Loss of POWER
From the Stickies. It's about mileage, but would be the same for the situation of lost power:
1) Air filter. The stock filter on the car is a drop in panel filter. If you bought your car used there is a chance that the filter may have never be changed. This would be the time to do it and you have several options: drop in K&N filter, cone filter or CAI. A search on any of these terms will resolve any questions you may have. If you have a cone filter, the filter may be dirty. K&N makes a recharge kit that is available at Pepboys to clean the filter.
2) Fuel filter. The fuel filter is small gray cylinder on the back of the firewall that is to be changed on a 60k service interval. It is often to blame for bad gas mileage, but can be a pain in the butt to change, but it can be done. The filter is relatively cheap from Nissan. Some members reccomend buying a fuel filter for a Nissan 300ZX. Its the same size hoses, but twice the size, so it lasts 2x longer and is doubly effective. The choice is up to you. The writeup to change the filter can be found here: www.maximadriver.com
3) Spark plugs. If you're running anything other than NGK plugs in your engine, or you bought your car used, go get some NGK spark plugs for the dealer. Spark plugs are to be repalced every 60k miles, but rarely are. They will cost about $10 a pop. Sprintmax has a great spark plug changing writeup that can be found here: http://www.sprintmax.com/tails/sparkplug.htm
4) Dirty throttle body. The throttle body is the first piece of metal behind the intake system. It accumulates a certain amount of dirt and grime. Those who clean it out after long neglect find their car is smoother and that fuel economy does increase. Writeup can be found here: www.motorvate.ca
6) Oxygen sensors. If an oxygen sensor is messed up, it will trigger a Check Engine Light. There are three sensors in total. 2 rest in the respective branches of the Y Pipe (these are the Front Heated 02 Sensors) and one rests in the catalytic converter (95-96) or in the B Pipe right behind the cat (97-99). If any of these sensors fail, gas mileage will decrease substantially. Many sites exist that sell oxygen sensors (dealers will charge a lot). www.buyoxygensensors.com gets good reviews on this site frequently, and they have good prices. For a writeup, go to www.motorvate.ca, or search around the .org
7) Knock Sensor. This is the bad boy, the code everyone fears. The sensor is actually just a piece of metal that rests under your intake manifold. They cost approximately $110 from various sources (www.thepartsbin.com is usually cited as one of the best). The sensor is not terribly difficult to change, but as my friend Harold described it, "Nissan must weld razor blades under the manifold." Due to tight fitting, the sensor often results in a bloody hand. The writeup for the sensor can be found at www.motorvate.ca
8) Dirty fuel system. As a car grows older, carbon deposits in the fuel path, clogging areas such as the injectors. Many modern gasolines are designed to combat this (such as Chevron with Techron) and there are many additives that can be added to gas to clean out these systems. Many mechanics offer a full fuel system clean out for about $50-$75. Many .orgers believe this to be BS, some think the process is valid. The choice is yours.
This is the ticket to good gas mileage! Any other questions can be resolved using the search function, as this subject is discussed quite often. Enjoy!
1) Air filter. The stock filter on the car is a drop in panel filter. If you bought your car used there is a chance that the filter may have never be changed. This would be the time to do it and you have several options: drop in K&N filter, cone filter or CAI. A search on any of these terms will resolve any questions you may have. If you have a cone filter, the filter may be dirty. K&N makes a recharge kit that is available at Pepboys to clean the filter.
