Hello everyone!

So I sadly fell in love with maximas and especially third gen, why sadly? Because, I live in Europe and more precisely in France! Therefore, it means I can enjoy fewer parts style!

My grand father had a bluebird for ten years and still is a nissan fan, still loving the failady Z while being 92 years old and my parents owned a few nissans too so I guess it goes in the family.

On the other hand, I feel blessed because it's a masterpiece of a car, a very delightful in which you can feel safe and that makes you fall in love in no time, all my passengers appreciated her a lot despite she is not in full mood yet.

To explain you a bit the things about maxima 3rd gen in France, one is sold 2000 euros while it can't even run : it sat iddled for 10 years and nothing is known about its internal states, two others went to junkyard (one with a blown engine) and another is still in sale, and nothing is known about what had been done to it.

Then come the one that is now mine, which I think I know the story because a few years ago, it was already in sale and I couldn't get any pictures of it by the seller for he was actually ashame.

I think it's the same car because of the area in which it was sold, its status matching its history and the previous owner card belonging to the wife and not to the husband.


Apparently, her story start like this : bought by an executive of Nissan (a lot of maximas weren't purchased in France and therefore, the personnal who had the means were buying them with huge reductions knowing they had an awesome car and loved it). For most of the maximas I checked in France (I love a lot the 4th gen too and checked some), it start this way.

They're loved and cared but as they grow a bit elder (8 to ten years usually), they are sold to people who needs to do lot of stairways, for work or vacation or both! This one didn't escape the rule and was owned for this reason in second hand : comfortable, reliable and strong on the roads, she was still cared and maintained. The owners respected the car for its value and got attached to it, so they didn't sell it when they were going less in less in holidays and therefore, letting it to iddle a bit then more in more. Usually for money reasons upon gas prices (we're the country of the diesel thanks to our governments), and low engines but this is quite hypocrite because we're far from being the country of reliability and maintenance plus gas cost most of the time overpass the simple using cost of those great cars.

There was a huge lot of unused v6/v8 cars in France after the 2000s and even later after the crisis. She didn't escape that fate and started a long sleep until the son got it for himself (here again, it's the same pattern for lot of maximas I called for) and here starts the troubles...

While previous owners took an holy care of the cars, even sometimes while they were iddling, still paying the bills for the cares, the next to come takes poor care of those bills and papers for it's like a legacy to them, like a toys your daddy used then gave it to you. Also, they never got educated about those things, since their parents always did it all while they were teenagers and this car is like a special car : for opportunities, to show up, or big roads.

In this case, it was the first car to be of the family son, so the father changes immediatly the tyres before giving it to him for low cost and cheap tyres that have only stability for them as he was too scared his son would kill himself if she had propper tyres trying to go faster in corners, while he had to be more careful with those tyres calling them hoof. This shows a great care from the dad in my mind. However, later on the son gets another car and use this one less in less, till he give it back to its parents (owner card never got changed) and here the father was mad. Leathers of the car were in awfully bad condition, rims in great need of cleaning, and roof had to be seal due to leaks, radio antenna being also damaged.

He regretted deeply having shared his car to his son and kept it a few times more but wasn't using it therefore placed it for sale. I didn't take it at the time because I had no pictures. Just the color, location and story.

This year, I came accross an announce at a garage in the same area in which there was pictures. Dealer knew none of its story and I didn't speak about it, not being sure even if there are similarities. The maxima bug hited me and I couldn't resist it which is a proof of my stupidity.

I couldn't take a 4th gen car because none got cared by nissan but rather by small garage using low quality oils, being scared about the chain, I tried to see how much it would cost me to make it change to have a propper car, but none were wanting to deal with it (chain never breaks...in a way yes, when it's propperly cared, not when a garage maintening renault clio or peugeot 206 takes care of it with their never changing oil habit or every two years for engine oil, and never for gearbox). It's another reason why lot of people who can buy second hand in germany or uk or spain, just fleeing french second hand market as much as possible : poor care of garages, not that they don't make you pay a lot, they do but they often do a lousy job that unaware people believe honnestly it's a good way of caring.

