Alright thanks for the help. Also, if the PS pump did lock up does it mean its fully siezed or if i put fluid in it, it will work again

Won't really know until you fill it back up.

Ok thanks. Umm its pre long. Just a regular cold air intake for a 4th gen maxima. We looked at it again and tried to figure out how it fits but whenever we do it it ends up right on top of the battery. Can anyone give detailed instructions? The help is really appreciated

Anything that takes air from the engine bay isn't really a CAI.

Can you post pictures of the components? Without seeing the whole setup, can't really say how to put it together.

Any manufacturer or model name on it?

So i put some more power steering fluid in and the steering works, i found where the leak was. But i also had to boost my car this morning. If i turn the lights on they would just flicker and turn off, I took my car out and the engine just started reving down when i would be trying to give gas. It than just died, and wouldnt start up again. My thought is that the alternator may be shot. Anyone have any idea?

Have you checked to see if the alternator is charging? Have you checked the battery charge level after the car died? Any codes, or brake/battery light?

And IIRC if the gauges aren't hooked up, the alternator won't charge.

In any case, why aren't you taking this back to the shop that did the work? It's either fix it all yourself and take responsibility for anything that happens as a result of this in the future, or let the shop deal with what they screwed up. Since you're supposed to take it back today anyway for the gauge thing, just tell them to fix whatever else is wrong with it.

Well i cant see if there is a break/battery lights because the guages dont work, so what your saying is since the guages are not hooked up the alternator isnt charging which is creating the car to bog down and die. And i dont have a meter to check if the alternator is charging. The only reason i havent taken it back to the shop yet is because im trying to find a battery charger so my battery will last for the ride to the shop.

I'm considering buying a 97' Maxima GLE w/ only 82k miles. However, the seller has already had to replace all of these parts in the 2 years that he's owned it. Is this reasonable to expect from a 12-year old car (but with only 82k miles)?

-Brakes, calipers and hoses
-Clutch
-Muffler
-Alternator
-Starter
-Battery
-Knock Sensor
-Axel pads on both sides of the front


Thanks.

What the hell is an axel pad?

They're all items that wear or rust out, about normal. Nothing really stands out, other than the calipers and hoses. That could just've been him getting screwed by a shop, though.

lol i think he meant "axle pad"

What do you think about the starter and alternator replacements? I had a 92 Galant before with 110k+ miles and I never had to replace either of those.

There's also a rust spot on the driver's side door and he mentioned that the muffler hook had to be replaced b/c it "rusted off". I thought rust is a very dangerous thing on a car?

IIRC it was the '97s that had the alternator recalls. A few have burst into flames.

Starter, they go out. Not exactly every day, but by far it's not a rare thing.

So what is an axle pad?

Rust is relatively common for every car, depending on location and climate.

I've got a 97 GLE with 85K miles. I consider it "normal" to have replaced pads/rotors and both CV half shafts (assuming that's what "axle pads" is related to) on an 82K mile car. It seems a little unusual to have the starter, alternator, and knock sensor all need replacing as well. I can easily see a hungry mechanic offering to replace 12-year old calipers, whether they really needed it or not.

If all those parts have been replaced, that's better than if they hadn't been, and are about to fail.

Thanks for your helpful replies. At this point, I'm primarily concerned with 2 possibilities:

1) It's a lemon and that's why the alternator/starter/knock sensor needed replacement, in addition to everything else.

2) It was in an accident before that damaged part of the engine, causing it to need these repairs. The accident could have gone unreported, since there is no record of an accident on the carfax.


Also, he says he replaced the clutch but does not have documentation for it (he says it ran about $700?). I took the car for a test drive and clutch felt OK. Is there any way to tell whether it's been recently replaced (like he says)?

The knock sensor almost always needs to be replaced at least once on these cars, you'll find the factory unit is usually cracked or melted after a while. The starter, they just fail sometimes. Same with the alternator.

If it was in a collision hard enough to damage the engine, you'd find a lot of damage other than an alternator and a starter. You'd see a new radiator suport, radiator, condensor, AC compressor, headlights, bumper, fenders, etc.

You could always take a look at the trans and look for areas where the dirt has been wiped away or disturbed recently. Fresh scratches on the heads of the bellhousing bolts, broken wiring harness clips on top of the intake, etc. No real way to tell for absolute certain without pulling the trans, though.

Is it hard to start? Does it run/idle roughly? Is the CEL lit? Is it leaking/consuming fluids? Is the A/C blowing out hot air? If it's doing one or more of those things now, that's a lot worse than having had one or two more repairs than are typical.

It might have had an accident with a greedy shop. If the car ever got towed in with a dead battery, somebody might've convinced the owner that the starter and the alternator were both "bad" and needed to be replaced. I would look at it as parts that you probably won't need to replace - if all those parts were the originals, you'd be looking at replacing them some time in the next few years, most likely.

Checked my tranny fluid yesterday. I was overfilled.

Drained it, and put more in.

Seems the difference was about 1/2 - 3/4 of a quart over.

What kind of damage am I looking at?

Been like this since I got it, about 400 miles ago.

Good thing is, tranny shifts a lot better and proper.

