Agreed. The pain and headache of resurfacing aint worth it. Jus replace it. Prolly cost the same to do both anyway

 

Might be ignition switch. But i wd look at FSM and car circuitry it could be a fuse near the battery.

 

Hi. This could be explained by a bad electrical connection somewhere. When electricity is trying to flow across a bad (high impedance) connection, motors, especially the starter, draw enough juice to drop the voltage to useless levels. Conversely, low-draw devices like your dash lights will work fine.

As the corrosion causing the bad connection progresses, impedance increases, so less and less current draw is required to drop to voltage. So first your starter motor, then other high-draw devices like window motors, start having intermittent but progressively more frequent and consistent problems.

I assume your battery and alternator connections are OK, since they were replaced. (Double check them.) Then check the connections to the starter. Then, I would inspect/replace all the ground wires and cables. (The copper braided cables bolted in various places under the hood.) They'll probably be green with corrosion, and maybe even broken. The problems aren't immediate because there are lots of grounded return paths. But eventually, enough connections degrade or fail that you have symptoms like yours.

The good news is that these bad connections are cheap to fix. The bad news is that they are scattered around the car and the offending ones can be hard to find. Good luck.

 

Hi. The water is NOT LEAKING from anything! It is condensation. Like when you take a cold beer out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a minute. It will become wet with condensation, especially if it's a humid summer day.

Some points to consider, Stamar:
1. Plastic CAN get cold.
2. The symtoms are independent of rain.
3. The "leaked" substance is water, not refrigerant or coolant.
4. Turning off the AC makes the problem go away.

Look at his symptoms: they are explained completely by condensation, but not by any sort of leak. Therefore, there is no leak.

(The GMs from the 70s used to blast air so cold that you'd get massive amounts of ice forming around the dashboard vents. This ice was frozen condensation. The effect is real and ubiquitous.)

The condensation will accumulate on anything that gets cold, and eventually enough will form that you'll get a drip. The evaporator is the coldest thing in the cabin, so it's the prime suspect. (There is a collection/drain system on any air conditioning or dehumidification system to deal with this.) However, several things could be happening, for example: (1) The water drips from evaporator onto some intermediate object, then onto the floor, so it seems to be "leaking" from the intermediate; (2) other things in the airflow are getting cold enough to have their own condensation, and it's this secondary condensation that you're experiencing.

My guess is that there's a crack or clog somewhere in the collection/drainage system, and this is the cause of your troubles.

 

Hi again. These are all good ideas and common problems, but they don't explain the symptom. Not to nitpick, but we'll probably only solve this if we're precise with our words.

1. The EVAPORATOR is the thing inside your cabin near or integrated with your heater core. The evaporator gets cool.
2. The CONDENSER is the thing under the hood. It's just a radiator with a fan blowing throug it.
3. A LEAK is different from a DRIP. A LEAK in a closed system like engine coolant or AC freon can only persist for a short time until the system is empty. A DRIP can persist continuously if its source is something like moisture in the atmosphere.

This problem is (if I am correct) a DRIP of water, not a LEAK or coolant or refrigerant or anything else.

 

Edit: Sorry for being a dummy. Instead of unplugging the compressor connector as described below, you can accomplish the same thing by UNPLUGGING THE A/C RELAY. I'd give this a try -- it might cut off the cooling function, but allow the full range of cabin airflows, which seems to be what you're after...


How about this workaround before you part with your cash... It's more of a pain than pulling a fuse, but it might suit you given that anybody who looks at your problem is going to rob you blind...

Go under the hood and unplug the electrical connector to the compressor. This will probably be incredibly difficult but it's worth a shot. Then protect both connector halves from moisture and grime. I would douse them in silicone spray lubricant and then wrap them up in plastic & electrical tape. Finally, replace your fuse so that hopefully everything else in the system (fans, duct baffles, etc.) will function OK.

I am being lazy and not looking at the electrical diagrams to have a better idea whether this would work. But, if you've got a Saturday morning to kill it might be worth a try. Good luck!