So, back to the car in question, I have and can do a lot of pictures. I tried it once doing a 16h trip in bus to check it out with ffp2 mask, tons of alcohol spray and two set of alcohols wipes. I tried her and got lost so I said what the heck and tried her more. I fell in love with it. I made change all the distribution : water pump, timing belts, all the belts, and asked for oil changes. Rear brake servicing was told to me it was done and as it was brand new, it was a bit weak so I had to be careful. Fine enough for me : I don't use much brakes since I stopp accelerating far ahead. I made the radio antenna repair, had a gearbox additive to make it smooth and protected.

Then, I went by train to it and prepared for the 750km of home trip back with her.

The trip went well, I loved it and wasn't so tired despite the big trip and no sleep the night before because the hostel I slept in had a market in preparation next door (yay!). I felt comfortable, and fell in love with the car. Upon arrival, some noises made me very scared about its conditions and look at the hood : the filling of the cooling liquid hadn't be been done and it was way less than minimal. I saw nothing during the trip but engine was making ticking noises of metal cooling everywhere.

So I had her check at two garage (first nissan but they didn't put her up) and another one so we could see everything down there.

Engine is apparently fine, gearbox had a small leak at rear that can't be repair without dismantling the gearbox and garage said for the age, it was actually fine to have this small leak (I bought a sealant). But the rear brakes never got serviced as told by the garage...so I drove 750km with poor rear brakes and actually, all the liquids are to be changed, only engine oil is okay...yay! A bellow gimbal blew up on the front left wheel, so I gotta have it changed. The garage will pay the rear brakes propper fixing.

I'll buy some 300v engine and gear oil to make it smooth, as well as all liquids to make her fine this way, have gimbal changed. The tyres are okay but they're cheap tyres. I'll have air filter changed as well as oil and fuel filter for a clean circuit. All electronicals works fine, only water pump needs a change too. Car have 198 000 km on it now.

The under of the car is actually clean and pretty for its age, garage guys were surprised and liking it.

However, I was so happy of the sealed roof (yes it's sealed by silicone) cause I was thinking : oh no need to worry about the water anymore!!! What a relieve! And while taking care and repairing the leather, I saw a lot of broken iron pieces, all rusted and I asked myself where it was coming from. I had to take a torchlight and mount up in a very small area where you can see only with light that the metal of the roof on the under is actually being eaten.... and no one tried to stop it. The garage told me they would fix it (after I said I wouldn't have buy it if I knew) so that's a good news in a way.

I dismantled the right side of the cushion wanting to see if the underseats were attacked by rust too, and by yanking it up too hard the plastic thing holding the cushion came with the lock, so I am scared to to do on the left side. The under cushion seems fine but I saw some glasses shards that I have no idea why they're here and the back seat metal plates seems to have rust on it, not eating it yet but needing to be threated.

Professionnals said it was a fine car that wasn't propperly cared but can be brought back to life and I'll try to.

I'll upload pictures later, I washed the floor, but still need to repair poor leather conditions despite several treatments, I am a fool for loving it but anyone who went in, despite not good oils, not good tyres loved it...

 

Very nice story, good to see more maxima enthusiasts .

I know well how difficult it is in europe to have a Maxima, it's definitely a lot more costly than in north america with the insurance, gas, and registration fee.... and harder to find people with the parts. If you're ever searching for a part but can't find it, but you know the part number, sometimes it's worth it to look at ordering it from russia as i've found places there that have parts that you can't find in western europe.

Yes the rust is what will kill these cars, and it only spreads and gets worse so if you plan on keeping the car a long time, it's better to repair the rust properly as soon as possible.

 

Thank you, I tried to make it short as I was scared to bore people. I'll upload some more pictures, especially now it's a bit more clean, she really was dirty as hell before. And then will come the leather caring. She was in a very sunny region and leather suffered hard.

Actually, it's rare, but not so hard because due to its rarety, few people knows it and it's very cheap to own a 4th and 5th gen right now. They barely cost more than 2 000 euros. As for insurance, I have 50 euros per month in all protections included. This is possible because it's an old car, however for powerful cars under the age of ten years, it's near to impossible to own one unless it is immatriculated in easter europe. However, for gas, yes it's definitely an issue especially the maxima is totally addictive. And for powerful cars later, it'll be even hardest because they'll have to be imported since there are so few in France...it's ridiculous because a part of our economy and tourism depends on those cars.