If it's a manual, no damage. You simply lost fuel economy, might have leaked a bit, and might have had the trans running a bit hot.

If it's an auto, I'm not sure.

Dave

Any damage is unlikely.

Cool. I think i saw a static drip from the housing while i was under there. hopefully it didn't pop any seals.

Not 100% sure if it was tranny or oil, because of the grim mixed in.

Hi everyone,

My son recently bought a 99 Maxima GXE. Everything seemed to be going well when all of a sudden the car wouldn't start the other day. The battery seems fine and everything but when the ignition is turned on, all you hear is a loud click from the starter, it would not crank the engine. I pulled the starter and had it tested,it failed intermittantly, but would pass occasionally. I decided to replace it. Same thing, just one loud click. We tried to jump start the car but no luck. I also replaced the battery with a known good one, same thing.

I measured the battery voltage, it was 12.6V but dropped to 6V when trying to start the car. My fear is that the engine might be seized, but I can't understand how this could have happened when the car was running fine and parked that evening only to go out the next morning and this happens.

Any replies would be appreciated,

Thank you

Thanks for the previous help, the belt changes were cake, although it still squeaks for about a second on a cold start. Any hints?

Now I have some questions with accompanying pictures below the questions...

What is this arrow pointing to? It seems to be leaking and needs a gasket and I have no idea which part to order.



Is this gunk normal and does it indicate that maintenance is needed?



Is this my throttle cable nearest the top of the picture? Does it look a little loose to you?

If you replaced both belts, did you adjust the tension of both?
It's the camshaft position sensor. It has an o-ring seal that you probably need to replace.
Pretty typical for an old car - you could replace the valve cover gasket if the gunk bothers you, or if you're losing a nontrivial amount of oil.
It should go underneath the bracket, not over the top of it.

1. Belt's still loose.
2. That's the CPS, you just need an o-ring for it.
3. Replace the front valve cover gasket, it's leaking.
4. As ATTappman said, the throttle cable is supposed to be underneath the nub on the cam there. To be in that position and not have much tension on it, it's most likely loose.

Here's the part numbers for the CPS o-ring, the CPS will have a Mitsubishi logo on it if it's a Mitsu part:

Thanks to both of you for the info. I messed with the belt and will fine tune it over the next few days.

Can you clarify what you mean about the nub which the cable is supposed to go under? The cable seems to run in its intended path, along the groove but just more loose than I am used to on other vehicles. I found a picture on-line and my cable is in the same path, just looser. The picture below is not my car but one I found with google.

Nevermind, the angle of the pic confused me there. The cable is routed correctly, it looked like there was a guide nub there like there is further down on the cam (then I realized that wouldn't work at all).

Sorry, I was wrong. Basically my mental picture of the throttle lever was wrong, and your picture seemed to confirm my memory. Yes it does appear now that your cable is attached correctly, but loose.

I guess now the question is what can be done about this if anything? Any reason to fix this?

how come i cant post a for sale thread

You could tighten up the throttle cable, if it's loose. I'd adjust it to the point where the throttle blade is just barely cracked open, then back off about a turn.

There's a spec in the FSM, just forget where the hell it is.

Thanks I took care of it. Seems more responsive via the butt dyno.

I'm sure I will have some more questions soon, so don't get too comfortable.

I mentioned this before, but it has been a few weeks now.

All the air was bled out of the system.

This is a 2nd cardone power steering pump. The high pressure hose was replaced with the 1st. The 2nd pump was put on right after it was making the low groan noise.

It is the original PS rack, which would led me to believe it's causing this. However, the old leaking pump wasn't making this noise.

Fluid was changed multiple times using 'prestone powersteering fluid with stop leak'.

Mechanic couldn't find any reason why this thing is making noise.

Any ideas?

stop leak might cause clogs - making the pump not perform properly?
does the steering wheel feel stiffer than with the original setup?

It's just prestone ps fluid with added stop leak, not like a lucas gob I suppose.

Feels the same like before.

You think atf would work better?

Just chose to check out this site, one of my most trusted sources for maximas, wondering about the bose HU and replacing it, when i realized... why search the forums anymore if the only reslults i get are the most recent threads posted? maybe i'm missing something but until i figure it out, this site is no longer of use for me and my maxima related questions. Did this change just happen or somethin cause it's really bothering me

Generally speaking, yes, a harmonic balancer is basically the crank pulley. For the VQ, it's just a crank pulley.

A UDP is generally just a lightweight smaller crank pulley, designed to reduce rotating mass.

Searching would answer all of your questions:

is it hard to replace the valve cover gasket? its been leaking for years. i don't want to mess up the engine.

Was there a question you had?

Did you use google at all? That's what you should've done.

Also, you should've looked over the feedback forum before posting about it, this is the latest post: http://forums.maxima.org/feedback-su...works-but.html

Not at all, it's just a dozen bolts, take out the old gasket and insert a new one.

Front or rear? If it's the rear, it also requires removal of the UIM and associated parts.

ya, well i'm lazy as hell. i guess my question was exactly what i'd need to install an aftermarket HU in place of my bose one. I found a good thread on what i'll need but i always like to cross check everything before destroying anything in my car. I guess i was also interested in what i would gain by getting a high flow cat, although both questions are completely random