I own a 1999 Nissan Maxima GXE that I purchased new in June of 1999 (2 weeks before the 5th generation Maxima's came out) from Peachtree Nissan in Atlanta Georgia. I'm planning on purchasing a y pipe. From my understanding, there is a Federal and a California spec exhaust system. I wondering if there is anyway to figure out which one I need before I order. I crawled under my car yesterday and I counted three O2 sensors, and I also noticed that at the manifold there were three bolts in a triangular pattern holding the stock y-pipe on. Also towards the back there were 2 bolts connecting it to the b-pipe. I also went on the Warpspeed site and noticed that there is a 1999.5 to 2000 y-pipe. I take it everyone with a y-pipe had to go through this, what's the trick?

 

if you have 4 O2 sensors then youre cali spec. all 4 connectors are visible from the front of the motor.

 

FAQ:
Raise your hood. Look for a shiny metal identification tag fastened to the passenger side of firewall. The top row is the Vehicle Identification Number, starting with J. The second row is model information. The first five characters are BLHUL. The 12th character is the destination:

N = Canada
V = California
U = US, not California


Credit: Daniel B. Martin

 

Thank! Looks like it'll be a federal model. Does anyone know the difference between the 1999.5-2000 and the 1995-1999 y-pipes? Is the 1999.5-2000 refering to the Gen 5's. I know the 2000 maxima was released in June or July of 1999...

 

the bends of the pipes are similar but early 99 and before had 2 precats while 99.5 and up to 2k1 only had one precat in the y pipe. 99 and below have proven to make more power from an aftermarket y pipe than 99.5 up to 2k1.