 

i installed some h3 foglight bulbs i got from autozone to replace my stock ones on my 96 i30. they worked for about a month than stopped. i checked all the fuses and nothings blown. any ideas?

 

Got a problem with my A32. Brake pedal gets hard the 2nd time I step on the brake. It usually happens while parking when or slowing down. Also losing a bit of braking power. A friend/mechanic says its the hydrovac. Another said I should check the brake pressure lines. Which is which?

 

Im not exactly sure what a hydrovac is but i suspect that is it

youve got a leak in the brake booster line That is vacuum. So I suspect that guy was the one that knew what the problem was.

Theres a few ways to detect leaks you can look up but the first thing i do is buy all the hoses in the system and replace those and hope thats the problem.

theres a suspect looking nipple on the back of the engine that looks like it could easily leak. That could be called a hydravac i doubt it. I bet hydravac is the whole system.


your second suggestion is super unlikely but it is possible that you need to bleed the fluid and its so bad now that it just boils out? The symptom of that is going to be the opposite of what you described its starting firm and getting spongier as you use it. fluid will be brown

 

Hi. I think your first friend is correct.

If the problem were the brake pressure lines, for example air in the lines, I would expect your brakes to be initially soft and possibly get better with continued pumping. And if the lines were leaking, you'd have no brakes at all.

I think by "Hydrovac" (a brand name) he means the vacuum braking system. This makes sense. The brake cylinder employs the power of atmospheric air pressure to give you your power assist. For this to work, the brake cylinder must get decent vacuum from the intake manifold.

Maybe the vacuum system is working, but not well, because of a small leak or clog in the vacuum line or something. Say over time it managed to build up a decent vacuum, so your first hit of the brakes would feel OK. But if your second hit comes before the vacuum can rebuild, then you won't get the power assist and the brakes will feel hard. And without the assist, your foot power won't get you an awful lot of braking, so it'll feel like you're losing braking power.

Other than the vacuum line, another key component is the valve that connects the brake cylinder to intake manifold vacuum when the brakes are applied, and to the atmosphere when they're not. This valve could be faulty.

Finally, if you have ABS then the ABS can completely take over your system and do whatever it "thinks" is right. It may be acting on faulty wheel speed sensor information; or it may have internal valves that are sticking; or some other ABS issue.

I would try these things:
1. Pull the ABS fuse and see if the problem persists. If so, it's probably not the ABS (although that's not certain). If the problem goes away, and then returns when you reinstall the fuse, then the ABS seems suspect.
2. Check/replace the vacuum line from intake manifold to brake cylinder. It should be pretty cheap and easy, and maybe the car is old enough that you should just replace the line on general principles. (Pay attention to the check valve direction.)
3. If neither of the above, I'd suspect some valve or something inside the brake cylinder.

Try these things and the results might suggest the next step (?).

 

Considering buying a 1995 Maxima GXE with 350,000 + miles on it. How much more can I get out of it without major repairs (like transmission)? Car is one owner and he has kept up on oil changes, etc. Also has new tires.

 

I bought an aftermarket radio and got the right wire harness and everything. The only problem is that there is no sound.
I do have some wires that aren't connected to anything because they are different from the wires on the harness and the radio but I'm relatively new to this so maybe I'm wrong.
Any help would be appreciated and I'll give more details as far as what the wires are if need be.

 

you know what id say to a nissan maxima with 350,000 miles?

Its probably the one thats going to last forever.

Is it a manual?
It means its been driven non stop. It didnt break down and sit forever, the previous owners probably knew what they were doing.

I used to work at a newspaper years ago and there was a 79 toyota truck with over 1 million miles on it. the only major repair was valve jobs.

All terrible miles mind you lol. no synthetic oil.

Some cars can go forever. All maintenance related things will go bad like brake pads etc. Clutch is sort of a major maintenence related thing.

NOW an automatic transmission? No such thing as one that lasts forever

Honestly Ive never heard of one make it to 300k of any make. 350k? Must have already been replaced.