A good thing is that politics are starting to see the effects and braking onto some of the choices they made.

For parts, thank you very much but yes, some parts are hard to get. For instance, I had to order from lituania for some brakes repair kits...Fortunately, for others, some maximas are in junkyards. It was the biggest fear I had, and this forum helped me make the move, after I bought dozens of magazines and such about this car.

Yes, and I didn't see it or I would have make it fix, I paid to redo the timing belt and such, it's not to see the car lose its roof within months. I made two videos about it, and I wish the roof can still last some more. That's why I tried to dismantle the rear seat, to check on the metal part, I wish I didn't break the cushion lock however, because even the plastic holder in which the U shape lock goes came as well. I'll see if I can put it back properly.

As for its power, she is 170hp in France, I have no idea why it's 160 in US and 170 in Europe, but she was clearly powerful.

I'll order her this kit list :

300v 5w30 engine oil
75w90 300v gearbox oil
HKS oil filter
300zx gas filter
HKS super hybrid air filter

I have no idea how much of brake fluid are required, I think 1l and I think to get some rb 700 instead of normal motul brake, I have no idea. It's just I prefer to pay more on liquids than have to pay even more later on equipement.

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

Wow 50 euros for comprehensive is pretty great. Yeah for the immatriculation it depends on the country and their laws regarding power and engine size.

In lithuania there are also some nice shift ***** you can buy from some sellers there.

For the engine it depends on the type, in north america with the SE version, after 1991 i think, there was the VE30DE with 190, while the VG had 160. Perhaps the 10 difference on the VG is just slightly different tuning and maybe exhaust? Or different units of measurement for power? I'm not sure.

I suppose for the brakes it depends on how long you bleed it. Maybe 2 or 3 litres to be safe.

Looking forward to the pictures.

 

Yes, new cars cost a ton but old ones are kinda cheap to insure even if often, the all included insurance option is not possible. They prefer just very limited ones.

I gotta check but eastern countries loves a lot those cars. Well, yes but for vg30e, the only difference is the grille so far I saw, so a different air flow, I have no idea.

Thanks for the brakes, I'll take some normal motul dot3-4 then or my wallet will die with all the purchases done.

I have some vibrations at 50 to 60km/h on third gear, what could be the issue?

Tomorrow for the pictures!

 

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The vibrations only happen in third gear, or at that same speed do they still happen in other gears?

 

I think it was more likely in third gear, I have to check again to be sure but later in the week, I can't use her yet, I prefer to wait for new oils.

 

Thanks for sharing, I have always found the third gen Maximas appealing. We don't see them around much anymore in the states. You have a fine example, considering it's age!

 

I'm glad to see another on the road. It's weird for me to see an SE without the spoiler.
Your seats are in a similar condition like mine, and I'm currently using a steering wheel cover.
These cars are beautiful, I think better looking than 4th Gen, and I cannot "not" own one.
Keep hear on the road. Show the world the true Nissan 4DSC.

 

I concur

Very nice pictures

 

Thank you very much! Well, currently I am repairing the leather and I still gotta dismantle the cushion and rear seat because I saw some rust behind the seats now. Not under the cushion even if I found some glass remains. I don't know from where they are from.

Do I need anything else after cushion is removed to remove the matress so I can see if there are any rust under them as well? The underneath of the car from outside is pretty clean, I'll post pictures about it.

The sunroof actually leaked and was sealed with silicon, but actually there is corrosive rust on the internal side of the roof and under the top side of the roof, under the paint, rust is there even if not corrosive on this side. Would it be easier and cheaper to get a new roof like james92se did than to dismantle the whole sunroof system and clean then repair the rust damage?

It's a very addictive car and by discovering and reading this site, I fell in love with it and wanted to own one too. Also, the 4th gen in europe is from the japanese version so it's not as bad looking as is the 4th gen in US.

Maxima for ever! Even if now it seems, it may be vmotion as next name!

 

Perhaps a window has broken in the car's past

After you remove the cushion you should see the metal right? In the areas surrounding it with carpet and other things you could dismantle them to see the metal condition, but that'd be a big project.