2) Fuel filter. The fuel filter is small gray cylinder on the back of the firewall that is to be changed on a 60k service interval. It is often to blame for bad gas mileage, but can be a pain in the butt to change, but it can be done. The filter is relatively cheap from Nissan. Some members reccomend buying a fuel filter for a Nissan 300ZX. Its the same size hoses, but twice the size, so it lasts 2x longer and is doubly effective. The choice is up to you. The writeup to change the filter can be found here: www.maximadriver.com
3) Spark plugs. If you're running anything other than NGK plugs in your engine, or you bought your car used, go get some NGK spark plugs for the dealer. Spark plugs are to be repalced every 60k miles, but rarely are. They will cost about $10 a pop. Sprintmax has a great spark plug changing writeup that can be found here: http://www.sprintmax.com/tails/sparkplug.htm
4) Dirty throttle body. The throttle body is the first piece of metal behind the intake system. It accumulates a certain amount of dirt and grime. Those who clean it out after long neglect find their car is smoother and that fuel economy does increase. Writeup can be found here: www.motorvate.ca
6) Oxygen sensors. If an oxygen sensor is messed up, it will trigger a Check Engine Light. There are three sensors in total. 2 rest in the respective branches of the Y Pipe (these are the Front Heated 02 Sensors) and one rests in the catalytic converter (95-96) or in the B Pipe right behind the cat (97-99). If any of these sensors fail, gas mileage will decrease substantially. Many sites exist that sell oxygen sensors (dealers will charge a lot). www.buyoxygensensors.com gets good reviews on this site frequently, and they have good prices. For a writeup, go to www.motorvate.ca, or search around the .org
7) Knock Sensor. This is the bad boy, the code everyone fears. The sensor is actually just a piece of metal that rests under your intake manifold. They cost approximately $110 from various sources (www.thepartsbin.com is usually cited as one of the best). The sensor is not terribly difficult to change, but as my friend Harold described it, "Nissan must weld razor blades under the manifold." Due to tight fitting, the sensor often results in a bloody hand. The writeup for the sensor can be found at www.motorvate.ca
8) Dirty fuel system. As a car grows older, carbon deposits in the fuel path, clogging areas such as the injectors. Many modern gasolines are designed to combat this (such as Chevron with Techron) and there are many additives that can be added to gas to clean out these systems. Many mechanics offer a full fuel system clean out for about $50-$75. Many .orgers believe this to be BS, some think the process is valid. The choice is yours.
This is the ticket to good gas mileage! Any other questions can be resolved using the search function, as this subject is discussed quite often. Enjoy!
Well, I've wondered about these things myself and found that little section of stickies to be a gem. Killaklown has been on here for a long time, but the flip side of being on here since 2001 is that you probably haven't been through the stickies in 4 years!
I did a pretty thorough tuneup when I got the car a few years back, including new O2 sensors, air filter, fuel line flush, spark plugs, cleaned throttlebody, adjusted idle speed, and checked for any engine codes.
The car felt pretty good originally, but after the tune-up, it was perfect! If you are on original spark plugs or original air filter, it's amazing how much these little things can do. Similarly, a clean throttlebody should be listed at a 15HP mod! Seriously, on a 8-9 year old car (such as his) it can make a big difference if it's never been done before!
Later.
I did a pretty thorough tuneup when I got the car a few years back, including new O2 sensors, air filter, fuel line flush, spark plugs, cleaned throttlebody, adjusted idle speed, and checked for any engine codes.
The car felt pretty good originally, but after the tune-up, it was perfect! If you are on original spark plugs or original air filter, it's amazing how much these little things can do. Similarly, a clean throttlebody should be listed at a 15HP mod! Seriously, on a 8-9 year old car (such as his) it can make a big difference if it's never been done before!
Later.
Originally Posted by TrackSmart
From the Stickies...3) Spark plugs. If you're running anything other than NGK plugs in your engine, or you bought your car used, go get some NGK spark plugs for the dealer.
I'll put my Bosch Platinum Plus 4 against anything that NGK has, and come out on top. Ran them in my 3rd Gen Max and got 100K per set.
Originally Posted by dr-rjp
Wrong!
I'll put my Bosch Platinum Plus 4 against anything that NGK has, and come out on top. Ran them in my 3rd Gen Max and got 100K per set.
I'll put my Bosch Platinum Plus 4 against anything that NGK has, and come out on top. Ran them in my 3rd Gen Max and got 100K per set.
Agreed. Those are good quality platinum plugs. I didn't write the stickies so I won't apologize for their errors. The main message to that one is to use high quality PLATINUM spark plugs for the Maxima. The NGK plugs perform well, so it's still not bad advice.
If you have done all that you can to make sure that the hardware of your fuel & ignition systems are OK, then the next place to look are the computers; i.e., inherent problems with the ECU and TCM themselves.
Originally Posted by Sy0p
i dont have a catylitic converter so does that mean i only have to get the 2 oxygen sensors beofre the catylist.
I'm not a treehugger per-se, but seriously, there's no point to driving without a cat converter. Dyno test after dyno test has shown no horsepower difference between a straight pipe and a cat converter. If you are really worried about air flow, get one of the high flow cats. Only about $85 during group deals. I'll stop preaching now. It's a free country (though driving without a cat is not exactly legal...)
As for your question: The rear O2 sensor is not used to calibrate engine timing, etc. It will not affect performance in any way. It is only there to monitor emissions. Since you are foolishly (sorry for preaching again I can't help it
) driving around without a cat converter, you clearly aren't concerned with emissions, so you don't need the rear O2 sensor except for passing inspection.Seriously, why drive without a cat? Anyway, I hope that answers the question....
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TallTom
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
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Oct 14, 2025 05:16 PM