ok, so today im driven my 02 max se auto and i fill the tank and start to head home. out of no where my max just shuts off. i turn the key it starts and then again sputters off. so long story short i end up gettin it towed to dealer which wont be able to look at it till tues cuz of the holiday. the tow truck guy comes(90mins later) and i go to show him and the car stays runnin but when i press the gas to rev it, it wont rev. and now the SES light is on. WTF happened to my week old car, i know its under warranty, but im now questionin its reliability?

 

Although I am taking a wild stab at this, the problem is likley something that fail quite previlantly(sp?)...ignition coils. While Maximas are exceedingly reliable cars, we do have a problem with a few other things, namely:

- Rotor warping
- Crappy MAFs
- Ignition coils
- Teh Maaco touch-me-up-all-the-time paint job

You'll just have to wait and see what code they pull.

 

Sounds like a faulty MAF to me.

 

I'll take a different stab: There was a recall for 5.5 gens that required replacing the timing gears (can't really remember, think that was it). Anyway, one of the symptoms was that the car would just shut off. I didn't ever experience the problem, but did have the recall done - maybe your car's previous owner didn't?

 

Would that totally f--- up the engine operation like that?

 

Are you referring to the crank positioning sensor recall?

It could cause the engine to stall, yeah.

 

Did not know that.

4 days, man...

 

Same thing happened to my 00, it ended up being the MAF, since there was a TSB on it I got the part at a discount. Good luck!

 

my 02 is still unda factory warranty, its jus pisses me off i got to go the whole weekend and a holiday off without a car. and was there a problem with 02 coils, cuz the light wasn't blinkin and i guess ill tell them to check for recalls. but would coils make the car shut off and wut does a MAF do when it messes up?

 

Being on my 3rd MAF in my 2002 SE, I can tell you my dies completely, and when you try to restart it shakes and rumbles for about 3 seconds as you try to pedal it to keep it running, but it then dies. Each time it has happened to me while accelerating at a good clip. The MAF is a definite weakness. People on here talk of using cheap 2001 versions but never give details. Direct swap? Computer Resets? etc? I have always used the 22680-AM600 ($500ish) and they have proven to be crap. Hopefully somebody can fill us in on using the cheaper 01s, until then my advice.....keep an extra in the trunk or buy a more reliable vehicle.

 

thats a bad MAF
it will allow the car to idle..but when you give it any gas it sputters and dies. it is the cars way of protecting itself

 

I just had the same problem yesterday! Just bought the 02 max a couple month's ago. I'm not impressed at all, even though I've got the extended warranty I seriously expected more reliability out of this vehicle. It's been in the shop twice now, first time for the 6 CD changer jamming up. I love the max but it makes me wonder if I should have spent a bit more and got a 3.2TL Type S instead?????

 

Bad coils may drop your performance, but probably won't prevent you from revving or cause your engine to sputter unless nearly all of them suddenly went bad at the same time. Crank position sensor is also a possibility, but usually your car wouldn't even start (much less idle) if that were the case. I'm going along with what everyone else already said: the MAF. It's job is to sense how much air is going into your engine so the computer knows how much fuel to inject. If the MAF goes bad, the computer doesn't know to inject more fuel when you hit the throttle. Meanwhile, more air is rushing into your engine. Too much air and not enough fuel make engine sad, go sputter sputter die. For a lack of a better analogy, you can kind of think of it like a gust of wind blowing out a candle.

 

MAF...it's really the 5.5 gen's one major flaw (and the 5 gen also, to a lesser extent). Otherwise, the engine is rock-solid (coils notwithstanding)...

As to the TL....go hang around the Acura forums and you'll see they have ALOT more problems than the Maxima.....

 

I'm sure glad now that I got the extended warranty or I'd be out almost $700. I know the engine is rock solid but I just fear driving around with clients in my car and having the MAF, coils, CPS or whatever just die on me (that would be really embarassing). She's running sweet once again, hopefully for a while now!