Checked the ECU codes and the engine coolant temperature sensor is the problem. Is this a do it yourself project or not and what is the cost involved , also will it damage my Max to drive it till fixed. Thanks in advance fellas.

 

The easiest thing to do is to reset it and see if it returns. IF it does, THEN you may want to check or rear it. If you have a Haynes manual, refer to 6-10.

 

You may want to test your Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor. This is easy enough, requiring only an ohmmeter.

On the 4th Generation Maxima engine the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor is located in the water outlet tube close to the engine end of the upper radiator hose. There are two sensors in that area. The one nearest the hose is for the dashboard temperature gauge. The ECTS, the one you're interested in, is right next to the the gauge sending unit. There is a good picture of these sensors in the Haynes repair manual on page 3-7.

With the engine cold, disconnect the ECTS and measure its resistance. Reconnect the ECTS, start the engine, run it until fully warmed up. Stop the engine, and repeat the resistance measurement. The "warm" reading should be a much lower value than the "cold" reading.

The manual gives these specs:
Engine coolant temperature 68F, ECTS resistance 2.1 - 2.9 Kohms
Engine coolant temperature 194F, ECTS resistance 0.24 - 0.26 Kohms
(Roughly a factor of ten difference.)

 

I had the same prob. previously posted, I fixed it myself. Easy job. Flushed radatior and cooling system at the same time...

 

The code never went away in my case.

It's a bluish sensor and before replacing it, my car kept stalling out $20 part, I say go fix it and an attachment to move the socket around would be helpful

 

Use an open end combo wrench....

 

I changed mine about a month ago. With a little help from DBM, I was able to remove it. The part is about $25. I think the part Number is #22630-44B20. All you have to remove is a couple of hoses and the air intake. Here's a thread I posted way back when I had the problem:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=48684
BTW, if you go to your local auto store, by yourself a long neck 19mm wrench and a foot long extesion. This makes the job a lot easier! Good luck!

 

Two questions... My wife has a '95 SE and the check engine light came on and the code read as an error with the coolant sensor. So after reading through the threads here I decided to take a crack at changing it out myself. I removed the little black plastic box above it (part of the air intake I think). But ran into trouble trying to disconnect the electrical connection. Is there a trick to pulling it off? I don't want to break it and have to splice into the wiring harness to repair it. I tried pressing "in" on the little grey tab without luck... even using a screwdriver for extra motivation. Would a little wd-40 help things? Most of the time connectors come right apart if you've triggered the release properly... just think I haven't done it right yet.

Oh, the second question... I went to autozone to see if they had a replacement so I could use it to compare agaist the connector that was giving me a fit. They said there are two different versions and that I have to get mine out first! (not what I wanted to hear) and that it would take a day or two to order.

Any advice would really help.

Thanks!

 

I think...

If you put the screw driver inbetween the little piece and the body of the connector on the bottom side, you can pull it off.

Sorry it's been a while. I didn't think there were two different ones. When I bought mine, they didn't say anything like that.

Hope this helps.