Ok,
I have a 2000 maxima SE 5spd; this is my second maxima, my first being a '97 SE 5spd. I consider myself pretty car-able, at least in diagnosing a problem, but i am totally stumped by my recent car trouble. It has been such a pain in the *** that i'm thinking of selling my max and getting a MAZDA! Yes, it's that serious...

Here's the problem;

Last saturday, i was innocuously driving down a regular street, hit a fairly small pot hole right before the entrance to the building i was trying to get in to, and then my max stalled. At the time i hit the small bump (and i mean small), i was going about 25mph, in third gear. So now the car is stalled, in the middle of the street, and it won't start. Battery is fine, starter works, i have gas; it just won't start.

Some dude riding a bike helps me push it out of the street, halfway in the parking lot, but it still won't start. I do the "turn the key like hell till it starts 'cause it's probably flooded" thing; still nothing. Call AAA, get a flatbed, and tow it to the Nissan dealership. Before putting it on the truck though, even the tow truck driver tries it, and it still will not start. I get it to the dealership, a master tech comes out, and helps unload the car from the flat bed. He gets in, "BOOM", the ****er starts. As if nothing happened, my car is working fine. He tells me that it was flooded, and all i have to do is the "mash the gas and keep starting it, and don't worry, it won't hurt the starter" thing. Fine.

All that night my car drives like a champ. Cool. Next day, I'm leaving my parents house to go back to Austin (i've been in houston for mother's day). Car's driving fine, stop for gas, stop for a drink, and it's driving well. About 30 miles into Austin, I come upon a yellow stop light; so I have to brake reasonably hard not to run it as I was going around 70mph at the time. The car comes to a long stop, and then it STALLS AGAIN!

This time, in the middle of a busy interstate, and it won't start. Some good samaritans help me push it to the side of the road, but the car won't start. I crank the hell out of it, nothing. Try the "gas mash" for over a minute, and it won't start.

Basically, I have to get my car towed 30 miles into town and have it dropped off at a well known speed and import tuning shop that my friends cousin owns.

He calls me yesterday and can't find ANYTHING wrong with my car. It starts fine, nothing on the ECU, fuel pump has pressure and is working fine, all relay's work, all grounding is fine, all fuses are good...the car is driving well.

I cannot have a car like this. I cannot drive a car, let along a $30k Maxima, not give me the piece of mind to make a 150 mile drive safely to see my parents on the weekends.

This car has 49k miles, is in mint condition, and has had no other mechanical problems.

Somebody please tell me what the hell is wrong with her, lest i dump her off...

 

[QUOTE=JazzyFunkyKool]

Ok ,did they check the fuel injector for you,becuse even we have filter for the gas line some very small diret can build up with time and block the fuel injector holes.I'm not sure just guessing .

Before i had my max ,my old car after long drive and when it gets hot use to do that to me it was the fuel injector +sparkplug wires.

Just try and see what happen.

Good luck.

 

[QUOTE=custommaximaSE]Same thing he said, i bet you its your fuel filter that is clogged, and everytime you come to a hard stop or hit something that jolts the car pretty good the derbi get unsettled and gathers and blocks the line.The same thing happen to my 94 Prelude that i had.

Its nothing major , so before you sell your MAx and buy you something worse like a MAZDA. Try and fix the problem , you will be glad you did.

 

Also how many miles do you have on your 2000? 60k-70k is the time to change the fuel filter . If you drive in the city alot or harsher conditions , it is wise to change it earlier.

 

Or yeah what he said .It could be the fuel filter ,they told him that the fuel pump is ok and there nothing wrong with it, thats because the clogged is gone temporly.

Don't worry its nothing major even BMW, Mercedes have the same problems some times,because we use the same kind of gas .

Don't use cheap gas allways use 93 octane .what is 25 cent extra per gallon ,and you save your self $$$ on repair because you use cheap gas.

 

oooh. just reading the post irritates me. i would start kicking the car if it stalled. sorry bro. that sucks..

 

Am of the opinion that something might be wacky with the fuel pickup/pump/filter assembly. Both problems involved bumping or josseling of the car.

When/if it happens again, turn off everything in the car (so you can hear) and go from no key turn to second position. Make sure you can hear the fuel pump pressurize the line (hear it from the back seat, a whirring noise). Need to make sure that the fuel pump is working first. Verify that that also the fuel pump FUSE is secure in the fuse box. Then I would pop the back seat and access cover and verify that all the connections are tight. If it happens often, might even be of help to drive around with the bottom of the rear seat out so that you can look immediately at stuff.

As it might seem that the FF is clogged, you would REALLY have to have some REALLY bad gas to clog it up that bad. I am thinking more of a pickup failure or loose connection.

Just my .02 though.

Good Luck!

 

Didn't get a chance to read the whole thread, but check your fuel pump RELAY. Just kinda tap on top of it with a wrench or wiggle it while the cars' running. If you notice change, you could either try to salvage it for a little while, but just get a new one. Pretty cheap fix. Peace_

 

He has 49k miles. You didn't read the whole thing.

 

what's your beef with Mazda, rafe? My wife's new 3s is money. Not trading in the max for one...but if I was gonna buy a NEW compact sedan, I'd take the 3s any day of the week and twice on Sunday over the Sentra SE-R (including spec V) or a Civic.....

 

Another idea. I think there is a TSB that the connection to the ECU can come slightly loose. Check the harness connected to the ECU (the box is in the center dash and you can access it by removeing the foot panel on the passanger side).

I checked mine after I read the TSB and sure enough it was slightly loose!

 

thanks everyone for thier response...i too suspected the fuel filter; pump thing. I only fill 93 octane gas, and all the relays, fuses, etc. were checked.

The shop has now had my car for 2 full days; and it has run like a champ...hard driving, stopping, and 2 hours of idling in the back...nothing. I"m so stumped.

However, i went to pick it up this evening, and "voila!"--the damn "check engine light" has popped up. I never thought i'd be so happy to see such an ominous warning.

I have now dropped it off to the closest Nissan dealer, just because my main trusted mechanic with full diag equipment is out in BFE, and I don't wanna risk stalling out on the trek up there....

To the guy that said he would have kicked the car had it stalled--I already did it and had my girlfriend restrain me...

To the guy with the Mazda 3s, yeah that's what i've been eyeing should my Max be "un-diagnosable and hence un-fixable."

Thanks again.

 

whatever you do, dont take it to townnorth nissan on 183... their service sucks and they will rip you off.. they charged me $800 for diagnostic fee and wouldnt warranty my burned ecu.. they blamed it on my aftermarket head unit. those 2 are not even related to each other. i paid the $800 and went to another dealership and they said my headunit had nothing to do with the burnt ecu and fixed my car under warranty. I filed with nissan and they reimbursed me my $800. Anyway, long story short.. go to south point nissan on I-35. Never never ever go to Town North Nissan

 

****, now you tell me...i bought my car from a maxwell nissan, and it was the closest one, i'm not authorizing any work though until i get an acceptable diag...

****, ****, ****, ****...i am of the opinion that all dealers suck *** though; initially i took it to Mossy in houston who has all these rave reviews, and where did it get me? Stuck in bfe on a sunday night with no cell phone service and dudes pulling over to tell me that jesus loves me...

 

Just got the car back...the problem was a cam position sensor that had gone out. This sensor was subsequently messing up my timing and fuel delivery and idle...computer flashed 2 malfunctions, which according to the dealer, correlate to the two times my car died.

This should not happen to a car with only 49k miles. This was an expensive $400 car wash (they washed my car after they fixed the problem.)