Sunroof I'm not sure about, hopefully someone else here can answer

the 4th and 5th gen in europe had the I30 body style here. For the 4th gen I prefer the look of the I30 completely, but for the 5th gen I like the rear better on the north america maxima, but the front end of the i30...maybe if i see a nice I30 in a scrapyard I should change my front

 

I think so because I don't see what else it can be, also those windows seems pretty solid to me. I like it a lot.

I still can't remove the right side of the cushion, left side went and I can see the metal under cushion to be fine, it seems it's coated nicely. But I wanna see under the carpet. I wish the right side was easier to negociate with and that it'll be able to go back all together once done.

Soon I'll really start repairing the leathers including the steering wheel. For now, I am learning how to remove rust up to bare metal, then undercoat it with primary anti rust, then a second protective paint. I gotta buy the products because I did a small rust removal job but my main issue is that I had a rust transformer coating paint as only thing to apply and without rust, it poorly went onto the car. I have to fix that.

Here are some pics of the underneath of the baby.






Oh, I see, that's why so many people love the i30! I gotta check the rear of 5th gen in us. The main issue of the 5th gen in France is its size, 5m is extremly big considering my maxima is already taking all parking space lenght.

Hehe, I wish you to find one ! But if you can make come cars from Europe, I saw several 5th gens for dirt cheap money in there because of restrictions.

 

Thanks for sharing, @Swap . She's lookin' fine

I haven't spent much time reading about 3rd gen but you might be able to pop a VQ35 in there - a swap - in the future, if desired. https://dustrunnersauto.com/vq35de/

 

Oh yes, she is, and that's why I didn't see the roof and such until I saw some pieces of metals going on the seats while driving and then took a torchlight. I'll make you pictures, maybe a part of the roof is fine, the electronics of the sunroof and engine of sunroof are definitely fine but all the gear is rusted and probably is the roof too.

That's why I am now scared of under the carpet.

As for the engine bay, well, there aren't 3.5 vq available with tranny I think since only 350z got them, v6 are extremly rare in France. 3.0 vq are foundable but that's it. To show you a bit of our power, our Peugeot "SPORT" version is a 1.6l engine moving 1850kg, and the car just got released for 67 100 euros.

The main issue we have is that the state is involved into our car companies and medias for decades, so medias told our engine and cars were the best and since no one talked english or really had any decent news to compare, they believed it or they bought germans, much more rarely japanese (because we even banned japanese to sell in France for a time so they were less known). Our car companies were allowed to do craps (few years ago, we just had to give money to Peugeot to bring it back on tracks due to poor leadership and they weren't even scared to say it right on tv, they did!), because they're friends from people of governments and anyway, we can never do really a propper industrial plan because it always change due to elections results and so on due to the facts that companies are state owned.

Now that's the tip of the iceberg that Nissan had to deal with when they merged with Renault...That plus the fact that renault took the vq engines into their own cars calling them Renault engine saying they were better and so on while the only Renault sold out of Europe is a rebadged Dacia !

Anyway, we lost a lot of car culture we had, it start to comes back but germany is gonna take a big part of the cake since they enhance that culture (easy going to tracks for anyone, some parts of roads without limitations, better car caring and appreciation). Nissan Z31 sold around 300 000 cars around the world, not even 300 were actually sold in France.

More in more, people actually go to Germany to buy their brand new or second hands cars and powerful cars are registered into others countries. All to explain how it's hard to get a decent engine from wreck to swap it in France and to explain situation of cars in France.

 

I had no idea France was like that with cars
You guys are pretty awesome when it comes to food though. Grass-fed beef is everywhere - even McDonalds. Forget biking in SE Asia; now I wanna go rip around Europe with a V8.

 

Honnestly, our car culture used to be like food ! And our ecologist fought for food quality preservation but instead, it was mc donald which won because they asked for such hardcore laws that needed big funds to be able to stomach them! xD

Yet, we still have it thankfully and it's a pleasure to visit the country and rest in a nice restaurant enjoying cooking before visiting some ruins or anything you want. My brain is totally dead but we used to have a good love for cars, a passion, and it got damaged, one reason being that when you buy fuel, almost all what you pay are simply taxes to fill in the state money.