The maxima auto is extremely reliable as far as that goes. Mine has 200k, works fine.... not perfect.


Ive definitely heard of manual transmissions making it to 300k in fact I had one. It was a volkswagon. Popped out of fourth gear though.

 

1 owner for that long?!?!?!?!?! It really makes me wonder why he's selling it.... But anywho, if it's one owner, I'd still feel much more confident then buying a sub 200k mileage maxima with 4 owners.

Still, have someone from the .org in your area that knows these cars, check it out thoroughly and do the usual due diligence when buying any car.

 

This seems to be dead on, saw it dripping today. It is dripping from that black plastic thing under the glove box. And it only drips after long use of the AC. So, its probably evaporator or collection drain. If it was the drian, wouldnt it start dripping right away though.

Still havent checked it out, but removing the fuse inside the hood (AC) lets everything else work fine, so i guess it only stops the compressor from working.

 

Will rims from an 02 Jetta fit on a 96 maxima ??

Like these

 

Find out the bolt pattern and offset, then report back.

 

According to this

http://rimhelp.com/searchrecords.php...sort_type=desc

and this

http://www.eautoworks.com/product-Ei...agen-Jetta.htm

your answer is no. Different bolt patterns.

 

and not to mention, doesnt vw use a bolt into the hub instead of a nut onto the wheel stud? seems like that may cause a problem... course maybe you could get a lug nut to work in there, iuno... but its somethin to think about...

 

the wheel itself wouldnt care whether theres a bolt or a nut on the end

 

unless the tapered bore to the hole its self didnt match a lug nut... the wheel bolts are made to match the rims, not all lug nuts will work. know what i mean?

 

well thanks guys but i found 4 of these for 85 i figure ill just repaint em

 

everytime i try to acces an how to link that sends me on motorvate.ca i can never actually see the instructions as i click on the link that i need... help anyone?

 

I believe motorvate.ca is down. What do you need help with?

 

How do you remove the front turn signals?

 

If I recall correctly, grab a flat head screw driver and insert it between the two turn signal housings. GENTLY wiggle the screw driver back and forth and one (the one closer to the fender) should pop out. The other is held in place with (I think) a phillips screw. Then just disconnect the electrical connections.

Good luck.

 

Screwdriver between the side marker light and the turn signal, and gently pry it out. There is no screw to hold it in, just a "clip"

Edit: Just saw 95franklin just responded. My bad.

 

So, I just got a max used off of craigslist, and the previous owner said it needed new axles.
Done.
Now, when driving it obviously wants to go all over(needs an alignment, bad) but when getting up to speed, I hear a high-pitched whine. The trans seems to shift smoothly, and the tach stays in the correct range the entire time. Can this be indicative of a failed wheel bearing? Or is a whine most likely a bad tranny? The trans fluid appears red, not brown, and does not smell burnt.

 

actually that would be a sign of a bad cv joint


unstable wheels in a certain speed range would be cv joint

unstable wheels in all speeds is the wheel bearing

 

What size and type of washer do I need for the oil drainplug? Mine is MIA.

 

Thanks for the reply stamar - CV joints are brand new, with literally 5 miles on them. The wheels are unstable at all speeds, but its just you notice(and hear it more) at higher speeds. I am going to be unemployed from July 1st-5th, so I might head to the junkyard. Can I just yank an entire rotor assembly from a junker and swap it out?

 

Well its hard from a distance to tell

Youre going to have to jack the car up. pull on the cv joint from all angles.

He said the axels are bad but the cv joints are new?

whoops. A cv joint is the axel. Its your front axel in two parts. So what is it, bad or brand new? Sounds bad to me

wheel bearings bad? pull on the wheel from all angles. Jack the car up, and spin it with your hand. When its going bad you can tell it is grinding. Jack up another wheel to compare. It can be hard to diagnose ive been there.

It CAN be hard to diagnose one or the other. I have at times relied on a free estimate from a front end shop.

