Hey guys, I got my 95 GLE maxima about 2 weeks ago. It just started doing that this week. The car kinda shakes while the idle goes up and down when at a light or when the car not moving. It also gives a lot of smoke off when it does this. On the highway or when its moving its fine. Anyone have any clue what it could be?

I really hope its not anything major as I cant afford a big expense. Please guys help me !!!!

 

What color smoke

 

It looks to be a mixture but mostly white. Kinda smelt like coolant but I dont know for sure.

 

White smoke = coolant

Probably a blown head gasket.

 

Exactly what I was gonna say, that would be BAD.. Isn't there a lemon law against that or something if you buy a car and it has major problems you can return it ? Or is that only in like one state.

 

I sure hope not. It doesnt over heat or anything as the temp gauge always stays at the middle. How much is it to get the head gasket replaced on a maxima?

 

Asbsolutely not. First of all, lemon laws apply to new cars. Secondly, they apply after a given number of failures, and thirdly I think a lot of states don't even have them. I'm sure that the OP signed an "as is" for this car.

In regards to a blown head gasket I'm not sure how much it costs for a max, but I'd estimate in the high hundreds, approaching a grand, unless you find a cheaper mechanic to do it.

A good engine temp wouldn't likely be relevant to this, since all the smoking cars you see driving down the road are probably within spec as well, and if a car is smoking from having overheated it's going to burn itself out in short order anyway - so it's a good sign your engie is still running fine, except for the head gasket of course.

Sucks you only bought it two weeks ago, but the car should be reliable going forward, for the most part. They're well built.

 

The car doesnt smoke any more I guess it was just that one that it did and I posted right after that. I drove it all day today and the rpms still are kinda jumpy but it didnt smoke.

The car is NOT overheating and drives fine so I dont think it could be the head gasket. Any more suggestions or do you think it still could be the headgasket without the overheating?

 

yeah go on a drive for like 10 minutes or 15 minutes or wahtever, and after your done, turn the car off and check the oil cap, it should be coated with oil, if the head gasket is busted, the oil shoudl look like chocolate milk, i stress that itll look just like chocolate milk (milky and brown) so if your not sure that it does, it problaby doesnt, that san indication that theres coolant in the oil mixture, when the head gasket breaks on the internal chabmers in the engine, it allows coolant to seep into the combustion chamber which accounts for the choc color of the oil, if your seeing white smoke, THICK white smoke then its a possiblity of coolant leakage as well, but the oil cap will tell you what you need to know

 

I agree, white smoke = head gasket. That sucks man, by the way how many miles on the car?

 

theres stuff called liquid glass that some people use as a last resort, its composed of some sort of silicate, but people usually remove their heater core and change their hoses when theyre done using it beacuse it forms a buildup along the pipe lining, you might want to google it if it turns out to be a head gasket leak

 

This is not true. The laws vary from state to state, but a lot of state's Lemon Laws apply to used cars. What state are you in, LegendLS?

 

I am from New York and I have a 95 GLE with 118k miles on it. I am going to check the car tomorrow to see if there is coolant mixed with oil. I might take it to the dealer as I heard they are offering the free 100 point inspection checks....anyone heard of this?

BTW, I bought this off of a private seller so I dont think I can get my money back.

 

Your car is too old with too many miles to be covered under New York's Used Car Lemon Law. You also need to have purchased it through a dealer; so you're SOL as far as the Lemon Law.

Usually service stations offer free 'inspections' to try to lure people in to have work done on their car. Don't be surprised if you 'need' brakes; coolant/tranny flush; other miscellaneous stuff.

Are you losing any coolant?

 

If it happens just sometimes... I had a bad fuel pressure regulator in my BMW, and the symptoms were also identical. Usually the car would run fine, but then when idling sometimes the pressure would go crazy high, and mix all wrong, way too much fuel.

If you see no Antifreeze in the oil, consider this possiblility. It can be difficult to define this problem when it's not acting up though.

Good luck!

dave h.

 

If it doesn't smoke anymore and the idle is jumpy try checking your spark plugs... Thats if you dont get white smoke anymore.

 

hey guys its me LEGENDLS, I keep getting account disabled errors on that.

Anyway, the car still does that but sometimes it doesnt smoke and sometimes it does. It happens after the car has been driven for a while, parked and then restarted. If you drive the car for a while and stay idle then its fine. But if you shut it off and restart it then it shudders and idles crazy with occasional smoke. The rpms still go crazy and no check engine light on. I still checked the ecu for diagnostics and came up with the knock sensor. Its not losing any coolant and is NOT overheating. I went to the nissan dealer for a free 100 point inspection and they found things like struts, exhaust bracket, tranny oil etc need to be taken care of. Nothing along the terms of the crazy idling. I might as well pay the 90 bucks to get the problem diagnosed when it happens as its really ****ing me off. Someone help me before I take the car in again.

BTW, I checked the oil and it appears to be fine. Doesnt smell like coolant. Maybe it needs further testing. Jeez.

 

bbbbbbbbbump

 

did you attempt to pull codes?

 

sorry i can't help, but let us know what you find out...

 

Sounds like it could quite possibly be your MAF sensor. If it's not overheating and no loss of coolant, you might check into this. I had symptoms similiar to yours complete with smoke, although it wasn't white. Turned out it was my MAF... replaced it and it hasn't acted up since. Good luck man.

 

I tried pulling out codes and got the code 0304 which is the knock sensor. I really hope it is the MAF and not a blown head gasket. How can you check if it is bad and how much will it be for the sensor?

 

hey Short, did you get a check engine light for the MAF sensor? How did you test it and how much did it run ya for another.

 

A dying sensor will not throw a code, but a completely dead sensor will. You can pickup a used MAF sensor on eBay or the Classified section over here from $50-$100.

To rule out the MAF sensor, go to the Regional section (http://forums.maxima.org/forumdisplay.php?f=15) and see if someone local to you will let you swap their MAF sensor for a minute. You should do a full tuneup since you just got the car.

 

No CEL for the MAF and yes, I got the knock sensor code as well. I replaced that and when it didn't fix the problem, I narrowed it down to the MAF. Replaced it, and like I said, no problems since. I'd do what JaTaN suggested and see if someone will let you swap out their MAF for a test to see if it's what is causing the problem.