Hehe, you're gonna enjoy Germany stairway the most! But beware of fuel cost with a v8.

Here is some more job done.

 

Here are some more pictures of engine bay !

 

Yep the typical VG30E....Damn good design!

 

And yet, it can't take the road anymore...The garage to which I bought it and which I paid for papers didn't give me the temporary papers like what I own the car. Totally illegal on the roads now...

 

I am sorry to be moody about the car, I love it, I wanna make it all good, and I love this forum, the engine looks so great yes, there are some rusty parts that worry me about.

I wish I could ask about the improvement of the car, currently it's being fed with motul 300v, and a hks air filter. I wanna change later the suspensions and such. I also added an additive to refurbish the seals for engine and gearbox. Hoping it would seal the gearbox leak, but since I don't drive it, I am not sure of how it'll really work.

It's addictive to drive. But this issue with the seller are taking a toll on me, and also, I paid a garage to change the engine oil but it's too full, I can see it's 5mm more than the H...and I told this repairer and no answers as well...I am scared of breaking up the engine.

I feel a bit discouraged. Sometimes, I strip away the car and wash it, clean it, recently, I removed rust under the boot where the spare wheel is. I have no idea, I consider it as an entity and love this car. Just wish it was less troubles.

 

Can you put it on the road later?

 

Yes, I am waiting for temporary paper and in worst case, I'll have to repay 400 bucks for its papers.

 

Ok, so I have several pictures more to upload. I went to make a geometry today for the car, the wheel angle adjustement and it definitely helped a lot for the riding quality ==> the car was litteraly going to the right before that in one second.

I bought the HKS super air filter thinking it would be good, but I can only notice an bigger fuel consumption. Engine oil has been changed for 300v motul 5w30. The breaks seals were broken and changed and so were the brake pads as well.

Before oil change, an engine cleaner has been added. However, the old oil filter has been kept due to garagist saying the new HKS was no good (despite several shops saying it was definitely gonna fit, a HKS type 7 oil filter) till I get like the same as the former oil filter which was a cheap one from an unknown brand.

The fuel filter has been changed for one oem from nissan fitting a vg30e, so a much bigger one.

I am wondering if it have something to do with the gas consumption. I think I'll get oem air filter, oem oil filter and maybe fuel filter if it have any impact upon the gas consumption.

https://www.w-autosport.com/shopping...sence-s14.html

https://www.w-autosport.com/shopping...t-s14-s15.html

I still have the hks oil filter unused, will it help to have better gas mileage? Should I do a new engine oil change with this time someone putting the oil filter I choose? It used to be decent consumption but now car is eating a lot of gas.

Please, tell me your opinions!

 

@Swap I know how you feel about your car I only wish it didn't have so many things that needed doing all at the same time!

Wow, the VG engine looks hella different from the VQ. That's an intake manifold!?

I'm not sure you are being clear about what has changed the gas mileage. I thought you said that you can't drive it at the moment. It's important to be able to road test a vehicle because you will get a better idea of her weak points and strengths.

I have heard mixed opinions on additives to the engine oil to either clean the engine or refresh seals. Watching Scotty Kilmer on YT I think he usually says he doesn't recommend oil additives. You can run into oil dilution problems (increased engine wear). Just doing regular changes is the right path.

Reading some instructions on oil changes I hear people say to fill up to 75% capacity and then give the oil time to settle after taking it off ramps. Check it carefully and then try to add just the right amount (maybe the day after if you're tired). Remember that some oil stays in the oil pump an passageways, so if you add 4l to a 4l capacity engine you're probably overfilling a bit. What do the dipsticks in France say on them?

For filter brands I constantly see people on this board talk about Wix, so that's what I got for my car (and my parents' ).

 

Thank you for understanding, I just want the best and to make it last. I hope you'll be able to fix all yours!

Yes, it looks less symetric, it does look good and when you remove some dirt and the red color of the engine is showing up is delightful. Yes the intake manifold looks strange at first but is pretty tick.

My ideas aren't clear at all with all the worries I have, but since there was an appointment for geometry and garage was close, well....it found its way.