Actually wheel bearings can be fine at low speed, and then get worse as the speed increases.

If it is bad enough that its wobbling the wheel can shoot off dont thing it wont lol

CV joint is actually going to be bad based on an rpm, so perhaps fine after each shift and then getting worse. ALSO definitely turning. You can feel the wheel wobbling around when you turn in a parking lot corner to corner.



Oh you mean grab the whole hub as opposed to replacing just the wheel bearing?

OK yes you can. You need a GNARLY huge socket and a big breaker bar. The cost of the socket is pretty big. Ask here in the forum the size of maxima wheel bearing hub ( or i think its called the steering knuckle)
Its not hard it just does require a socket most people dont have. You need this socket regardless though, to take yours off or a junkyard one. You need to remove one hub or two.

Ya well I dont know what you are avoiding, pressing the bearings out and in? Its your dollars. Compare the price of brand new wheel bearing and paying someone to press it in...

with the cost of the whole hub and your extra labor taking it out. I know when I did that last it was a better deal to replace the bearing and pay for it. Its also brand new then, and that part does deteriorate from sitting


edit i am not certain if a maxima uses a hub, sealed unfixable, or seperate wheel bearings you press in.

My sentra uses both. Is the wheel bearing front or back?

 

Ty for the replies. I know the axle/CV joints are new, because I personally installed them this weekend.

I am basically trying to repair them for as cheap as possible since I am starting a new job next Tuesday that I need the car for, but will probably buy a new one in 6 to 8 months. If I can avoid the expense and labor of pressing new ones in, that would be tops.

I actually do own the 36mm socket for the wheel hub nut(along with a breaker bar and cheater bar). Are you saying there is a different socket required to replace the hub assy/steering knuckle?

 

no thats it just one huge socket and a big breaker bar.

 

Alright, I have a 96 Maxima with 240k miles on it (yeah i know...)

For a very long while now, it's had problems idling when the engine is cold. It's become a routine when I first start up to have to crank 4-6 times until I'm able to successfully leave. Even after this, if I haven't accelerated hard yet and I drop off the accelerator, it'll stall again until I accelerate hard and get the engine warm. CEL is on with codes for the both of the front O2 sensors. May be unrelated, but the AC seems very sensitive when it's on high. If i push the gas down, a few seconds later it blasts, and when I let off it gets very weak. I was having problems with it stalling even once it was hot and running as well, but I changed the fuel filter and it fixed that problem. It runs fine now when the engine is hot. It just has problems getting there.

I'm sick of having to crank up 6 times+ to leave... So does anyone have any possible solutions to this?

 

If i need to get to the rear strut tower, will i need to take out the rear seat? If so how do I take it out?

 

The rear strut towers can be accessed from the trunk on 4th gens. You have to pull back that black trunk liner which is held in by plastic clips which can be removed using a flathead screwy driver.

 

will there be enough room to get a wrench on the strut bolts from the trunk?

 

Here is a quick description...

My problem started w/ a cylinder 2 misfire, I replaced #2 coil pack. Still have cyl. 2 misfire. So I moved #2 coil pack (new) to #6, and moved #2 plug to #4, cleared codes. It takes about 20 minutes of driving for the misfire to show up, runs normally until then. I drive until it shows up again, now showing cyl. 6 misfire. I think I have a bad coil pack, so I return/replace it, clear codes. Before I can get home, cyl 6 misfire again (2nd new coil pack), so I move to cyl. 4, you guessed it, now at cyl 4. WTH? What are the odds I get not 1, but 2 bad coil packs from the parts store (AutoZone)?? Should I get coil pack #3, or is there something else I should look at?

I will be replacing the Platinum plugs w/ copper NGK's today (fire hotter?) It runs fine until I put a load on it, like hills or passing.

 

SOunds like u need to clean MAF and TB. Read the HOw-tos for how to accomplish this. u dont have to remove TB, jus get a stick and rag and clean insides as best u can.