Ok, this will hopefully be a complete log of all the maintenance that I'm going to be doing on my 98 Maxima. The previous owners were the original purchasers of the car and based on the condition of the engine bay and suspension components, this car was never correctly maintained or had any expensive repairs done. I intend to address every single leak, creak, and squeak this thing has. I'll post pictures in the second post of underneath the car and components that are normally hard to see that I took today while I had the wheels off on the lift. Here's the overall list of everything wrong that I can visually confirm:

-Excessive inner tire wear on front tires
-rotors have heat spots galore
-brakes squealing
-wheel studs and lug nuts stripped (multiple per hub)
-Lower ball joint boots not torn but retaining only minimal grease
-Lower control arm bushings on their way out
-Sub frame bushings starting to dry rot
-struts leaking hydraulic fluid, strut mounts seem ok visually
-rack and pinion boots torn and leaking from inner tie rod seals
-outer tie rod boots are not torn, but have let some grease out
-axles have very minimal play
-axle seals leaking but no signs of differential bear issues
-rear main seal might be leaking or may just look that way from oil leaking down from valve cover gaskets
-valve cover gaskets leaking (really bad!) since tube seals come with the valve cover gasket kit, plugs and coil boots will be replaced also
-Upper and lower oil pans leaking
-oil drain plug gasket, What's that? (ie. its not there)
-power steering reservoir and pressure lines seaping
-radiator hoses (upper and lower) very old
-radiator mount bushings dry rotted (I actually know a cool fix for these that I have done on a couple of other Nissans)
-plastic valves and tube elbows are looking weak and dry rotted
-oil is overfilled
-oil cooler gasket leaking
-head gaskets are ok, but may still replace as a preventative item
-serpentine belts look kind of old (hard to tell sometimes with gator belts)
-interior lights, dash lights, and A/C switch lights all could use replacement
-head light resto or new housings needed
-motor and transmission mounts dry rotted
-needs throttle body cleaning and tune up
-60k service
-has the wrong size battery
-very corroded battery terminals
-hood shocks suck
-need wiper blades and headlight bulbs


That's all I can remember off the top of my head, if you think of anything that I've missed or a common issue that I've missed please post and for verification that it's a common problem and not a problem that only a few individuals have had, please post a link to a thread or article with a fix or explanation of the problem in detail. As I said above, I will be fixing everything and taking pics along the way. If I run into any snags or points of note, I'll explain with pictures to show how I fixed it. I have not purchased a Haynes manual yet, will be picking one up at work tomorrow.

I have not done major work on this make and model extensively other than serp belts, oil changes and transmission services, however, I have done quite a bit of everything spanned across every year, make, model, engine size and transmission type. I work at a Kwik Kar in North Texas, I've been working there for 2 years and have worked very hard to work my way up the ladder in a quick, but not rushed fashion. I started out as a courtesy tech (vacuuming cars and checking tire pressure), this is my first job ever at a shop. I've worked every position this shop (hood and pit tech for the majority of the time) has to offer all the way up to team leader, service writer and mechanic and I'm finally enjoying the position I'm in. I've never taken a class or spent a dime on formal education. Most of my knowledge has been gained through forums such as this one and countless hours of research and then application through every day at work. Keep this in mind, I may miss small details here and there or get something completely wrong due to a biased article or something. Just correct me on it, I can take constructive criticism :P.

thanks for reading! I'll post pics up here in a little bit as well as show pics of my finished work from today (tires, front rotors and pads, and wheel studs) rears will be done tomorrow at work.

 

Have you checked if there is input shaft bearing noise? Those transmissions are notorious for it. When in neutral, if there is a noise that goes away when you press the clutch in then I would be concerned.

Obviously check codes... even if there is no CEL (if I recall correctly, I think the knock sensor which is a common issue can throw a silent code).

Cleaning the throttle body is a good/cheap/easy maintenance thing to do on these cars.

 

I haven't any noise like that at all, but I'll listen for it. All Sensors ready status, No DTC's(general and manufacturer), No History codes, and no freeze frame data.

Yes, throttle body cleaning and adjustment for slack in the throttle cable will be checked as well.

Thank you for the advice!

 

Pics as promised. Will get more of exterior and interior later today as well as under hood pics

http://s1342.photobucket.com/user/Darrick147/library/

Pics of brake parts delivered (not shown: Wheel studs and lug nut set.)
will take more of finished brakes later.

 

While your down there messing with the radiator mounts check on the condition of your radiator core support. Although it seems you have a handle on your issues these are a pretty common issue.

 

Thank you, I didn't know about that issue, I'll take a look at it and maybe upload a pic as we'll. Very much appreciated! I Was only aware of the upper mount rubber inserts.

 

New pics of exterior and some general engine bay pics, use the link from two posts ago. Work was busy so I was not able to work on it much today, hopefully I'll have some spare time this weekend. I have a job interview at some point this week, so the maxima might have to chill until I find out if I've got a new job. Rest assured though, I can't just leave this in the dark. The more responses I get from yall, the more I'll have to post about. Stick around, I'm going to be working on this over the next 4-6 months if all life plans pan out.

 

Of all the things you plan to do, this one stands out to me;

There are many who would advise to replace the motor rather than tackle the head gasket job on a timing chained DOHC V6.

Also, amongst your list ofmaintenance, you should clean out the EGR.tube..it must be blocked up full of crap in that motor.


It's a shame you will be doing all that maintenance and not enhancing it with mods. With all that your doing, that thing would be primed and ready for an 00VI as well And because its a 5 speed, it will really take advantage of it too.

 

im doing similar changes to my 97 with 106k, new shocks and springs, clutch line, power steering pump, rebuilding rack n pinion

 

EGR clean-out noted. Why replace a perfectly good motor that still has decent compression? But I do understand where you're coming from. I questioned that myself today when I saw that LKQ actually has a 1997 complete engine assembly for $500 and a 2000 engine for $850. I'm thinking now I could also check for a 3.5L, but then this thread goes to waste :-P

 

WToday was slightly disturbing. I actually found something that I had never seen before and frankly, makes me want to repair some things just to make a quick profit by selling the car .


That is the driver side axle seal. If it's hard to see on the pic, let me explain. It's got a fairly good looking axle seal. The housing looks like a chunk of it around where the seal seats, was broken and then a repair was attempted with quick steel or jb weld. I knew I had an axle seal leak and I knew it wasn't caused by diff bearings. But Now I almost wish the bearings were the cause, at least that's a repairable issue... This may require a new housing altogether. It's really disheartening considering my overall goals.

Any and all advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

One other picture of that seal can be found in my photobucket album (link is in one of my first posts) as we'll as new pics of the lower radiator mounts although I could not get a clear pic of the support, I was able to physically see that it was ok. Also, rear valve cover is not leaking, which is great. the cause of a p/s leak was discovered, and I think it's probably the spring clamp on the P/s pump hose as well as the copper washers on the pump banjo bolt.yay!

 

thats pretty crazy, id reccomend swapping out the transmission. that case is junk. source one from a wreckage yard or something. idk man thats a pretty nasty chunk. have you checked the gear oil levels? that looks like it could leak pretty tenaciously.

 

I checked the gear oil level right after I found that chunk missing and surprisingly, it wasn't low. I just hope the retarded tech that broke the case didn't put in a thicker gear oil so that it wouldn't leak. Guess I'll find out once I change out the oil, but the color and level were both perfect so I'll leave it alone for now.
I

 

Finally ran the wiring for the radar detector. Came out pretty clean.

 

remember....GL-4 only