However, I saw the fuel gauge dropping despite no leaks of a few tiny bars from full after starting the car (gas tank was full of 54l two days ago, while being almost at 0, next to reserve and only 54l made me think there is some dirt to remove from gas tank). I used an additive to remove the water from engine before to do the fuel with premium gas.

I did the gas filling while I still could legally the other day for a professional matter, I had then a 70km ride to do to get to my driving reason. The gas mileage didn't look as bad as before but still. However, two days next, I started the car as I said and gas gauge dropped.

Scotty Kilmer said to use the additive about seal and even specified a brand which I was going to get next (it's an US brand so expensive to bring here), I don't remember for engine cleaning however. The garage guy filled it all in one time, without letting it settle. It's a bit overmore, but garage that did geometry today said it was only a lil bit according to dippstick. I'll see as soon as possible to make it drained but I don't know any garage around with a drainer. I also used an additive for the seals of the engine and one for those of the gearbox. I gave it all to the guy but didn't expect to see the dippstick saying me too much after a few days.

Yes, but Wix ain't available here. We can barely get oem and only thanks to the z32 mostly. I'll try to write in a better fashion the gas mileage impression. I noticed that for decent prices and propper caring, I have to import everything even with taxes. For instance, two suspensions imported with all cost in is same price as one suspension of same brand in France unless I go for racing gear which is kinda following global price.

I'll try to get some propper rest, propper thinking and be much more clear and organized but it's eating me to either not be able to keep it due to legal issues, or to damage it while I paid a garage for care, or have another issue on it.

It's just so lovely to drive it, My gf wasn't into cars till this one appeared.

 

I thought we had it bad in Canadistan.

You could be right, it's been a while since I've seen his videos on additives. Part of what I'm trying to say is that it is easy to get neurotic about fixing something if you don't have enough feedback - driving, in this case. We have a saying in English: "if it ain't broke don't fix it!". Of course there is a "happy medium" to be found here. My parents never change their coolant or tranny fluid, and I have to bug them to do the oil. Some people change their tranny fluid completely, disconnecting the cooler lines and refilling with Amsoil. I will just drain and fill with cheap Dexron III when I have the energy.

How are your valve covers doing? Mine are in need of gasket changes.

Oh, I don't think "tick" means what you think
I think the VG looks interesting. Many of the photos from old threads no longer work so it's nice to have some new ones.

 

Oh, don't even think to compare to Frankistan!

A mere kyb excell-g is 35 dollars (not with springs and all, of course) on Us websites, here discount start at 90 euros and is up to 170. And that's for the available parts. Some parts as spark plugs or injectors are not even there, it's others parts of the same brand they declare to be fit while it's not on the official ngk site.

About Scotty Kilmer, I love the videos and watch them kinda often, so far he said to flush often as you said so engine cleaner in this case are useless but since this one wasn't clean...And I think I have the gas tank to dismantle and clean too. Well, I went to police station to ask about the car status and it's legaly mine now! Since I paid for legal papers, I can drive it, they made me a special paper and garage seller have legal obligation to declare the sell to the state. My parents never did too, they were believing some people now retired in garages who never did much of oil change, tranny oil got changed once tranny died for instance.

So, honnestly since the brakes repairs, yes the car definitely overconsume. Could hks oil filter reduce consumption or helps the engine in any way? I ask cause I am thinking of an engine flush to remove some more dirts and have clean oil this time.

I'll check for electric pump system to change my fluids I think.

How can I see how they are? I think I'll set up later a full gasket change but once all is covered and she'll be running fine. Car is still powerful a lot.

I ment "thick" especially compare to our 1.2 liters in europe!

I love the VG looks gorgeous, but then I love those kinds of things : or
Also, it needs just one injector which is less expensive maintenance cost and I find its acceleration really good but then, I am in Europe so...

Honnestly, I love to do pictures so I can do a lot more especially when the two things holding on the sides of the engine bay will be replaced so I won't have to keep it in my hands

 

Hey, so after some times and health issues, back to washing the maxima. Here is the maf getting cleaned, seriously the difference is astonishing.

I am thinking on using a pressure vaporizer and clean valve then the cat as well with liquy moly products as well.