i have always been a fan of the maxima my brother Owned 2 a 1999 SE 5speed and a 2003 SE 6speed TI edition. so i know of the maxima's short commings and strong points. the 99 was modded, stillen y pipe, stillen rear section, injen cai, agx's and eibach prokit. both front and rear strut bars and stillen rear sway bar. the car was a very quick and handled pretty well for being a front wheel drive sedan (can't compare to my S13 though). due to the untimely end of my 240 and being unable to locate another i purchased a 1999 SE-L MAXIMA. i have owned it for over a week now and although handling on the corners is sloppy. the engine and powerband is amazing. my heavyly modded NA 240 would have a run for its money to beat this thing. it runs very well. the car has 95,000 miles now and 600 of those miles are mine.Torque steer is a beast i am begining to learn to control the car in straight line acceleration. i noticed today if i am parked and i rev it to redline and let the engine just wine down it stalls or comes close to stalling. i am not sure if this is normal or maybe something is wrong with my max. any suggestions or explanitions would be appreciated. Fuel filter maybe or adjusting the idle?. the car idles fine normally so any help is appreciated.

 

Try cleaning the throttle body

 

i forget to mention i also did an oil change and started the car on synthetic 5W30. and the car is completely stock.

 

wow...95,000mi on a 99 se-L? that's a lot of mileage. it's all good, the VQ can last for at least till 200k with proper maintance.

the first thing i would do is manually pull the "check engine light". detail instruction is in the 4th gen sticky >> http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=104931 this will help you to determine the exact problem through the ECU.

next, i would inspect the following basic maintance stuff:

1. clean throttle body
2. clean air intake filter
3. inspect all spark plugs
4. oil change on time?
5. clean idle air control valve (or IAC)
6. inspect the the voltage on the knock sensor with an ohmmeter
7. inspect all coil packs with an ohmmeter

just start with #1 and work your way down, if one fix the the problem then just happily drive your car good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

what kinda synthetic oil and oil filter are you using? i suggest following bill's recommendation on oil stuff >> http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=227996

 

i am using pennzoil synthetic from jiffy lube.i usually used mobil one is my 240 but i wanted to have the max's oil changed right away so i went to jiffy lube. yeah its high mileage but its in really good shape and the price was really good. it runs well but i am sure it can use a tune up.obviously with mileage that high they are highway the guy had a long commute to work and he was an older gentlemen who did most of the maintence. i was under the impressions that MAXIMA's had open differentials but i was doing some research and found out that the SE's had VLSDs is that true. i did a bunch of burnouts and it leaves two even lines all the time. its also very smooth to launch, no wheel hop but wheel spin?

 

i thought only the infiniti I30 comes with VLSD

 

i can take puctures of the burn out and i was looking on www.carsdirect.com doing used car "research" and it listed that the car had a VLSD. i then went to www.cars.com and did "research" on a 99 maxima and same thing VLSD.
http://www.carsdirect.com/research/c...=USA90NIC051D0,

 

wash your car, you'd be amazed at how much more hp and problem-free of a car you can attain

 

damn no way a discovery by the newbie, no one thought that SELs had VSLD damn. Don't expect max handle like your 240. Basicly not too many fwd can hang with rwd. My friend with coilovers on his cx hatch can't hang with my stock suspension 240 on off/on ramps.

 

actually no

20k miles per year is considered average nowdays for a sedan vehicle like a Maxima. Since it's a 99, which has been around for some 5.5 years, even the mileage of (5.5 * 20) or 110k would be considered average for that car.

...And besides, it's a 99, perhaps the 4th gen model that breaks down least (except for the defective ignition coils in many, but that's like a given) simply because it's the last of the 4th gen and we all know that significant adjustments and reliability gains are attained in virtually all last gen models of vehicles.

Now, I don't want to sound like an a$$, but many 4th gen orgers don't realize that our cars are OLD. Now someone's going to say "that depends on what u consider old cause my brother had a 85 chevy blah blah blah). NO, our cars are old in the sense that structual components are meant to give out and people here are often amazed that something, or perhaps many things, have recently been replaced in their say 97 SE. HELLO! That's an 8 year-old car people! My point is very clear - people often misjudge their car's performance, looks, and problems simply because they don't realize how old their car actually is. I own a 99 and JESUS it's already 5 years old. Those with 95's, your cars are 9 years old - just a reality check.

 

i was also wondering if you guys could recommend a good exhaust that will have a decent sound and not drone. i am planning on getting the cattman Y pipe and a highflow cat. would the cattman exhaust or greddy be a better choice. recommendations would be appreciated. i check and the Greddy evo is said to work with my 99 i am hoping this sounds ok.

 

Unless you came across a Canadian Maxima, you don't have VLSD. I don't have it on my 99 SE-L, and nobody else that has not put it in there or bought their max in Canada has it either.

 

well you would know better than me i was just curious. it is still pretty nice that it leaves a nice pair of tire tracks when i do a burn out none the less even if it does or doen't have a VLSD, those sites should update their info. i guess i should have gotten the SE-R Spec V. thanks for the info

 

do maxima usually leave two tire marks unless you put in a limited slip. my 240SX only left one untill I installed a J30 diff. is there anyway to check? can i jack the car up and spin the wheel? does it work like it did in rear wheel drive ? should they both spin the same way.

 

Well, you can check via the transmission code.

1) Write down the VIN stamped on the transmission
2) Check the VIN against the VIN marked on the firewall of the engine bay
3) If the VINs match, check the transmission code

If the tranny code ends with a V, you have a VLSD...if it ends with an A, you have an open diff.

If your VINS don't match, someone swapped trannies...could be a VLSD. Jack it up and spin one tire...the other will spin the same way if it's a VLSD.

 

What makes you say that?

I'm amazed you considered both the Maxima and the SpecV. The SpecV is tiny.

 

car size didn't matter to me, i had a 1992 240sx s13 before