens are getting more scarce and it's good to see someone try to keep one on the road.

johnno890

try cleaning the throttle body for the rough idle

GRNMAXDMON

iTrader: (1)

excellent color choice! only because its the same one on my car as well.

but as Cliff Clavin said, i wouldn't do a color change since you will still see the pebble beige under the hood and on your door jams. plus this color is kinda hard to see when the car is modified. i usually see white ones down here and some charcoal gray's and then once in a blue moon i'll see some black emerald but pebble beige... well, you get the idea. plus i personally like the pebble beige. oh and the rims, check Craigslist and you will come across some nice wheels for your car. i ended up getting the Inifinti FX35 18x8 wheels for $200 and then i had buy new tires for them.

All*Pro

iTrader: (12)

Its one of my favorite colors on a third gen along with charcoal grey, super black, and sapphire blue. The problem is most people don't maintain or restore the paint to where it looks like the one in the pic. Can't really blame them what with these cars being 15 years old, but still.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

1- Most likely an injector or two may be the cause rough idle, stick with Bosch or OEM Nissan injectors
Hell, even junk yard ones Ohmed out between 10-14 ohms can be used

2. If your fan only works at MAX position then your blower motor resistor is most likely the cause.

3.Power doorlocks, do you hear clicking from under the dash by the brake pedal? if so, you need to replace the Door Lock Timer which James92Se sells or you can resolder the loose solderings in there yourself.

If no clicking/ticking is heard at all when you try to lock/unlock then its most likely your switch which may also be the cause for your windows no opening.

4. Hood lift supports - Advance Auto. 20 bucks each with lifetime warranty, takes 15 minutes each side you'll need probably 10mm, 12mm, 13mm wrenches

5. Bumper cover is easy to change with the exception that many bolts will break. CG2 is a rather common color and you should be able to find a decent bumper at a junkyard for no more than 50 bucks usually.

5. Paint? Sure why not? but keep it the same color UNLESS you dont plan on getting a half assed job where only the outside is painted and everything else is the old color.

Enjoy!

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

the locks are a b!sh, mine worked fine, then my doorpad and locks would only work when it was cold outside and the car wasnt in the sun, and now its just that click of fail no matter what

i'll get around to fixing my DLT one day though, until then its opening the door with my keys

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Door lock timer is so easy to do that I wondered why the hell it took me so long take care of it.

Its about 4-6 screw to remove the cover thats below the steering column cover and 2 screws holding the bracket itself iirc. There's 2 plugs from what I remember too.

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

so its just a wiring harness that has a loose wire then?

I might give here a go on the weekend then, i thought i had to remove the whole dash

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Old picture taken a long time ago with my cell phone. probably in 2007

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

you took the whole thing out?
I just pulled the board out of the housing and then undid the harness and had a joint resoldered. got my locks back sorta

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

That was a junk yard unit I brought home to resolder and sell. 92GXE/CG2 purchased it, ironically the same color as the OP's lol

GRNMAXDMON

iTrader: (1)

yeah, this is true and im one of them. i have been postponing to paint it every year and its been like this for the past 5 years. im mad at my myself for doing this but times are harsh especially when i have a car payment now. but hey who told me to get into a new car, only i decided to get into a new car. but thats just how reality is. sucks for me but hey no regrets with the new ride. as for the 3rd gen, i still drive it once in a while, wash her a few times, make sure everything is up to par mechanically and buying minor mods for now.

Shoveller

My husband's grandmother passed away and we had to go on a road trip. We had to get stuff done on the Max.

2 struts, 2 tires on front, pass side control arm & ball joint
air filter, oil change
pcv valve

We broke the pcv hose and made one while we wait on the dealer to get one in. They called today and it's in, but we're not. lol

Husband came to pick me up from work and big big gas leak. The fill neck overflow hose cracked. Got that fixed in the parking lot with major thanks to 2 coworkers (got to get them both a 12 pack when we get back)

Max is running great, except we still have a rough/low idle. Might be connected with the exhaust leak we might have. Still have a tiny click click when turning. We will deal with all that when we get back home. Any ideas?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

click click is probably a bad axle.

Shoveller

Haven't updated in a while.

We had to fix 4 broken mainfold bolts. New gaskets. Runs like it did new!
Replaced some of the window motors and switches. They all work now.

Next item is the auto climate control. None of the lights work (so no display), and I only have low and high fan speeds. A/C is very cold and heat is very hot, just a pain in the butt trying to figure out what it is set on.

TTYME

Nice..I just acquired an SE in Septmbr w/same color and year as yours. I had the rough idle as well and replaced "ALL" the injectors with OEM injectors in October and it now idles nice and smooth. The click noise maybe cv jnts, not sure though...Mine is work in progress but I luv the car..goodluck with your Max.